In a discussion with the Assessors, Sheila asked
them to
look at the cost of updating the Town’s map. It
appears that it would be close to a $6000 investment.
Is now the time?
Members expressed appreciation for Dave Gott’s
taking the
minutes of the March 24th meeting. Jeff
made a motion, seconded by Jan, that the minutes be
approved. The vote was 2 in favor with Ned
abstaining
because he was not present on the 24th.
There was discussion of the budget request
submitted by Kris
Burnes of the Board of Health. The
request is for level funding. Kris
reported that due to a 6% decrease in FRCOG fees the amount for the
FRCOG Health
Agent will be $9,483 for FY10.
In the discussion of the possibility of paying
off the
school loan early with the saving $100,000, the FinCom recommended
pursuing
that option.
The meeting adjourned at 9:05 pm.
Minutes
of the
Meeting of the Heath Finance Committee
April
14, 2009
Time: 6:30 pm
Place: Heath School
Present: Don
Freeman, Ned Wolf, Jeff Simmons, and Dave Gott
The March 31st minutes were approved
by a vote of
3 – 0 with Dave Gott abstaining because he was not present at the March
31st
meeting.
There was a discussion of Charlemont’s request
for $32,300
for its ambulance. The consensus was
that Jeff should lead in asking questions about such things as why
Charlemont
needs a new ambulance, liability issues, and the collection rate for
fees.
The FinCom meeting was suspended at 6:55 pm so
that members
could attend the Special Town Meeting.
The FinCom meeting resumed with the BOS at 7:25
pm. There was a discussion of the request
by Val
Kaempfer and Armand Clavette for the Highway Department to operate the
chipper
for 2 days on Shawnee Drive and Sioux Circle while helpers bring tree
limbs. Sheila said that the request
seemed reasonable but that the BOS would need time to consider it. She said that FEMA would not be the
financial source for such a project.
Next there was a discussion of Mike Smith’s
request for a
new $14,000 wing plow or for as many as the Town chooses to place on
the fleet
of plow trucks. Such a plow would
increase the given truck’s swath and thus save hiring a lead pick-up. One suggestion was that one new wing plow be
bought this year and that in succeeding year’s a new wing plow be
purchased at
the time of the purchase of a new truck.
In the discussion of building a new salt shed
questions
included “Could Chapter 90 money be used?”, “What would be the best
type of
construction?”, and “What would be the optimal dimensions taking into
consideration the turning radius of the pay loader?”
Mike will give these questions more attention.
Members reviewed the
April 13th version of the Town’s budget focusing on the
items in
bold face type.
In Line 26 the $6,000 would help to bring the
Town’s maps up
to date.
In Line 64 the $14,500 includes extra police
time because
Margo is not getting $11,000 in grant money.
In Line 70 Mike says that a decrease such as
from $11,000 to
$9,900 will result in the Board’s revisiting that item next year.
Regarding Line 85, Sheila said she would check
with Suzanne
Crawford about Pre-school Support.
In Line 91 members asked how Mike had come up
with $40,000
for Vehicle Gas and Oil.
In Line 97 the question is whether to use
Pre-treated salt
which at $127,000 would be about $60,000 more than treated sand.
The 10% reduction in Line 98 is one of Mike’s
efforts to
reduce his budget.
In Lines 99 and 100 the experience of funding
temporary help
this past year makes the amounts $1,309 and 3,536 seem reasonable.
After discussing Dump Tipping in Line 105
members agreed
with the BOS to replace $20,000 with $18,000.
In the discussion of Charlemont’s request for
$32,000 for
its ambulance Jeff asked about the liability and the collection rate of
service
fees. Gloria said that Heath would have
no liability because Charlemont owns the ambulance.
She added that ambulance fees collected go just towards paying
the operational costs and not the capital costs.
Sheila will seek more information from
Charlemont.
Questions to be considered before the next
meeting on April
21st include:
-What
is the
Levy Calculation for FY10? Don said he
would have this for next week.
-
What effect would 1% pay raises to Town
employees have on the
other budget items?
-
How should Free Cash be used?
The FinCom meeting adjourned at 9:05 pm.
Respectfully
submitted,
Ned
Wolf, Secretary
Minutes
of the
Meeting of the Heath Finance Committee
April
21, 2009
Time: 6:30 pm
Place: Assessors’
Office
Present: Don
Freeman, Jeff Simmons, Jan Carr, Dave Gott, and Ned Wolf
The minutes of the April 21st meeting
were read
and accepted with emendations.
Jan, who was not present, abstained.
Members studied Don’s memo on the subject
“Estimating the FY
2010 Tax Rate”.
The memo discusses 3 drafts in which it is
assumed that the
cherry sheet amount will be $66,022 while assumptions about other data
used in
computing the tax rate vary from draft to draft. The
sources of data are provided in the footnotes. The
drafts raise such questions as whether
and how the Town will contribute $32,300 to a Charlemont ambulance or
purchase
a new wing plow for $14,000.
Members agreed that a COLA increase in the
salaries of Town
employees should be in the FY2010 budget.
At 7:00 pm members joined the BOS for a
discussion of the
Police Department’s budget and how it is affected by the loss of the
Community
Policing Grant. FinCom members
determined in the discussion that money appropriated to replace
community
policing in this year’s budget would not be dedicated entirely to
catching
speeders.
Don asked BOS members about the origins of Mike
Smith’s
estimate of $40,000 for Vehicle Gas and Oil in FY2010.
He suggested that next year Heath consider
putting its amount for Vehicle Gas and Oil out to bid.
BOS members received copies of Don’s memo on
estimating the
FY 2010 Tax Rate.
They asked questions and expressed their
appreciation for
Don’s good work.
Tom said it would help us to keep our eye on the
maximum
amount we can raise by taxes without incurring an override.
Brian spoke of the Town’s having an energy audit
done by
ESCO. There will be no cost to the
Town. Recommendations will be made
which could save on energy consumption.
The $2500 amount for “Connect CTY” will likely
be removed
from the budget although we will wait for Sheila’s input.
Gloria reported that Tracey Baronas has told her
that the
Town must make up for $32,332.25 due to overruns in the three accounts
Salary
Winter Highway, Winter Sand/Salt, and Winter Hired Services. Brian made a motion that there be a Special
Town Meeting at 8:30 am just before the Annual Town Meeting on the
morning of
May 9th.
The motion was seconded and approved by the BOS. There followed a discussion of three STM
articles to transfer money from Free Cash into each of the overrun
winter
accounts. Jeff made a motion, seconded
by Jan, that the FinCom recommend the three articles to transfer from
Free Cash
the appropriate amounts into the Salary Winter Highway Account, the
Winter
Sand/Salt Account, and the Winter Hired Services Account so that the
total is
the $32,332.25 that Tracey says needs to be covered.
The motion was approved by unanimous vote.
Regarding the $32,300 for the Charlemont
ambulance and the
$14,000 for a new wing plow, members discussed whether or not
stabilization
money should be used.
Jeff made a motion, seconded by Jan, that
stabilization
money be used to cover the $32,300 for the Charlemont ambulance and the
$14,000
for a new wing plow.
The motion was approved by unanimous vote.
At 9:00 pm members left the BOS meeting and
returned to the
Assessors’ Office.
They discussed the possibility of the Town’s
stepping in to
make up for the loss of state support for our library.
They asked what is included in the
“Equipment and Uniforms”
line of the police budget. They
noted that the approximately $136,000 that would remain
in
Stabilization would be more than 5% of the Town’s budget, a recommended
lower
bound.
The FinCom adjourned at 9:15 pm.
Respectfully
submitted,
Ned
Wolf, Secretary