Canton, Massachusetts · Saved source text
November 20, 2014, Finance Committee Meeting. Minutes
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Town of Canton Finance Committee Minutes Voted on: 2-12-15
Meeting Minutes Vote: 8-0-1
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Members Present:
Nichola Gallagher, Dianne Gustafson, Stephanie Leach, Tim McKenna, Mark Porter and Jim Sims.
Members Absent:
Rob Barker, Sepp Bergschneider, Jerry Dorfman, Barbara Saint Andre and Diane Wolff.
Guests Present:
Charles Doody, Fire Chief, Town of Canton
Stephen Hooke, Communications Director, Town of Holbrook
Luke McFadden, Fire Chief, Town of Holbrook
Mark Morse, Owner, MMA Consulting Group, Inc.
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, November 20,
2014 in the Upper Meeting Room of the William J. Armando Recreation Center.
A. Approval of Agenda
Chairman Porter reviewed the items on the agenda.
B. Announcements
There were no announcements.
C. New Business
FY15 State Budget Cuts - Discussion — (see meeting handouts) Mr. Murgia reported to the Finance
Committee that the Governor's office had recently announced a $325 million budget deficit due to a few
factors that included a reduction to the state income tax from 5.2% to 5.15%, insufficient funds in the
budget to cover an $80 million economic development package and a $175 shortfall in the state's health
insurance exchange website (for which the state will not receive full Medicaid reimbursement for).
Mr. Murgia also reported that approximately $100 million was cut from the state budget of which $40.3
million was for direct funding to cities and towns. This could impact such areas as the Town's SPED
(Special Education) reimbursements, charter school reimbursements, Chapter 70 "pothole" account,
sewer rate relief funding and library aid.
Chairman Porter stated that the impact to Canton for the state budget cuts would be less that a $100,000
impact.
CPA (Community Preservation Act) Matching Funds from the State - $150,000 — Discussion — Mr.
Murgia reported good news to the Committee that the Town had received its first reimbursement from the
state for the matching CPA funds in the amount of $150,000. Unfortunately the state was unable to
match dollar for dollar. The $150,000 represented a match of approximately 31.5% for the CPA revenue
of $495,000 from last year. Mr. Murgia stated that the gravestones contract had been awarded, the
tennis courts would have a $40,000 shortfall, the quilt restoration project was completed, and the Housing
Authority projects were proceeding as planned. The state's matching funds of $150,000 were from fees
collected through the Registry of Deeds.
Fire and Rescue Staffing Study — Norfolk County Dispatch Center - Discussion — (see meeting
handouts) Fire Chief Doody thanked the following individuals for attending the meeting: Stephen Hooke
the Communications Director for the Town of Holbrook; Luke McFadden; the Fire Chief for the Town of
Holbrook and Mark Morse, the consultant from the MMA Consulting Group, Inc. responsible for the Fire
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and Staffing Study reports. Chief Doody gave a brief history of the Fire Department study. The study had
been started in 2001 with former Fire Chief Ronayne, Canton has been attempting to consolidate its
dispatch service with the Holbrook service for the past 10 years, the inclusion in the dispatch service has
been included in the past 2-3 union contracts, the union has had time to review and comment on the
staffing studies and the union is in agreement with the recommendations of the studies. Chief Doody
stated that the time was right to move forward with implementing Canton's participation in the Holbrook
dispatch and that this would be an opportunity to place the current firefighters working as dispatchers
back in to the rotation. The cost to have four firefighters promoted to Lieutenants would be approximately
$42,000 for four per year.
Some of the benefits for Canton joining the Holbrook dispatch services would be that Canton would be
gaining the expertise of dispatchers who have been trained specifically as emergency dispatchers.
Mr. Hooke explained that Holbrook has the physical space to handle Canton's membership, would be
hiring additional staff to handle the addition of Canton and would be meeting with the state within the next
week to discuss available funding. Canton would be the largest member in terms of geographical size
and population. A one-time infrastructure cost of $88,000 for fire alarm signals could be obtained through
grant funding. The annual $100,000 cost of membership to the Norfolk County Dispatch Center could be
"reworked" depending upon the volume of calls. If this membership is approved by Annual Town Meeting
and agreed to by the union, implementation could be as early as July 1, 2015. The State wants to
consolidate the currently existing 256 individual call centers around Massachusetts and would make
funding available for the dispatch centers.
Mr. McKenna questioned about any savings to the Town. Canton would still have to maintain dispatch
equipment in case of Holbrook failure. Canton's Police Department (CPD) would also maintain dispatch
equipment as initial calls would still go through CPD and would then be transferred to Holbrook.
Funding for membersip in the regional dispatch could be included in the budget for 2015 Annual Town
Meeting warrant. No separate warrant article would be required.
The impact to the Norfolk County Dispatch Center would be in the area of technology, increased staff and
training, Mr. Hooke and Chief Doody have met regarding the technology portion who estimate, that it
could take 5-6 months for installation, depending on weather. If the process were starting in July, Canton
could be up and running by the following spring. Funds collected by the state through 911 surcharges on
land line and cell phones are used to maintain 911 call centers for equipment and Emergency Medical
Dispatch (EMD) training.
Mutual aid —
According to Chief Doody, to date, the Board of Selectmen have not taken a formal vote on Canton
joining the Norfolk County Regional Dispatch Center, but the Chief believes he has their support.
Overtime — With regard to the approximately $400,000 in overtime costs per year for the Fire Department,
Chief Doody maintains that it is cheaper for the Town to pay overtime instead of hire four additional
firefighters (1 per shift).
Outreach to Public — Ms. Gustafson inquired of Chief Doody if there had been any public outreach done.
Chief Doody stated that the Finance Committee meeting was the first outreach but that they would launch
an educational campaign through CATV and the local newspaper.
FY16 Operating Budgets Mr. Murgia stated that the department's operating budget requests for FY16
—
were due back to the Finance Department by January 5. Mr. Murgia also stated that the payroll
projections distributed included step increases, 2 additional working days in FY16 (total of 262 working
days) and longevity. No COLAs had been factored into the payroll projections as contract negotiations
are pending. The School Department figures their own payroll projections. The School Department
would not be meeting the January 5 deadline, as the School Committee would be meeting to discuss the
budget the Thursday after the Martin Luther King holiday.
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There was some discussion regarding the current labor contracts expiring June 30, 2015. Mr. Sims
stated that he was not in support of funding being earmarked in Department #910 (Employee Contract
Benefits). Mr. Murgia spoke in support of a separate warrant article being broken out by unions for the
funding of contracts.
FY16 Preliminary Municipal Capital Requests — FY16 operating budget requests from departments are
due back to the Finance Department by January 5, 2015. Budget request information is, according to the
by-law, supposed to be provided to the Finance Committee members by the third Monday in January (aka
Martin Luther King Day). The School Committee would be providing their budget information after the
third Monday due to their meeting schedule,
Chairman Porter suggested that it would be beneficial for liaisons to reach out to the department heads to
have a dialog about their budget requests prior to them being submitted on January 5. FY16 payroll
projections include step increases and 2 extra work days (262 total days) in FY16 because of the leap
year. Longevity has also been included in FY16 budgets.
Chairman Porter reminded members that it was not the responsibility of members to micromanage
department budgets but to make adjustments to line items that differ from historical budget actuals,
transfer amounts to budgets that might be over or under and to inquire of department heads if there were
any new expenses anticipated for FY16 (such as Fire Department vacation buyback). Mr. Murgia stated
that he had already done some budget shifting with regard to the budget line items for FY16.
Mr. Murgia explained that there will be a separate article at ATM (listed by union) to appropriate funds for
contracts expiring June 30, 2015 in anticipation of the contracts being settled.
Chairman Porter reviewed the liaison list for the purpose of the members reaching out to the departments
for budget discussions.
1. Assessors Tim McKenna
2. Building & Zoning Jim Sims
3. Committee & Commissions Mark Porter
4. Conservation Commission Jim Sims
5, Council on Aging Barbara St. Andre
6. Executive Area Dianne Gustafson
7. Finance Department Mark Porter
8. Fire Department Jerry Dorfman
9. Board of Health Nicola Gallagher
10. Planning Board Tim McKenna
11. Police Dept. & Animal Control Sepp Bergschneider
12. Library Stephanie Leach
13. Public Works Barbara St. Andre
14. Recreation Mark Porter
15. Town Clerk & Elections Nicola Gallagher
16. Veterans Services Mark Porter
17. School Department Rob Barker
23. Blue Hills Regional School Rob Barker
24. Norfolk County Agric. School Rob Barker
32. Community Preservation Committee Sepp Bergschneider
D. Old Business/Open Issues
Liaison Reports — Ms. Gallagher reported to the Finance Committee that she had met with the Manager
of Information Systems, Louis Jutras, and that everything was going as planned with the new website and
that it was being well handled. Ms. Gallagher would follow up with Mr. Jutras to clarify the cost of any
independent/individual websites (sub-sites within the same vendor) being maintained under the Town's
new website.
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Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) Trade Show — An announcement was made by Chairman Porter that included with their meeting handouts was a registration form for the MMA Annual Meeting and Trade Show that would be taking place in Boston on January 23 and 24 if any Finance Committee members were interested in attending. The Finance Committee did not have funds available within their Committee budget to allow any Finance Committee members stay in a hotel for the MMA conference. Finance Committee Website/Town INebsite — Mr. Sims stated that the new website was scheduled to be released sometime around November 7-8 but that it could be delayed to December. FY16 Capital Planning Requests — Municipal department heads were scheduled to discuss their capital requests at the December 2, 2014 Board of Selectmen's meeting. Mr. Murgia distributed to the members a list of the initial department heads' FY16 capital requests. Departments' requests exceeded the total funds available for capital requests. A Finance Committee member suggested that a placeholder be used for the Fire Department dispatch center. Mr. Murgia stated that the regional dispatch could be under a separate motion under the Omnibus Capital Article. Chairman Porter spoke in support of placing the dispatch center in the FY16 capital request plan. Mr. Murgia stated that Police Chief Berkowitz would be requesting body cameras but that no estimate had been provided yet. E. Approval of Minutes A motion made by Nichola Gallagher to approve the October 28, meeting minutes as amended by adding to the list of meeting documents the various mitigation contracts was seconded by Stephanie Leach. Vote: 6-0-0. It was discussed and agreed upon by the members that the mitigation contracts and updated mitigation fund balances would be posted to the website. F. Next Meeting Date: The next meeting date would be determined once the Board of Selectmen approve the Annual Town Meeting timeline. 'Adjournment: A motion made by Dianne Gustafson to adjourn the meeting at 9:17 p.m. was seconded by Tim McKenna. Vote: 6-0-0. Minutes reviewed by: Nichola Gallagher Respectfully d, ark Chair , Canton Finance Committee FINCOM 11202014 MINUTES.doc Page 4 of 5 12/07/14
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Town of Canton
Finance Committee Meeting — November 20, 2014
List of Meeting Handouts
Agenda (1 page).
Web posting by the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA), entitled "Governor imposes $40.3
million in mid-year cuts to municipal and school funding, seeks legislative approval for $25.5 million cut in
unrestricted municipal aid", dated November 19, 2014, provided by Jim Murgia, Finance Director
(2 pages).
Web posting by the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) entitled "Administration reveals $325M
budget deficit, plans mid-year cuts", dated November 13, 2014, provided by Jim Murgia, Finance Director
(2 pages).
Draft of Municipal Capital Request for Fiscal 2016, dated 11/13/2014 (1 page).
Program Registration Form, MMA 2015 Annual Meeting & Trade Show (1 page).
Year to Date Finance Committee (#131) and Reserve Fund (#132) budget reports, as of 10/31/14
(2 pages).
Fire and Rescue Staffing Study by MMA Consulting Group, Inc. dated May 2013 (32 pages),
Fire and Rescue Staffing Study by MMA Consulting Group, Inc. from 2001 (approximately 121 pages).
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