Budget Committee

Minutes

September 13, 2006

Official as of February 10, 2007

Chairman Dan McNally calls the work session to order at 7:15 p.m.

PRESENT: Chairman Dan McNally, Vice-Chair Shelley Bobowski, Selectmen Representative Scott Bryer, School Board Representative Bill Tappan, Ben Edwards, Catherin McNally, Colleen Pingree, Nona Holmes, Douglas Briggs, Herb Johnson and Board Secretary Lisa Fellows-Weaver arrives at 7:30 p.m.

ABSENT: Cindy Jones-Bryer, Mark Edwards, Robert Bailey, Bob Jean, Water District Representative John Jacobsmeyer, Board Administrator Linda Smith,
 
SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVES: Principal Ester Asbell, Assistant Principal Kenneth Darsney, Bookkeeper Betsy Colburn, School Board Chair Bernice Raffaele and Vice-Chair Jim Ryan, and Business Administrator Kathleen Sargeant.

PUBLIC: Lucy Edwards 

MINUTES: The minutes were not addressed.

SCHOOL:
Mr. Tappan, school board representative, explains that the audit has not been presented from the auditors, at this time. 

Mr. Tappan explains that the budget materials that have been provided have incorrect figures due to the $100,000 warrant article monies that the town voted on. He explains that the school’s current total budget is $48,364.46. He states that several new students entered the school district. Ms. McNally asks when the money from the warrant article can be accessed. Mr. Tappan replies that the board must wait until the end of the year when the board knows that the money has been spent, and then the warrant article monies can be accessed. Mr. McNally asks why the warrant article money is not shown in the capital reserve fund for special education. Ms. Sargeant explains that the money comes out of the reserve and goes into the revenue account. She states that the money was not received until after June 30, it goes into accounts receivable. The only thing that changes is the budgeted amount on line 1200-569-000. Ms. Sargeant adds that the way the trust fund is created; it must go before the voters in order to expend monies. Further discussion is held regarding the amount and the process of using the funds.   

Areas further reviewed are as follows:
Dept. 1400/Co-Curricular Activities: Mr. Tappan states that there is $1100 remaining in this line. He notes that not all of the money was spent.  

1410: Ms. McNally asks about the stipend for the athletic director. Mr. Tappan explains that there is an error as the director did actually take the entire stipend so there is no money left over and there is no additional coaching staff. 

Special Contracted Services: Mr. Tappan explains that this is for special education contracted services and the line is over expended by $14,866.15. Ms. McNally asks if there was an increase. Mr. Tappan replies that there was an increase in ESL students to what was anticipated.

Speech and Language Services: Mr. Tappan explains that this is the employee costs for services. He states that this is over expended by $6685.86. Ms. Bobowski asks if this is mainly due to health insurances. Ms. Sargeant states that this was due to staff changing health care plans. Mr. McNally notes that there were funds left in the line for the buy out option.

School Board Services: Mr. Tappan states that this area is over expended by $9000. He explains that there are two reasons for this. One is contracted services for the audit for last year since it was not billed out to the proper year. Therefore, the audit for last year and this year are paid for in this year’s budget. Also, he states that the advertising for legal notices was under budgeted. Ms. Bobowski states that it appears to be in the area of negotiations. Mr. Tappan replies that this is mainly due to personnel issues and contacting legal counsel. 

Office of Principal: Mr. Tappan states that this area is over expended by $31,639. He explains that this is due to the vacation pay out at the end of the principal’s term. It was also for settlement for $29,000. He adds that there was also a personnel change in secretarial staff. FICA and retirement shown were also  related to the settlement.  

School District Bookkeeper: Mr. Tappan states that this line is over by $2900 due to overtime that the principal had approved.

Dept. 2620:
Head Custodian: Mr. Tappan states that the head custodian position is being changed to be called a facilities director. This will be a change from hourly to salary and involved a one time adjustment. He adds that in the long run this will be a benefit due to overtime. Mr. Tappan notes that this person is actually in a management capacity.

Electricity: Mr. Tappan states that the electricity is over expended by $16,465.29. He explains that this is related to fuel costs. He adds that this amount can be improved through education of using electricity and also using the Smart Start Public Service program, which is an energy saving program in which electricity is purchased at off peak times for a savings. The school’s administration has the full support from school board to become involved with this program. Additional discussion is held regarding the pre-buy amount for fuel oil. Ms. Colburn states that the amount is $2,799.

Dept. 2660:
Intercom System: Mr. Tappan explains that the intercom system needed some repairs and was more than what was anticipated, thus resulting in an overage of $564.

Dept. 2721:
Transportation: Mr. Tappan states that this line is over by $1800. This was due to a special stop for safety issues and is an additional cost. He adds that there is also a cost for a student in the vocational education program in Dover.

Dept. 2722:
Mr. Tappan explains the reason for the overage of $14,657.41 is due to a new student placed out of district or a student needing special services due to a medical or physical condition.

Dept. 4600:
Mr. Tappan states that the overage of $499 was due to the building analysis costing more than what was projected. Additional discussion is held regarding the status of the buildout analysis of areas in town. Ms. Raffaele explains that the study is still not complete. More information is still necessary for the planning board.

General Fund:
Mr. Tappan explains that the ending total of the general fund was $2,539.91. He adds that the $100,000 from the warrant article needs to be added. Ms. Bobowski asks when the additional costs came in for the additional students. Ms. Sargeant replies that in Nov. or Dec. is when they began to have an idea of what the number was going to be. Ms. Bobowski states that it appears that they began to restrict some of the flow until they knew what was actually coming in for the enrollment.

Mr. Tappan introduces the new principal staff; Principal Ester Asbell and Assistant Principal Kenneth Darsney.

A discussion is held regarding the environmental camp program. Ms. Asbell explains that currently there are no 8th grade teachers that are interested in being chaperones for the program. She adds that there will not be any connection to the curriculum for next year either as the teacher that would structure the trip is no longer employed by the school. She adds that they are looking for other ideas.

A discussion is held regarding benefits. Ms. Pingree asks if there are part time employees receiving full-time benefits. Mr. Tappan replies that that is not his understanding; you must work at a full time status to obtain the full time benefits.

Revenues:
Mr. Tappan explains that the unanticipated revenues are shown as negative numbers on the sheet provided. 

TOWN:
Mr. Bryer states that he decided to provide the budget committee with the most recent operating budget figures instead of through August 30, 2006, as provided in the mailed packets.

Mr. Bryer provides an overview of the town’s budget. He explains that the budget was $2.8 million. There is $1.2 million left with $204,000 in encumbered funds. He states that with the year 2/3 through, the town is at 42% and is not in bad shape.

Areas further reviewed are as follows:
Town Administrator: Mr. Bryer states that this line is around 40%. He explains that personnel has changed and $13,000 was paid out for accrued time and 50-60 hours of comp time, which resulted in $33,000 being paid out for severance payments. A discussion is held regarding the capital outlay that was created to cover costs of employee’s vested time. Mr. Bryer states that the town has billed the trustee of the trust funds for $24,186 for expendable trusts through June, which explains why there is a negative balance. 

Executive Office:
P/T Municipal Receptionist: Mr. Bryer explains that this position is actually two positions and the reason why it is over expended is the fact that the positions have not been billed appropriately. Mr. Bryer adds that the building department budget is under expended and the monies should be transferred.

Salaries: Mr. Bryer reviews salaries and notes that the welfare director and administrative assistant have given their notices. He states that there will be some spending in ways that they should not be spent.
  
Fuel: Mr. Bryer states all departments are over expended in their fuel lines.

Finance: Mr. Bryer explains that this department is low due to the purchase of the ADS software. He adds that the entire software purchase was taken out of the finance department; however, half of the cost should have come out of the executive office. He adds that the bottom line of the budget is okay. The town has not done anything wrong as long as the bottom line is not over expended.
 
Assessing: Mr. Bryer explains that the town has contracted out all of the assessing. He explains that it was a much better deal for the town to contract out. There is 78% left for this department.

Deputy Treasurer: Mr. Bryer explains that the deputy is also the municipal receptionist and the deputy fills in when the treasurer is out.

Trustee of Trust Fund Secretary: Mr. McNally asks about the training line being over expended by 600%. Mr. Bryer will check into this line item.

Planning Board: Mr. Bryer notes that the planning board hired the planner, one month ago.

ZBA: Mr. Bryer notes that the supply line is over expended. He states that he will check in this item.

GGB: Kate McNally asks about cellular phone charges and asks if this is the large savings that she was told would be seen to total half. She requests a copy of the spreadsheet noting the savings for cell phones.

Police Department: Mr. Bryer states that $13,000 is encumbered funds. Ms. Edwards states that the department just hired an officer. Ms. Bobowski notes the vehicle repair line. Mr. Bryer replies that there was some damage to a cruiser. He will further check into the special duty line.  

Fire Department: Mr. Bryer states that there is 1/3 of the budget left. He adds that the stipends are paid out to the volunteers at the end of the year.

Building Department: Mr. Bryer states that this department appears higher than it should be as more money should have come out of this department for the secretary, as previously discussed.

Highway Administration: Mr. Bryer notes that the salaries are right on track. He explains that there have not been any paving projects yet this year. Mr. Bryer
states that over the next few months the road work will be done on Harmony Road and Ridge Road. He further explains that when the budget was created, the board used the five year plan that was developed for the construction and repairs of town roads.

Sanitation Administration: There is money encumbered in this line that has not been spent.

Animal Control: Mr. Bryer states that this is a shared position with the Town of Deerfield.

Health Agencies: Mr. Bryer explains that there were encumbered funds from 2005 that were paid in 2006 along with the 2006 invoices. He further explains the purposes of the health agencies and their services to the town.

Parks and Recreation: Mr. Bryer explains the recreation program and adds that it was an executive decision to not fill this position with a full time employee this year. 

NCC: Ms. Bobowski requests that the budget for the Northwood Community Resources Committee (NCRC) be a separate budget from the conservation commission. Mr. Bryer will check into this.

PD Wage Grant: Mr. McNally asks about this line for $892. He also asks about the
Teen Center Grant with social security and Medicare. Mr. Bryer will check into the purposes of these two lines.

Historical Society: Ms. McNally states that $500 was approved and $750 has been expended. 

Food Pantry: Ms. McNally asks if an invoice is necessary for the food pantry monies to be expended. Mr. Bryer suggests that she contact the town administrator.

Library: Ms. Pingree asks about the budgeted amount of $5,124 and notes that $13,000 has been spent. Mr. Bryer will check into this.

Mr. Bryer states that there may be some issues regarding specific lines but overall, he feels that the town’s budget is fine. He further explains the cycle of the tax bills being done twice a year. The second bills if sent out early usually come back earlier and then the town may not need to borrow. The selectmen will be setting the tax rate in the end of September, or early October. He states that Mr. Knox may need to borrow. $15,000 in the tax anticipated notes to cover the interest. Mr. Bryer explains that the town has not borrowed in 12-15 years. He adds that should the town need to borrow, it would be only be for a short term.

A discussion is held regarding vested time. Mr. Bryer is not sure as to how monies are allocated for comp time and vested time. He will check into how this is paid out.

Mr. Bryer refers to the capital outlays. He explains that the fire and police departments have their Ford Explorers now. He states that the town will now bill the trustees of the trust funds.

Ms. Bobowski asks about the new lines under the Fire Dept. for SS and Medi. Mr. Bryer states that this is a new system and new software. The new software may create new lines that were not available with the previous software.

Ms. Bobowski asks about the ZBA legal line. Mr. Bryer states that many boards have legal lines and there are lawsuits relating to the ZBA decisions.

Ms. Bobowski asks about GGB. Mr. Bryer explains that GGB line is for anything to do with the town’s buildings. He states that an expendable trust fund was created for unexpected expenditures as an emergency funding mechanism.

Items for year end materials to be discussed at the October 25 meeting. 

Scott Bryer makes a motion to adjourn. Second by Kate McNally. Motion passes unanimously at 9:30 p.m. 

Respectfully submitted,

Lisa Fellows-Weaver
Budget Committee Secretary