FINCOM 20230201 Minutes

Source page 1

Canton Finance Committee Minutes Voted on: 2/22/23 
801 Washington Street Vote: 7-0-0 
Canton, MA 02021 
Meeting Minutes 
February 1, 2023 
Finance Committee Members Present: Dave Clough, Dan Cole, Karen Foley, Emilio Mauro, Tim McKenna, 
Maureen Menconi, Reuki Schutt and Cindy Thomas. 
Finance Committee Members Absent: All members present. 
Guests Present: 
Charlie Doody, Town Administrator 
Ellen Jones, Finance Committee Recording Secretary 
Randy Scollins, Finance Director 
Call Meeting to Order: Ms. Thomas called the virtual meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. 
Ms. Thomas took a few minutes to review the Finance Committee's procedures on the review of minutes for the 
meetings. Agendas will note a primary reviewer and a secondary reviewer, should the primary reviewer be absent 
from the meeting. 
Review of ATM 2023 Warrant - Voted by the Select Board on January 31, 2023 — Randy Scollins 
Mr. Scollins provided information regarding the Annual Town Meeting (ATM) 2023 Warrant (31 articles) voted by the 
Select Board at their meeting on January 31, 2023. A brief overview of various ATM articles are as follows: 
• Article 4 — Consent Agenda — At the end of the review of all ATM articles the Finance Committee will make 
a recommendation of non -controversial ATM articles that could be included in the Consent Agenda article. 
• Article 5 — Collective Bargaining Agreements - Police Contract— A Quinn -like provision in the Police 
Contract has been settled, the Town did not have the funding for this provision in FY23. This must be 
brought forth to the voters to request funding. The Quinn Bill provision is an education incentive that the 
state historically funded a portion of but then phased out completely. Many communities who had phased 
out this benefit have now bargained to bring it back as a contract provision. The Select Board agreed to this 
provision. The approximate cost for FY23 is $76,000, which needs to be budgeted. The Quinn -like costs 
will be included in the FY24 budget. 
• Article 7 — Set Salaries of Elected Officials - The Sub -Committee will be making a recommendation to the 
Annual Town Meeting regarding this article. 
• Article 8 — Pay Bills of Prior Fiscal Year— Mr. Scollins is unaware of any outstanding bills from prior fiscal 
years but this could change prior to Town Meeting. Massachusetts finance laws state that the Town cannot 
pay prior year bills with current year appropriations. There is a requirement for approval of these prior year 
bills with an eight -tenths vote at an Annual Town Meeting or a nine -tenths vote at a Special Town Meeting. 
• Article 10 — Revolving Funds — Spending limit amounts out of the revolving funds are voted at the Annual 
Town Meeting. The Revolving Funds were codified as part of the Town's By -Laws. Mr. Scollins informed 
the Committee that the School Department has a Revolving Fund for Student Parking Fees, which is not 
required to be a part of the Revolving Funds list. The School Department has the authority to manage the 
Student Parking Fees collected and they will be requesting that it be removed from the Article/By-Law. 
• Article 11 — Insurance Proceeds — The Town must vote to accept insurance proceeds greater than 
$150,000. 
• Article 13 — Supplement Chapter 90 — Free Cash could be a funding source for supplementing M.G.L. 
Chapter 90 funds received from the state to assist with road improvements, which have remained virtually 
"flat". Mr. Scollins, the Town Administrator and the Department of Public Works Superintendent agree in 
recommending a supplemental match to the estimated $740,000 anticipated from the state. By making 
funds available prior to July 1 under Article 13, the DPW Superintendent would be able to use these funds 
immediately to get ahead of the July scheduling competition across the region and to make significant 
progress on road improvements. The Free Cash balance is $5.8 million above the targeted threshold for 
reserves. 
FINCOM 20230201 Minutes WRS & EM.docx Page 1 of 8 2/2/23