Board of Selectmen Special Budget Workshop Minutes of January 18, 2018

Transcription

1 BOARD OF SELECTMEN SPECIAL BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETING THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, :00 P.M. GUILFORD TOWN HALL First Selectman Matthew Hoey called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. Present: Board Members: Matthew Hoey, Charles Havrda, Susan Renner, Louis Federici and Sandy Ruoff Town Officials: Others: Media: Board of Finance Members: Michael Ayles, Meghan Scanlon, Kenneth Gamerman, Jeffrey Beatty, Jonathan Trotta and Kenneth MacKenzie, Human Resources Director Mitch Goldblatt, Asst. to Finance Director Sandy Offredi, Assessor s Aide Barbara Hammarlund, Human Services Council Members: Terry Bergantino, Dee Lundberg, Liza Petra and Pam Ellman, Y&Fs Director Lyne Landry, Historic District Commission Chair Ann Street and Clerk Traci Brinkman. Joining the meeting in progress: Social Services Director Tammy DeFrancesco, Assessor Ed Corapinski, Tax Collector Deb Milano, Town Clerk Anna Dwyer, Registrar of Voters Louise Graver and Gloria Nemczuk, Building Official Bill Thody, Natural Resources Planner Kevin Magee, Town Planner George Kral, Health Director Dennis Johnson, Executive Assistant Karen Quercia, In-House Counsel Pam Millman, Information Systems Specialist Tony Santarcangelo, Economic Development Coordinator Brian McGlone, Golf Course Superintendent Ted Tighe and Golf Course Pro Mike Papp Resident Steve McGuire Mike Graziano, taping for GCTV 1. To meet with the following town departments to discuss budget requests: Board of Assessment Appeals (Barbara Hammarlund).24% or $25 increase in budget. Increase in Secretarial expenses and Office Supplies due to the 2017 revaluation and the expected number of appeals after the revaluation. 1

2 Zoning Board of Appeals.90% or $53 increase in budget Slight increase in clerk fees. Historic District (Ann Street) 1% or $40 increase in budget. Slight increase in the board/commission secretary. Human Services (Terry Bergantino, Dee Lundberg) 3.5% or $3,000 increase in budget It was noted that this is the smallest increase they have had the last several years. All of the agencies in the budget serve Guilford residents. The Council gave examples of the different services the agencies provide and the number of residents they have helped. In addition many organizations like BH Care and the VNA direct the funds they receive toward Guilford residents. Mr. Ayles asked why a couple of organizations did not receive funds this year. Ms. Lundberg explained that those organizations did not submit applications this year. Otherwise their funding has been fairly consistent. Youth & Family Services (Lyne Landry).6% or $3,187 increase in budget Ms. Landry said beside the contractual salary increase, there is a slight increase in Building Maintenance. She noted that the building is now 10 years old and they have had to make some HVAC repairs, etc. There is also a slight increase in Program Development ($800) to cover an increase in program costs for theater and the camp. They fund a lot of these through state grants, but the state funds have gone down this year. Another grant they had last year was cut in half. Ms. Landry said she has kept the revenues the same as last year. Social Services (Tammy DeFrancesco) 2.7% or $4,271 increase in budget Ms. DeFrancesco said there is an increase for Overtime in her budget. She explained that her program coordinator was originally hired as a salary employee, but due to labor law changes she got switched back to hourly. She explained that between September and February they are jam packed with work and it is hard to find time to give them compensation time. 2

3 Mr. Goldblatt explained that the potential department of labor law change affected a few employees. Those making $50,000 or under had to be brought from salary to hourly. The changes were made, but the labor law change never went through. Town Counsel advised leaving the changes instead of switching back and forth. The other line items in the budget are close to flat. Finance (Sandy Offredi) 1% or $3,309 increase in budget Salaries have increased slightly as well as Expenses and Travel. The Publication of the Budget is up slightly as well as the Annual Audit and Dues and Memberships. Debt Service (Sandy Offredi) These are figures that come from bond counsel based on the debt schedule. The Principle represents a 7.2% or $370,000 increase and the Retirement has increased 9% or $247,620. Mr. Hoey said some provisions have been made by the previous administration to set aside proceeds from a bond sale to mitigate the increase in debt service. Operating Transfers (Sandy Offredi) 6.2% or $4,985 increase in budget This was increased a bit because they were a little short last year. Assessor (Ed Corapinski) 1.19% or $2,919 increase in budget Mr. Corapinski said of the six accounts he has control over they only increased $290, the rest are contractual salary increases. Tax Collector (Deb Milano) 1.95% or $2,654 increase in budget Ms. Milano noted a slight increase in salaries. An increase in office supplies for a money counting machine and a slight increase in printing. Town Clerk (Anna Dwyer) 1.04% or $1,846 increase in budget 3

4 Ms. Dwyer stated that most of the increase in the budget is in salaries. Mr. Hoey noted an increase in revenue projections by $46,000. There was a discussion about the Historic Preservation Grant the Town Clerk s office receives. Registrar of Voters (Louise Graver and Gloria Nemczuk) 3% or $2,702 increase in budget There is an increase in salaries and November Election Expenses. Ms. Nemczuk noted that this account fluctuates depending on what elections are coming up. They noted that the only budget for one referendum and primary. It was noted that education and training are down since they have finished their requirements. Building (Bill Thody) 2.3% or $2,659 increase in budget There is an increase in salaries and Permits/Dues/Subscriptions. Mr. Thody explained that this is for updated codebooks due to changes. Natural Resources (Kevin Magee) 6.9% or $15,158 increase in budget There is an increase in salaries. There is a $2,000 increase in GIS, which is related to fees for parcel updates. Mr. Magee said he also included an additional $10,000 in the budget for Tree Maintenance and Removal. The budget was cut back last year, but he is seeing more and more trees that need attention. There is a new item in the budget for Utilities at $1,200, which is electricity to bring water to the fields they lease for grazing. He noted that they installed this mid-contract so they are hoping to include the cost for this in future contracts. Planning & Zoning (George Kral) 1.3% or $2,871 increase in budget There is a slight increase in salaries. It was noted that salaries will go down further because they are replacing the Zoning Enforcement Officer. There was a brief discussion on revenue. Health Department (Dennis Johnson) 7.9% or $17,298 increase in budget There is an increase in salaries. Mr. Johnson said he also added a new item $13,997 for Overtime for Data Entry. Mr. Johnson said this is for the secretarial staff to enter a backlog of permits for septic tank pump outs. He estimates it would take about 600 hours at $23.33 an hour to do this. The reason for the backlog is that Guilford regulations require a pump out every five 4

5 years. People have been very compliant so they have had a big volume increase in pump outs. In addition the move to using the MUNIS System has been very time consuming and has taken longer to do things. The staff is willing to work the extra hours to catch up. Mr. Hoey said he met with a MUNIS representative regarding the data module the town is using and he thinks they need to do a gap analysis as to whether they are using the capabilities that exist and how to better utilize the tools. He added that his biggest concern is if they will be back here a year from now in the same position with regard to a backlog. Mr. Johnson noted that years ago in the WPCA budget he used to have a part-time staff person for data entry. That was taken out and never put back in, which can also be contributing to this. Ms. Ruoff noted that existing staff work 35 hours so conceivably two employees could work an additional five hours a week on some of this without having to pay an overtime rate. It was noted that revenue in this department is a little lower than the current year. Board of Selectmen (Karen Quercia) 3.3 or $14,015 decrease in budget Ms. Quercia noted that part-time salaries for the Board of Selectmen were reduced by $8,000. There was a $2,000 reduction in the Advertising and Public Notice line as well a $4,000 reduction in Office Supplies. There are slight increases in Public Information, Memorial Day and Miscellaneous expense. Legal (Pam Millman) 37.92% or $124,578 increase in budget Salaries decreased since a full-time position was eliminated and replaced with a part-time position. General Legal has been increased $10,000 and General Zoning Matters was reduced by $5,000. The largest increase is for Assessment/Reval. Claims, which was increased $128,000 due to cases anticipated because of revaluation. There was a brief discussion on revaluation. Information Systems (Tony Santarcangelo) 20.02% or $44,779 increase in budget Mr. Santarcangelo said a large part of the increase is $35,000 for a new part-time position. In a previous IT audit that was done in October 2014 noted that the department is understaffed for support resources. Mr. Hoey explained that in the budget a few years ago there was a Director of IT position that was being shared between the Town and the BOE. After three referendums it was pulled from 5

6 the budget. He added that they will be looking at an opportunity to consolidate among different departments at least among the Town, Police and Fire Departments. Mr. Santarcangelo noted an increase in Software and Licensing Support as well as Computer Hardware since the tax office is looking for two new validators. Economic Development (Brian McGlone) 1.5% or $681 increase in budget There is a slight increase in Part-time Salaries and a slight decrease in the Board and Commission Secretary line item. There was a brief discussion about the benefit of the Town s participation in REX. Golf Course (Ted Tighe and Mike Papp) 5% or $12,767 increase in budget There is a slight increase in Salaries as well as an increase in Water, Ground Maintenance and Advertising/Public Notice. Mr. Tighe explained that they are looking for an additional $2,000 to promote the course. Mr. Papp talked about the programs he ran over the summer and what he is hoping to accomplish this summer. There were some discussions about the fee structure at the course. It was noted that in revenues they were down 400 rounds last season and down nine members so they reduced the revenue budget by $3,000. Mr. MacKenzie and Mr. Gamerman left the meeting at 3:45 p.m. Human Resources (Mitch Goldblatt) 2.4% or $3,279 increase in budget There is a slight increase in Salaries and Office Supplies, but decreases in Permits/Dues/Subscriptions and Education/Technical Support. Employee Benefits (Mitch Goldblatt) 15.3% or $1,110,551 increase in budget Mr. Goldblatt noted the large increase in Reserve for Personnel, which contains potential increases for all contract employees currently under negotiation or who will be under negotiation in the next fiscal year. The GEA contract has been approved and once it is signed thy will roll back some of this and move it into the different departments. 6

7 He noted that there is an increase in Pension which is really the retirement costs. The assumption rate was decreased so it had a major effect on the town s contribution to the Defined Benefit Plan. There is an increase in FICA and Unemployment Compensation has risen a little bit. Mr. Goldblatt said Retirement Sick Leave is down as well as Longevity. Medical Insurance has increased 6.5%. He added that this is a moving target and they need more information from Anthem and a number of employees are moving to a health savings account so this figure could change. There is an increase in Life Insurance to accommodate the additional firefighters. There is also a small increase for the Employee Assistance Program. He noted that there is an amount in there for Long Term Disability Insurance which they pay for the police and fire personnel in the Defined Contribution Plan. This was a negotiated item. Insurance (Mitch Goldblatt) 14.1% or $121,404 increase in budget Mr. Goldblatt said they are looking at a 15% increase in Workers Compensation and a 10% increase in Liability, Auto and Property. He added, however, that they have not yet met with CIRMA on this so they do expect these numbers to come down. Contingency $120,000 has been put into Contingency. There was some discussion about removing that since the Undesignated Fund Balance is healthy and could be used for any emergencies. Motion: Upon a motion made by Ms. Renner and seconded by Ms. Ruoff, the board voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 4:20 p.m. Vote: In Favor: Hoey, Havrda, Renner, Federici and Ruoff Opposed: None Abstaining: None Respectfully submitted, Traci K. Brinkman Clerk Board of Selectmen 7