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April 09, 2015, Finance Committee Meeting. Minutes
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Town of Canton Finance Committee Minutes Voted on: 4/27/15
Meeting Minutes Vote: 8-0-0
Thursday, April 9, 20015
Members Present:
Rob Barker, Sepp Bergschneider, Jim Casamento, Jerry Dorfman, Dianne Gustafson, Stephanie Leach,
Tim McKenna, Mark Porter, Barbara Saint Andre and Jim Sims.
Members Absent:
Nichola Gallagher and Diane Wolff.
Guests Present:
Jim Murgia, Finance Director
Ellen Jones, Finance Committee Secretary
Opening:
A meeting of the Canton Finance Committee was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 9, 2015
in the upper meeting room of the William J. Armando Recreation Center.
A. Approval of Agenda
Chairman Porter reviewed the items on the agenda which included finishing discussions and the Finance
Committee Report, voting on the budget and updating the Committee on a School Committee meeting
taking place at the same time as the Finance Committee.
B. Announcements
Chairman Porter announced that he would be sworn in as a member of the Board of Selectmen (BOS) on
Friday, April 10, and that Ms. Saint Andre would be acting as Chairman until the Committee elects new
officers after Town Meeting.
Chairman Porter announced that there would be a pre-ATM/STM Planning Meeting on Wednesday, April
15th at 3:00 p.m. and that the Finance Committee should have a representative at the meeting.
Depending upon schedules, Dianne Gustafson, Rob Barker or Jim Sims would be attending the meeting.
C. New Business
Article 37 — Home Rule Petition — Number of Alcohol Licenses & Package Store Licenses —
Mr. Murgia updated the Committee that he had received approval from Town Counsel for the two
separate motions (5 pouring licenses and 2 package store licenses) voted by the Finance Committee
under Article 37. These would eventually be bundled as one motion when sent to the State Legislature
for consideration.
Discussion of Borrowing for Bonds
The Finance Committee finished reviewing the ATM and STM discussions for the Recommendations
Report to the Voters of Town Meeting. Mr. Casamento inquired about the process for which the bonds
are borrowed. Mr. Murgia explained that procedurally the Finance Director/Treasurer recommends to
ATM which items and/or projects that should be borrowed for. The Treasurer (also the Finance Director)
makes a recommendation to the BOS as to the length of borrowing or the bonds.
With regard to the Community Preservation Committee bonds being proposed under STM Article 6, Mr.
Murgia indicated that if the CPA were to be repealed five years into the borrowing, the CPA tax surcharge
only in an amount necessary to pay the debt charges would continue until the bonds were paid off.
FY16 — Operating Budget — Discussion and Voting — Mr. Sims expressed concern regarding unfunded
budget line items for the Police Department and Fire Department for Overtime Special Events, snow and
ice and an Assistant Animal Control position. Mr. Murgia explained that amounts were shifted around in
the FY16 base budgets to more accurately reflect actual expenses incurred in certain budget lines. This
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was done prior to the budgets being distributed to departments in November. The totals for the base budget were unaffected by the shifting these amounts. The Finance Committee voted the following FY16 Operating Budgets: A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $277,908 for the Assessors Department was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $342,770 for the Building and Zoning Departments was seconded by Jim Casamento. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $26,049 for the Committees and Commissions group budget was seconded by Rob Barker. Mr. Sims spoke in opposition to the seven committees (Finance Committee, Water/Sewer Committee, Capital Planning Committee, Building Renovation Committee, Commission on Disability, Historical Commission and the Beautification Committee) being bundled under one voting budget group. Mr. Sims distributed to the members a copy of the FY12 Operating Budget by Voting Category in which the seven committees had been presented to ATM as seven separate budget line items. (see meeting handout). Mr. Murgia explained that this budget grouping was only a $26,049 budget of the $82 million budget. Vote: 9-1-0. Mr. Sims voted in opposition to this budget because of the budget grouping matter. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $125,688 for the Conservation Commission was seconded by Jim Casamento. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $331,564 for Council on Aging was seconded by Jim Casamento. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $1,080,074 for the Executive Area was seconded by Jim Casamento. The Employee Contracts Budget (#910) did not include funding for employee contracts currently being negotiated for FY16. This funding was being carried in ATM Articles 5 and 6. Vote: 8-0-2. Chairman Porter abstained from this vote due to being a newly elected BOS member. Ms. Saint Andre abstained from this vote. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $935,076 for the Finance Department was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $5,032,234 for the Fire Department was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $339,028 for the Health Department was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $559,609 for the Parks & Recreation Department was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $61,096 for the Planning Board was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $4,451,639 for the Police Department was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $1,180,953 for the Public Library was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $2,621,618 for the Public Works Department was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. F1NCOM Minutes 04-09-2015 Page 2 of 6 04/20/2015
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A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $223,038 for the Town Clerk and Elections & Registrars Departments was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 operating budget of $261,342 for the Veterans Services Department was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. The Finance Committee voted the following FY16 Fixed Costs Budgets: A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $1,120,445 for Blue Hills Regional Technical High School was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $4,991,133 for Debt Service was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $10,992,738 for Employer Share-Health/Life Insurance was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $10,000 for the Norfolk County Agricultural High School was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $750,000 for Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. This represents an increase of $100,000 with free cash as the source of funds for an increase from $650,000 for FY15 to $750,000 for FY16. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $500,000 for the Reserve Fund was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $4,024,357 for Retirement Benefits was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $514,500 for Snow & Ice was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $140,000 for Street Lighting was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $985,341 for Town Insurance was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $1,762,000 for Trash Collection was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 fixed costs budget of $100,000 for Unemployment Compensation was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. The Finance Committee voted the following FY16 Enterprise Funds' Budgets: A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 budget of $186,214 for the Rink Enterprise Fund was seconded by Rob Barker. The proposed FY16 Rink Enterprise Fund budget of $186,214 is comprised of $100,654 for salaries for two full-time personnel and a few part-time personnel, $76,780 for expenses and $8,780 for debt service costs. There will be no transfer from the Rink Enterprise budget to the General Fund for FY16. Mr. Murgia stated that the Rink Enterprise Fund budget assumes an optimistic outlook that the rink will reopen for half of fiscal 2016. If these employees' salaries were charged 100% to the Parks & FINCOM Minutes 04-09-2015 Page 3 of 6 04/20/2015
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Recreation budget it could cause a budget shortfall in that budget for FY16. Mr. Murgia stated that there was a $75,000 fund balance carried forward from FY14. The business interruption clause is still being looked at by the Town Administrator. If the Town receives funds from the insurance company in excess of $20,000 these funds will go into a special fund for transfer at the next Town Meeting. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 budget of $6,269,381 for the Sewer Enterprise Fund was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 budget of $6,204,399 for the Water Enterprise Fund was seconded by Rob Barker. Vote: 10-0-0. At 8:20 p.m. the Finance Committee discussed their Committee Report that will be in the Finance Committee Recommendations to ATM. The Finance Committee voted the following FY16 School Department Budget: A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to recommend an FY16 budget of $36,168,994 for the School Department was seconded by Barbara Saint Andre. Vote: 10-0-0. D. Other Business/Open Issues Article 12 — "Omnibus" Capital Outlay Program — At the April 81h Finance Committee meeting, the Committee had voted to reopen Article 12 for the possible consideration of a motion to fund $540,000 for the purchase of school buses for the School Department. Because the Committee had not received a motion or information from the School Committee with regard to the additional operating expenses needed to operate these buses, the Committee voted to close Article 12. A motion made by Barbara Saint Andre to close Article 12 was seconded by Sepp Bergschneider. If the $540,000 is still being proposed at the time of ATM, the School Committee can have the Capital Planning Committee submit a new motion for Article 12 At the time of the meeting, Chairman Porter received a text message from Barry Nectow, the School Business Administrator, that the School Committee had just voted that night to support a $297,000 increase to the School Department budget. This amount was higher than the Revenue Committee recommended budget of $36,168,994, but lower than the $550,000 increase the School Department had been looking for. Chairman Porter thought that the $297,000 included $177,000 for additional operating costs associated with operating six new business for FY16. Mr. Barker spoke in support of having a motion included in the warrant prior to it going to the printer for the purchase of $540,000 for school buses. Ms. Gustafson spoke in favor of having the School Committee meet with the Capital Planning Committee sometime between now and Town Meeting to discuss this new capital request (see meeting handout). She also stated that the School Committee should meet with the Finance Committee with detailed cost information for the anticipated costs for operating these new buses. Vote: 10-0-0 (to close Article 12). Liaison Reports — There were no liaison reports at the meeting. E. Approval of Minutes The minutes for the March 30 and April 2, 2015 meetings would be voted on at future meeting. FINCOM Minutes 04-09-2015 Page 4 of 6 04/20/2015
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F. Next Meeting Date: The next meeting date would be determined in the near future. Adjournment: A motion made by Sepp Bergschneider to adjourn the meeting at 10:02 p.m. was seconded by Dianne Gustafson. Vote: 10-0-0. Minutes reviewed by: Rob Barker Respectfully submitted, Barbcá Saint Andre Actin Chair, Canton Finance Committee FINCOM Minutes 04-09-2015 Page 5 of 6 04/20/2015
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Town of Canton
Finance Committee Meeting — Thursday, April 9, 2015
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).
Operating Budget by Voting Category, provided by Jim Murgia (2 pages).
Municipal Departments' Operating Budgets, provided by Jim Murgia (2 pages).
Enterprise Funds' Operating Budgets Comparison, provided by Jim Murgia (1 page).
Operating Budget by Voting Category from FY2012, provided by Jim Sims (2 pages).
Budget Report for FY2016 Dept./Finance Committee Request, provided by Jim Murgia (8 pages).
Memorandum from Gene Mannning to Mark Porter, dated April 9, 2015 regarding Capital/School
Committee requests for Buses (2 pages).
Copy of Article 11 — Revolving Funds, new exhibit for the Finance Committee Recommendations entitled
"Revolving Funds Authorized by ATM" (3 pages).
Article 42 — Appropriate Funds to Meet Expenses for Next Fiscal Year (FY16) — Chart entitled "Votes to
Transfer Available Funds" (1 page).
New Officials Finance Forum 2015 information (1 page).
Finance Committee Report that will be in the Finance Committee Recommendations to ATM
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