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FINCOM MINUTES 03-12-2015
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Town of Canton Finance Committee Minutes Voted on: 3/16/15
Meeting Minutes Vote: 8-0-3
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Members Present:
Rob Barker, Jim Casamento, Jerry Dorfman, Nichola Gallagher, Dianne Gustafson, Stephanie Leach,
Mark Porter and Jim Sims.
Members Absent:
Sepp Bergschneider, Tim McKenna, Barbara Saint Andre, and Diane Wolff.
Guests Present:
Aidan Maguire, Canton Representative to the Blues Hills School Committee
Steve Moore, Asst. Supt. for Business & Personnel, Blue Hills Regional Technical High School
James Quaglia, Superintendent, Blue Hills Regional Technical High School
Deb Sundin, Chairman, Conservation Commission
Jim Murgia, Finance Director
Ellen Jones, Finance Committee Secretary
Opening:
A meeting of the Canton Finance Committee was called to order at 7:01 p.m. on Thursday, March 12,
2015 in the Meeting Room of the William J. Armando Recreation Center.
A. Approval of Agenda
Chairman Porter reviewed the items on the agenda.
B. Announcements
Chairman Porter announced that the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) would be holding a
legislative breakfast meeting at Canton Town Hall on Friday, March 20 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and that
any Finance Committee member interested in attending the meeting should register on-line as per the
meeting handout.
Mr. Sims announced that Superintendent Granatino would be leaving Canton to serve as the
Superintendent for Marshfield.
C. New Business
Blue Hills Regional Technical High School — FY16 Budget and Assessment — Mr. Quaglia, Mr.
Moore and Mr. Maguire presented to the Committee two detailed budget documents — one document on
the Proposed 2015-2016 Operating Budget and another document on the 2015-2016 Proposed Member
Town Assessments. The following are some of the highlights from the Proposed Operating Budget:
• Blue Hills added 4.5 FTE positions — three academic positions, one each in English, mathematics
and social studies, one vocational teacher for a new criminal justice program being offered and 1/2
time physical education teacher.
• Overall, the operating budget will increase 2.8%.
• Salaries will increase 5.5% for FY16 because of new staff and contractual obligations.
• Expenses will decrease by 0.5%.
• Blue Hills has filed numerous times (approximately six times) a Statement of Interest (S01) with
MSBA, but the state has passed over Blue Hills. Blue Hills has been encouraged to file an SOI
again. The 50-year old windows and doors are in need of replacement. The plan will be to
supplement any MSBA reimbursement through bonding over 20 years. Cost of the project may
be approximately $20 million.
• Blue Hills has decided not to contribute towards the Stabilization Fund for FY16.
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The following are some of the highlights regarding the Member Town Assessments:
• Five factors contributed to the 2016 assessment for each member town: 1) increase in
enrollment at Blue Hills, 2) 2.8% increase in the operating budget ($490,000), 3) decrease in E &
D (Excess and Deficiency) ($250,000 was added to mitigate salary increases across the towns),
and 4) an increase percentage of member towns' enrolled students and 5) 9C cuts to
transportation reimbursement.
• The total assessment to member towns for FY16 is $13,178,309.
• The change in the number of students from FY14 to FYI 5 for Canton was an increase of four
students from 59 students to 63 students.
• Canton's assessment for FY16 is $1,120,445 or a 1.98% increase over the FY15 assessment.
• The FY16 required contribution as per the Governor's budget is $854,918. Mr. Moore distributed
information regarding the basis for the foundation budget and explained it to the new members.
Blue Hills offered to return to the Finance Committee in the future if members were interested in
learning more about the very complicated formula the state uses in calculating the required
contribution. Mr. Quaglia explained that the aggregate wealth and income distribution are just
two of the many factors that are considered in the foundation budget formula.
The discussion with Blue Hills concluded at approximately 7:40 p.m.
Conservation Commission — FY16 Budget Requests — Ms. Sundin presented the Conservations
Commissions FY16 budget requests as follows:
• The Commission is seeking an increase of $34,069 for FY16.
• $200 increase to the in-state travel budget.
• $100 decrease to the postage budget.
• A $500 addition to the budget was being requested for the one-time purchase of a GPS unit.
• An increase of $33,469 was being requested for FY16 to increase the hours of the Conservation
Agent from 24 hours per week (PT) to 40 hours per week (FT). Three reasons for increasing the
Conservation Agent's hours were 1) increased department head responsibilities for managing the
office and supervising paid and unpaid staff, 2) more responsibility associated with oversight of
Conservation owned land including Pequitside Farm and 3) added responsibilities for storm water
education with the MS4 general permit.
• The Conservation Commission requested to eliminate the Soil Erosion revolving fund and use the
fees collected in this fund to help offset the additional salary for the Conservation Agent. On
average, the Soil Erosion Fund collects approximately $17,000 per year. The current balance is
approximately $49,000.
• The net increase for the Conservation Agent's increase in hours would be an increase of
$14,000.
• The BOS may be voting the Conservation Commission FY16 budget on March 24. A budget
amount will then be presented to Annual Town Meeting for approval. A personal contract will
need to be negotiated with the Conservation Agent. An amount will be included in the 910
budget.
• A Finance Committee member questioned the step increase for the clerical salary in the budget.
Ms. Sundin explained that the individual performing the duties as the department secretary is the
same individual that is the recording secretary. This is a Personnel Board position with overtime
paid after 40 hours. The clerical position was due a step increase.
• Ms. Sundin reported that the BOS did not support the Conservation Commission's capital request
of $115,000 for the redesign of the Pequitside Farm parking areas.
The discussion with Ms. Sundin regarding the Conservation Commission budget concluded at
approximately 7: 50 p.m.
Vote Article 7 Motion 1 — Town Clerk's Salary for FY16 Mr. Sims made a suggestion to the
—
Committee to wait until the Board of Selectmen voted the Town Clerk's salary.
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A motion made by Rob Barker that the salary and compensation for the Town Clerk be fixed at $80,998 for FY2016 was seconded by Nichola Gallagher. Vote: 7-0-1. Mr. Sims abstained from the vote. Vote Article 7 Motion 2 — Set Salaries of Elected Officials for FY16 — Chairman Porter rescused himself from discussing or voting on Article 7 Motion 2 because he was running for the Board of Selectmen and decided that it would be a conflict voting on what could potentially be his salary. A member inquired as to why some elected officials were compensated and others were not. Mr. Murgia explained that some elected officials were compensated because many years ago the Board of Assessors, Board of Health and Board of Selectmen did not have permanent office staff to run the day-to- day functions that were needed to conduct business and were therefore compensated for the duties they were performing. The offices are now fully staffed. Currently, there are four paid elected officials that are enrolled in the Town's insurances. Elected officials do not earn credit for years of service if earning less than $5,000 per year. A motion made by Nichola Gallagher to postpone the vote for Article 7 Motion 2 was seconded by Jim Sims. Mr. Casamento suggested approving the existing salaries for the elected officials for this year but have the Finance Committee make an effort at researching this further and comparing the salaries to other communities. Ms. Gallagher withdrew her motion. A motion made by Nichola Gallagher that the salary and compensation for all part-time elected officials be fixed at "0" (zero) for FY16 was seconded by Jim Sims. Vote: 6-1-0. Mr. Casamento voted in opposition to this motion. The record reflects that Chairman Porter did not take part in this vote. Chairman Porter rejoined the meeting. Chairman Porter suggested that the Committee delay the discussion on Article 11 as a resident had contacted him by email that he was interested in attending the meeting to express his comments on Article 11. Vote Article 16 — Vote to Rescind Unused Borrowing Authorizations — Mr. Murgia provided back-up information with regard to the authorized debt to be rescinded from ATM 2011, Article 13, Motion 10. The Town had authorized $1,500,000 at ATM 2011 for the Rodman Heating System for which the Town received a grant of $150,000 from the state. Bonds had been issued for $1,350,000. The cost of the project was $1,244,651. There was $150,000 of unissued debt. Article 16 is a "housekeeping" article to rescind authorized debt but not yet issued. A motion made by Dianne Gustafson to rescind $150,000 of unused borrowing authorizations (ATM 2011, Article 13 Motion 10) was seconded by Jim Casamento. Vote: 8-0-0. FY15 Reserve Fund Transfer Request - $28,500 Medical Dispatch Upgrade - Discussion — Chairman Porter explained to the Committee that Chief Doody had recently contacted him and Mr. Murgia about a capital item needed to upgrade the technology associated with the Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) system at the Fire Department. Canton Fire is considered as the Secondary Service (the Police Department is the Primary). This upgrade would not be supported by the State 911 Department. According to Chief Doody's email sent to Chairman Porter and Mr. Murgia, there are a few options to consider: 1) Fund the $28,500 to complete the technology upgrade and leave the EMD within the Fire Department, as members are already certified in EMD. 2) Dissolve the Secondary Service and transfer EMD to Canton Police, but police officers would need to be certified to perform EMD. FINCOM 03122015 MINUTES.doc Page 3 of 6 03/16/2015
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3) Dissolve the Secondary Service and transfer EMD to a regional emergency center such as the
Norfolk County Dispatch Center (in Holbrook), for which the fee would exceed $28,500.
Chief Doody's recommendation would be number 1 above — to leave the EMP within the Fire Department
for the time being. Chairman Porter suggested waiting to vote on this Reserve Fund Transfer because
the Board of Selectmen, at the time of the Finance Committee meeting, had not been apprised of this
budget issue.
Special Town Meeting Articles — Discussion — Mr. Murgia asked the members to consider if the
Committee wanted to issue one combined Finance Committee Recommendations to Town Meeting
Report (Special and Annual combined into one report to the voters) or to issue two separate Finance
Committee Recommendations to the voters.
Chairman Porter and some of the members did not see the harm in issuing one Finance Committee
Recommendations report, so long as the report was clear and concise in the front (the cover) and that
this single report contained detailed information for both a Special Town Meeting and an Annual Town
Meeting.
Mr. Murgia inquired of the Committee if they wanted the Town's fiscal advisor, Lisa Dickinson, from
UniBank to come to a Finance Committee meeting to explain the DIF (STM Article 3 - District
Improvement Financing Program).
Chairman Porter spoke in support of the fiscal advisor attending a Finance Committee meeting sometime
in April, after the Committee has already taken their votes regarding STK
Ms. Gustafson spoke in support of the Committee conducting its due diligence and having the fiscal
advisor attend before the Committee had to vote.
Mr. Murgia referred the Committee to Exhibit H on the Town's website, which lists the infrastructure
improvements for which the developer will build and then periodically bill the Town when the
improvements have been completed. The Town will then borrow for these improvements but pay for the
debt out of real estate taxes collected on the property. If the Town has not collected enough tax revenue,
there is a clause in the Development Agreement that the developer will help pay for the debt service.
Chairman Porter stated that town officials have met on several occasions to discuss how the
redevelopment of Plymouth Rubber will be presented by the officials to the voters at Special Town
Meeting.
Vote Article 11 — Authorize Certain Revolving Funds — The resident that was to join the meeting to
discuss Article 11 did not attend. Mr. Murgia explained a few of the changes being proposed for the
Revolving Funds for FY16:
• COA Revolving Fund — The scope (revenue sources, use of funds and spending limit) was being
changed for the COA Revolving Fund. All donations would be included in the revenue sources. This
would eliminate the Board of Selectmen having to publicly accept donations. If approved at ATM, the
spending limit would be increased to $50,000 annually.
• Soil Erosion Fund — The Soil Erosion Fund was eliminated as a revolving fund. Fees collected in
this fund would be general fund revenue and would be used to help fund the increase in hours to the
Conservation Agent, if approved.
• Recreation Revolving Fund - New — Mr. Murgia explained that because of the way Recreation was
set up under the By-Law in 1971, the Auditors have commented that there was a $10,000 limit as to
how much the department was allowed to carry over to the next year. The Auditors were allowing
revenue collected prior to the end of the fiscal year being used for programs after July 1. By having
Annual Town Meeting approve a Recreation Revolving Fund, the fund balance will now be able to
carry over from year to year. If approved at Town Meeting, the spending limit for the Recreation
Revolving Fund would be set at $300,000 annually.
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Ms. Gustafson expressed concern with the transparency of these revolving funds, given the very large spending limits being proposed. These funds could be spent without appropriation. Mr. Murgia stated that the Town Accountant updates these revolving funds on a monthly basis and has been releasing quarterly reports to Mr. Sims. The Committee discussed having a recap of these revolving funds in the Committee's report in the Annual Town Meeting Recommendations to the voters. Mr. Sims reminded the Committee that 1) in the past, the Finance Committee had not been interested in the details of these funds and 2) the MGL Law states that the custodian of these revolving funds must give a report to Annual Town Meeting (which has not been done in the past). A Committee member requested that the Spending Authority for the Recreation Revolving Fund include the word "Director" so that it will read as "Parks & Recreation Director" to assure that there is a named custodian for the account. A motion made by Jim Casamento to approve Revolving Funds #1 through #12 as printed in Article 11 Motion 1 of the warrant was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 8-0-0. A motion made by Jim Casamento to approve the new Recreation Revolving Fund #13 with an annual spending limit of $300,000 as printed in Article 11 Motion 2 of the warrant was seconded by Nichola Gallagher. Vote: 8-0-0. D. Old Business/Open Issues Liaison Reports — Capital Planning Committee (CPC) — Dianne Gustafson and Jerry Dorfman, the Finance Committee liaisons to the CPC, reported to the Committee that they have received further details regarding the Hansen Elementary 8-classroom addition. The CPC would be attending the Finance Committee meeting on March 16 to provide an update on their votes. Ch. 90 Funds — Mr. Sims spoke in opposition to the recent approval by the BOS to use Ch. 90 funds to build sidewalks and granite curbing on Chapman Street from Washington Street to Legion Street. Mr. Sims stated that these funds could have been used for road repairs. He inquired about the street repairs listing being made available to the public. Chairman Porter stated that the final decision lies with the BOS for allocating these Ch. 90 funds to projects they deem necessary and a priority. E. Approval of Minutes The minutes for the March 9th Finance Committee meeting had been completed but were still being reviewed by the Committee members and would be voted on at a future meeting. F. Next Meeting Date: The next meeting date would be Monday, March 16, at 7:00 p.m. in the Salah Meeting Room of Town Hall. Adjournment: A motion made by Jim Casamento to adjourn the meeting at 9:25 p.m. was seconded by Stephanie Leach. Vote: 8-0-0. Minutes reviewed by: Dianne Gustafson Respectfully s la itted, Mar orter C ./rman, Canton Finance Committee FINCOM 03122015 MINUTES.doc Page 5 of 6 03/16/2015
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Town of Canton
Finance Committee Meeting — March 12, 2015
List of Meeting Handouts
Agenda (1 page).
MMA Legislative Breakfasts set for March, The Beacon, March 2015 (1 page).
Blue Hills Regional Technical School — Proposed 2015-2016 Operating Budget dated 2/23/15 V3.0
(16 pages).
Blue Hills Regional Technical School — Proposed Member Town Assessments 2015-2016 dated
3/5/2015 V7.0 (14 pages).
Conservation Commission FY16 Budget Requests, Conservation Agent Job Description, and copy of
email from Deb Sundin to Jim Murgia, dated January 7, 2015 (8 pages).
Article 7 — Set Salaries of Elected Officials (1 page).
Article 16 — Vote to Rescind Unused Borrowing Authorizations (2 pages).
State 911 Notification — Limited Secondary PSAP Equipment, email from Fire Chief Charlie Doody to
Jim Murgia, Finance Director, dated March 12, 2015 (3 pages).
2015 Special Town Meeting Warrant, dated 3/10/15 (24 pages).
Article 11 — Authorize Certain Revolving Funds (2 pages).
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