Canton, Massachusetts · Saved source text

February 04, 2016, Finance Committee Meeting. Minutes

Finance Committee · Record date 2016-02-04 · Record 3ce7869b417351f362

Saved text from 5 source pages. Transcription and OCR may contain errors; verify figures and wording against the original. Retrieved 2026-10-15.

Town of Canton Finance Committee                      tviinutes voted on: 3/g/~6
                                           Meeting Minutes                              vote: 8-0-2
                                      Thursday, February 4, 2016


Members Present:
Sepp Bergschneider, Jim Casamento, Gerald Dorfman, Nichola Gallagher, Stephanie Leach, Tim
McKenna, Barbara Saint Andre and Jim Sims.

 Members Absent:

 Rob Barker and Dianne Gustafson.

Guests Present:
Janet Maguire, Director, Parks &Recreation
Jim Murgia, Finance Director
Ellen Jones, Finance Committee Secretary

Opening: A meeting of the Canton Finance Committee was called to order by Chair Saint Andre at
7:04 p.m. on Thursday, February 4, 2016 in the Salah Meeting Room of Town Hall.

A.       Approval of Agenda

Chair Saint Andre reviewed the items on the agenda.

B.       Announcements

There were no announcements.

C.       New Business

Parks &Recreation —Discussion with Janet Maguire, Director — Prior to the meeting, Ms. Maguire
had responded, thru Chair Saint Andre, to emails from Mr. Sims and Mr. Casamento that contained
inquiries about the Parks &Recreation budget(see meeting handouts).

FY16 Budget Shortfall —Parks &Recreation — Ms. Maguire provide a handout that detailed the issues
causing the FY16 budget shortfall for the Parks &Recreation budget(see meeting handout). Some of the
reasons include the following:

     The salaries for two rink employees are now being charged to the Parks &Recreation budget instead
     of the Rink Enterprise Fund, causing a salary budget shortfall in the Parks &Recreation budget.
     An AEA (Administrative Employees Association) contractual obligation of approximately $10,000 for
     the Parks &Recreation Director was negotiated after the budget had been set at the 2015 Annual
     Town Meeting.
e    At the time of the meeting the total budget shortfall for FY16 for Parks &Recreation is approximately
     $75,000.

 M r. Casamento inquired as to why a Reserve Fund Transfer Request would not be considered for
covering the budget shortfall. Mr. Murgia spoke against this due to the Reserve Fund having only a
$103,000 balance and suggested covering the shortfall through a transfer at the Annual Town Meeting
(ATM).

M r. Sims commented that typically contracts are funded subject to ATM approval and that for a number of
years the Town has been negotiating and approving contracts after ATM had already approved budgets,
thus causing potential salary budget shortfalls in the ensuing year.

Electricity Budget —Parks &Recreation — Ms. Maguire informed the Finance Committee that the Parks
& Recreation budget will be overspent in the electricity budget because of the increase in the number of
field users compared to as far back as 2007, expanded operations, extended time on the fields and the

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increased use of the fields. (Ms. Maguire provided a handout out listing the winter work plan for the fields
and other locations around the Town that Parks &Recreation is responsible for maintaining.) Ms.
Maguire stated that as program fees are collected in the Revolving Fund, funds will be used to pay for
electricity costs.

Mr. Sims expressed concern about using the Recreation Revolving Fund balances to support the
Recreation operating budget.

Mr. Murgia explained that while the Town has over approximately $1 million in net metering solar energy
credits, these net metering credits are kept in a separate fund (Fund 111) and are not directly credited
back to the individual departments' electricity costs. The Town is trying the get Eversource to issue cash
payments to the Town for the credits that have accumulated. The state is in the process of holding public
hearings with Eversource and the Department of Public Utilities to address the enormous credits that
Towns have accumulated.

M r. Casamento also expressed concern at the inappropriateness of using revolving funds to pay for costs
in the operating budget. Mr. Murgia stated that ATM sets the parameters for the use of the Parks &
Recreation Revolving Fund and that expenses related to the operating costs for running programs may
be charged to the Revolving Fund. The Director, working with the Parks &Recreation Commissioner, is
the final authority with regard to how expenses are charged to the budget.

Ms. Maguire explained that program fees are periodically reviewed and updated and that a new fee
schedule for field rentals was implemented in 2015 and that she is always looking for ways to reduce fees
to citizens.

The fee paid to a software company for maintaining the Parks &Recreation website is approximately
$3,500 per year along with a $3,000 to $4,000 per year credit transaction fees paid to the credit card
companies. With the exception of collecting cash at the Town Pool, the rink and the road race, Parks &
Recreation collects all registration fees in the form of check or credit card.

FY17 Parks &Recreation Budget — Mr. Sims recommended that the Youth Services budget be merged
into the Parks &Recreation budget.

Mr. Sims inquired about the Armando Property Maintenance budget being included under the grouping of
DPW budgets, yet directly relates to Parks &Recreation. Ms. Maguire stated that because the hiring
process of a Town Director of Facilities was still ongoing, she preferred to wait until the position is filled to
approach property maintenance of the Armando facility.

FY17 Capital Requests for Parks &Recreation — Ms. Maguire explained the FY17 capital requests:

•   A $35,000 capital request has been submitted for design and construction of a Town pool bathhouse.
•   A request for replacement of playground equipment at the Tilden Field would be resubmitted next
    year through an application to the Community Preservation Committee, as the application deadline
    was missed for FY17.
•   A $7,500 capital request has been submitted for a roll out mat for accessibility to Bolivar Pond at the
    Town Pool area.
•   A $12,500 capital request has been submitted for azero-turn lawnmower which would increase
    efficiency and quality for maintaining fields.

Rink Budget and Rink Receivables — Ms. Maguire explained that it was the BOS and the Town's intent
to get the Rink either repaired or rebuilt and back on line but that no definitive date had been set. Ms.
Maguire would be discussing the rink budget with the BOS on February 16.

The Town recently received a $1.8 million check from the insurance company. This amount represents
the undisputed amount and will have to be accepted as insurance proceeds at ATM.

Parks &Recreation Director's Rink Stipend —For FY17 the $8,300 stipend paid to the Recreation
Director for running the rink has been rolled into her base salary.


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ATM Article -July 4t" Celebration —Last year the cost of the 4t" of July celebration was $34,000. Ms.
Maguire stated that there would be an increase in police details cost but that an estimate of $32,000 was
a reasonable estimate for the costs of the upcoming celebration.

There was some discussion as to the reason the cost of the July 4t" celebration was not being included
within the Parks &Recreation budget. In years past the budget had been carried within the Recreation
budget but had been removed due to budget cuts. Efforts had been made to obtain private funds for the
costs associated with this celebration. The purpose of having an ATM article request was to allow the
voters of Canton to decide on funding the celebration from a possible source such as free cash.

The discussion with Ms. Maguire ended at approximately 8:05 p.m.

Annual Toww ~Vleetinq Warrant —The Finance Committee members were provided with a copy of the
ATM warrant. there was no detailed discussion about the warrant.

Revenue Forecasting Committee —Update — Mr. Murgia provided a summary of the Revenue
Forecasting Committee Meeting that was recently held on January 29t". The Revenue Committee
increased the FY17 revenue estimate by approximately $1 million. As a result of this the municipal and
school budgets may increase 6%, which is substantial. Some of the highlights of his discussion included:
• New growth was increased from a total of $400,000 to $600,000 for real estate and $200,000 for
    personal property.
• Chapter 70 was increased by $65,000.
• Local receipts for excise taxes was increased to $3,600,000. Mr. Murgia predicts that revenue from
    excise taxes could reach $4 million for FY16.
• Hotel and Meals Taxes revenue was reduced from $650,000 to 600,000.
    With regard to building permit fees, Building Inspector, Ed Walsh, had indicated at the Revenue
    Meeting that he would be recommending to the BOS an increase to building permit fees for the
    upcoming fiscal year. Revenue for permit fees was increased from $600,000 to $650,000.
• Transfers from School Food Services was increased by $26,000 to account for OPEB (Other Post-
    Employment Benefits) costs. There would be another increase of approximately $20,000 for next
    year as well. The transfers for the Water and Sewer Enterprise Funds already include costs for
    OPEB.
• The FY17 target budget number for the School Department was $38,447,028. The School
    Committee voted an FY17 budget number of $38.3 million, which did not include costs for a free full-
    day kindergarten program.
• The municipal departments FY17 budget request is $19.4 million which is over the target amount of
    $19.2 million.


Chair Saint Andre commented that the unused levy capacity for FY17 was zero, a number which she
could not recall at zero for a number of years. She questioned why some of the Town's excess revenue
could not be turned back to the taxpayers. In FY16, $641,000 was budgeted for unused levy capacity.

M r. Casamento spoke in support of not using excess revenue to increase the school and municipal
budgets by 6% for FY17 and instead proposed using the revenue towards improvement of roads, for
OPEB costs, other capital projects or returning it to the taxpayers.

Mr. Casamento questioned the role of the Finance Committee and if it was within their fiscal responsibility
and authority to recommend a lower budget increase than 6% for FY17.

Mr. Sims commented that in the past the Finance Committee voted a target number that was then
provided to the School Committee.

Chair Saint Andre stated that the Finance Committee could recommend a budget less than what the BOS
recommends.

Ms. Leach spoke in support of funding OPEB costs.



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D.      Other Business/Open Issues

Liaison Reports —There were no liaison reports.

        Approval of Minutes

A motion made by Mr. Casamento to approve the minutes for January 13, 2016 as written was
seconded by Ms. Gallagher. Vote: 8-0-0.

A motion made by Mr. Casamento to approve the minutes for January 26, 2016 as written was
seconded by Mr. Dorfman. Vote: 7-0-1. Mr. Bergschneider abstained.

F.      Next Meeting Date: At the time of the meeting the next meeting date scheduled was for
Tuesday, February 16, however, this meeting was cancelled after the meeting of February 4t"took place
Therefore, the next meeting was scheduled for February 18.

Adjournment: A motion made by Mr. Bergschneider to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 p.m. was
seconded by Ms. Gallagher. Vote: 8-0-0.

Minutes reviewed by: Nichols Gallagher

R sp ctfully sub ~ ed,

 J
Barb     Saint Andre
Chair, Canton Finance Committee




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Town of Canton
                          Finance Committee Meeting —Thursday, February 4, 2016

                                        List of Meeting Handouts


 Please note: These meeting handouts may also be found on the Town's website under the Posted
 Minutes section (Laser Fiche).

 Agenda (1 page).

 FY16 — Rec. Maint. Worker — 16301-51186 —Summary(2 Rink Assigned Employees), provided by Janet
 Maguire (1 page).

 Recreation Department Winter 2015/2016 Employee Work Plan (Schedule of work to be performed in lieu
 of Rink duties) provided by Janet Maguire (4 pages).

 Email dated February 3, 2016 regarding questions for Parks &Recreation from Jim Sims(5 pages).

 Email dated February 1, 2016 regarding questions for Parks &Recreation (4 pages).

 Metro Skating Rink Budget, revised on February 3, 2016 provided by Janet Maguire (1 page).

Parks &Recreation, Staff Positions paid out of Revolving Fund, provided by Janet Maguire (1 page).

Email dated February 3, 2016 along with several exhibits and questions for Parks &Recreation from Jim
Sims (14 pages).

 Email dated January 29, 2016 from Jim Murgia to members of the Revenue Forecasting Committee
(8 pages.)




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