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March 16, 2016, Finance Committee Meeting. Minutes
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Town of Canton Finance Committee Minutes Voted on: 5/9/16
Meeting Minutes —Open Session Vote: 9-0-1
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Members Present:
Rob Barker, Sepp Bergschneider, Jim Casamento, Gerald Dorfman, Nichols Gallagher, Dianne
Gustafson, Stephanie Leach, Barbara Saint Andre and Jim Sims.
Members Absent:
Tim McKenna.
Guests Present:
Ken Berkowitz, Chief, Police Department
John Connolly, Chair, Board of Selectmen
Kevin Feeney, Member, Board of Selectmen
Scott Johnson, Deputy Chief, Fire Department
Louis Jutras, Manager of Information Systems
Mark Lague, Director, Canton Public Library
Jody Middleton, Human Resource Director
Cindy O'Connell, Conservation Agent
Mike Trotta, Superintendent, Department of Public Works
Ed Walsh, Building Inspector
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
7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 in the Community Meeting Room of the Canton Public Library.
Chair Saint Andre stated that the Finance Committee would be entering into Executive Session with Mr.
Connolly and Ms. Middleton to discuss financial information in regard to Article 5 (Collective Bargaining
Agreements under the Board of Selectmen) and Article 6 (Personal Service Contracts under the Board of
Selectmen) as well as the results of the Collins Center job reclassification/description study and that to
discuss these matters in Open Session may have a detrimental effect on negotiations.
Chair Saint Andre also stated that the Finance Committee would be reconvening in Open Session at the
conclusion of the Executive Session.
A motion made by Mr. Sims to enter into Executive Session to discuss strategy with respect to
collective bargaining was seconded by Mr. Barker.
Roll Call Vote:
Mr. Casamento -Yes Ms. Saint Andre -Yes
Mr. Sims —Yes Ms. Gallagher —Yes
Ms. Gustafson —Yes Mr. Dorfman -Yes
Ms. Leach —Yes Mr. Barker -Yes
M r. Bergschneider -Yes
The Finance Committee entered into Executive Session at approximately 7:05 p.m.
The Finance Committee reconvened in Open Session at approximately 7:49 p.m.
A. Approval of Agenda
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the FY17 municipal budget and the Town Meeting articles
sponsored by the Board of Selectmen.
B. Announcements
There were no announcements made at the meeting.
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C. New Business
FY17 —Municipal Budgets and Annual Town Meeting Warrant Articles — Mr. Connolly stated that the
Board of Selectmen (BOS) had not voted on any of the warrant articles but were scheduled to vote on the
articles at their BOS meeting on March 22. (March 18t" is the deadline date that the Finance Committee
is supposed to submit their motions to Town Counsel for review.) The BOS did approve by a vote of 5-0
an FY17 municipal budget with a 6% increase, as recommended by the Revenue Forecasting Committee.
The Revenue Committee and Mr. Murgia had stated that there was enough projected revenue to support
a 6% budget increase. In order to arrive at that number the BOS had to cut the budget requests by
$300,000. Mr. Connolly understood that the Finance Committee was recommending a 4% budget
increase but stated that a few of the BOS members were willing to compromise with a 5% budget
increase.
The following reductions were made to the FY17 municipal budgets in order to arrive at an overall total
budget increase of 6%:
• The Fire Department dispatch budget request was reduced from $250,000 to $150,000 for the
first year because Chief Doody was successful in negotiating with Holbrook apro-rated annual
fee.
• In response to Chair Saint Andre's question as to why the $44,000 promotion of four Firefighters
to Lieutenants was not reduced to coincide with the later implementation date for the Holbrook
dispatch center. Deputy Fire Chief stated that there could be potential savings with the
promotions if the implementation was delayed to January 2017.
• Mr. Sims stated his concern for potential budget shortfalls because of contracts and amendments
being negotiated after Annual Town Meeting has already established the budgets. An example
he gave for this were the unbudgeted increase in hours from 35 hours per week to 40 hours per
week for several employees. Ms. Gustafson suggested that contract negotiations should be
started earlier in the budget year such as in October. The still unresolved AFSCME contract
negotiations had been started in October 2014.
• In response to Chair Saint Andre's question as to why the Library periodical budgets was being
increased approximately 10%, greater than the overall 5% budget increase, Mr. Lague stated that
in order for the Library to qualify for state aid, certain standards had to be met. The materials
budget must be 15% of the total overall Library budget.
Mr. Casamento offered the following comments:
• In 2006-2007 the School Department had been faced with significant budget cuts. In 2007,
Canton Pride, of which Mr. Casamento was a member of the seven-citizen task force committee,
worked on restoring the School Department budget via a successful override in 2008 after an
unsuccessful attempt in 2007.
• Mr. Casamento cautioned at increasing budgets too significantly in order to avoid layoffs in future
years.
• Mr. Casamento commented about the past unused levy capacity amounts by fiscal year: FY12
$566,772, FY13 $548,306, FY14 $610,696, FY15 $1,164,023 and FY16 budgeted $641,505.
• With regard to the available revenue this year, the Revenue Forecasting Committee made the
decision to use all of the unused levy capacity before the Finance Committee was even aware of
it.
• If the unused levy capacity goes from 1% to eliminating the unused levy capacity altogether, the
implication is that the average tax increase to the taxpayers is 3'/2%. Mr. Casamento is in favor of
increasing the unused levy capacity, thereby, giving more of a tax break to the taxpayers.
• If the budgets are increased by 6%, it would result in the full utilization of levy capacity.
• If the Finance Committee supports a 5.2% increase for municipal budgets and a 5.1 %increase
for the School Department budgets the unused levy capacity would be $453,777. Last fiscal year
the unused levy capacity was $577,358.
Ms. Leach spoke in support of a 4% overall budget increase because of the unfunded OPEB (Other Post
Employment Benefits) liability. She also stated that she would like a more strategic approach with regard
to adding to the OPEB Trust Fund based on new hires added to the budget. Mr. Murgia stated that the
actuary has estimated an OPEB cost of $5,000 for each additional new hire. For the FY17 OPEB budget
Town Meeting voters will be asked to add $750,000 to the OPEB Trust Fund budget.
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Mitigation Funds
• In response to Finance Committee's members' concerns with regard to the BOS' use of Mitigation
Funds to fund projects of the BOS' choice, Mr. Connolly stated that no votes taken for the use of
mitigation funds have been "behind closed doors". The Finance Committee's perception is that
there is a lack of transparency with regard to the mitigation funds.
• Mr. Barker inquired as to the Finance Committee's or citizens' access of mitigation funds. Are
there ways that the process can be more transparent? Mr. Feeney's response was that the BOS
is aware of the suspicion with regard to these funds and reassured the Finance Committee that
they would provide maximum transparency.
• There was discussion regarding the use of mitigation funds instead of Free Cash for funding the
Blue Ribbon Traffic Study Committee ATM requests. Chair Saint Andre prefers to leave this up to
a vote at Town Meeting.
• Ms. Gustafson inquired as to how it is determined to spend mitigation funds or not. She stated
that mitigation funds could fund the Senior Center Parking lot repairs instead of using free cash.
Article 32 — Create a Substance Abuse Committee — Mr. Connolly stated that Selectman Burr
sponsored this article to create a Substance Abuse Committee. The Substance Abuse Committee would
be requesting $10,000 of funds through a transfer from Free Cash. A Finance Committee member
suggested using mitigation funds. The $10,000 funds will be used for materials and activities as well as
compensation for guest speakers. This new committee will permanently become a part of the budget
grouping of Boards and Committees that currently has a bottom line budget of approximately $26,000.
Article 42 —Acquisition of Property at 96 Revere Street — Mr. Connolly stated that the BOS does not
anticipate any cost involved with the acquisition of 96 Revere Street. The BOS will be working with
Canton Holdings. Canton Holdings will be negotiating with Eversource/NSTAR. The BOS has suggested
waiving water permit fees for Canton Holdings. Canton Holdings will be tearing down the electric
substation on the property. This property will be added to the parcel that the Town will own.
Because Mr. DelVecchio was out of the area at the time of the Finance Committee meeting, Mr. Feeney
read a text message that he had received from Mr. DelVecchio summarizing Article 42 as follows:
"!t (the article) is designed to accept a piece of land that is owned by NSTAR and is no longer used as an
electric substation. This is not an appropriation article and none is intended. We (the BOS) would
provide a possible waiver of water permit fees in exchange of ownership of the site. It is an absolute
eyesore and ruins the view of the adjacent mill and barn. It would also serve as additional parking
particularly for bigger vehicles or buses in connection with the Town-owned land when needed. Our
Town Counsel can provide further backup as he drafted the article and it is not anticipated that this will
require any cost to the Town." In terms of the process, Mr. Del Vecchio stated, "The process would be
that the Board of Selectmen are working with Canton Holdings which would actually accept the ownership
from NSTAR if this goes forward and transfer the parcel to the Town. This article was suggested by Town
Counsel to enable the Town to accept transfer of the parcel to the Town."
Chair Saint Andre confirmed that the motion for the article would be to move the article except there
would be no money involved, so the Finance Committee could eliminate the language "raise and
appropriate funds" from the article. Canton Holdings would bear the cost of tearing down the building and
cleaning up the piece of land.
Articles 28, 29, 30 & 31 —Reservoir Pond — Mr. Connolly stated that the MAPC (Metropolitan Area
Planning Council) would be making a presentation at the March 22 BOS meeting. Because the Town
owns the Reservoir, liabilities would be discussed at that time. These articles were placed in the Town
Meeting warrant as placeholders in case the BOS needs to act on them.
Rebecca Road -Water Line Replacements —Use of Finance Committee Reserve Fund — Mr.
Connolly thanked the Finance Committee for the loan from the Reserve Fund for correcting the water
problems on Rebecca Road.
Vote —Article 5 —Collective Bargaining Agreements under the Board of Selectmen
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A motion made by Mr. Casamento that the subject matter of Article 5 as printed in the warrant be indefinitely postponed was seconded by Mr. Bergschneider. Vote: 8-0-0. Mr. Sims had stepped out of the meeting at the time the vote was taken, Vote —Article 6 —Personal Service Contracts Under the Board of Selectmen A motion made by Mr. Casamento that the subject matter of Article 6 as printed in the warrant be indefinitely postponed was seconded by Mr. Bergschneider. Vote: 8-0-0. Mr. Sims was absent for this vote. Vote —Article 13 —Accept General or Session Laws Enacted by the General Court A motion made by Ms. Gallagher that the subject matter of Article 13 as printed in the warrant be indefinitely postponed was seconded by Ms. Gustafson. Vote: 9-0-0. Vote —Article 12 Motion 7 —Senior Center Parking Lot A motion made by Mr. Bergschneider that $142,000 be transferred from Free Cash for the purpose of Senior Center parking lot repairs was seconded by Ms. Gallagher. Vote: 7-2-0. Mr. Casamento and Mr. Sims voted in opposition to this motion because of the funding source of Free Cash instead of mitigation funds. Vote -Article 10 —Transfer Unexpended Prior Year Appropriations A motion made by Mr. Bergschneider that the subject matter of Article 10 be indefinitely postponed was seconded by Mr. Barker. Vote: 9-0-0. Vote —Article 15 Motion 1 —Insurance Proceeds A motion made by Mr. Bergschneider that insurance proceeds in the amounts of $164,106.48 and $37,695.14 for a total of $201,801.62 be appropriated to Fund #337 and Fund #640 respectively to be spent by the Superintendent of Public Works was seconded by Ms. Gallagher. Vote: 9-0-0. Vote —Article 15 Motion 2 —Insurance Proceeds A motion made by Mr. Bergschneider that insurance proceeds in the amount of $1,787,051.52 be appropriated to Fund #173 to be spent by the Parks &Recreation Director was seconded by Ms. Gallagher. Vote: 9-0-0. Vote —Article 17 —Increase Stabilization Fund — Mr. Murgia stated that currently there is $90,000 in the SPED Stabilization Fund and $5.6 million in the Town Stabilization Fund and that the bond rating agencies favorably view healthy balances in the Stabilization Fund. Mr. Murgia advised the Finance Committee to leave a balance of $1 million to $1.5 million in Free Cash so that the Town does not end the fiscal year with a negative free cash balance. A motion made by Mr. Barker that $250,000 be transferred for FY16 from Free Cash to the Stabilization Fund was seconded by Ms. Gallagher. Last year the voters at ATM 2015 voted to transfer $100,000 of Free Cash into SPED stabilization and $600,000 of Free Cash into the Town Stabilization Fund. M r. Casamento commented that a transfer of $250,000 was too low. Mr. Bergschneider proposed a transfer of $800,000, Chair Saint Andre was in favor of a $600,000 transfer while Mr. Dorfman spoke in favor of a $500,000 transfer. Vote: 1-8-0. Mr. Barker voted in support of his motion. The motion for a transfer of $250,000 failed. A motion made by Chair Saint Andre that $600,000 be transferred for FY16 from Free Cash to the Stabilization Fund was seconded by Ms. Gustafson. Vote: 5-4-0. While the Finance Committee members were all in support of transferring Free Cash to the Town Stabilization Fund, the vote was an 20160316 FINCOM MINUTES —Open Session Page 4 of8 04/24/16
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indication that the members were in disagreement about the amount of the transfer. Mr. Dorfman, Mr.
Bergschneider, Mr. Sims and Mr. Casamento voted against this motion.
Article 18 -Vote to Approve Funding for Traffic Studies -Article 18 had already been previously
voted on.
Vote -Article 21 -Vote to Approve Municipal Wireless Network
A motion made by Mr. Sims that the subject matter of Article 21 as printed in the warrant be
indefinitely postponed was seconded by Mr. Bergschneider.
Ms. Leach spoke in support of Article 21 because there was no funding being requested for this article
and it would be information for the future that could be evaluated. Ms. Gustafson commented that it
would have been useful to have the BOS opinion on Article 21 but at the present time there was not
enough information to evaluate it. Mr. Sims stated that the Cable Advisory Commission does not
negotiate on the Internet with Verizon and Comcast, only on the license for cable television.
Vote: 7-2-0. Mr. Gallagher and Ms. Leach voted in opposition to this motion.
Article 23 -Chapter 90 Roads Supplement -Article 23 had already been voted on previously.
Vote -Article 26 -Vote to Amend Acceptance of G.L. C.39, Section 23D
A motion made by Mr. Bergschneider that the Town accept G.L. c.39, Section 23D to include the
Conservation Commission for all types of adjudicatory hearings was seconded by Ms. Gallagher.
Vote: 8-0-1. Mr. Barker abstained from this vote.
Vote -Article 27 -Vote to Approve Term Limits for Elected and Appointed Boards and
Committees
A motion made by Chair Saint Andre to reconsider Article 27 was seconded by Mr. Sims.
Vote: 9-0-0.
Mr. Sims provided a handout for a revised motion for Article 27 as follows:
To see if the Town will vote to amend the General By-law by adding the sentence "No member of such
Board or Committee after serving three consecutive terms or 9 years, whichever is longer, except as
noted below, steal/ be eligible to succeed himself." to the fo/lowing:
Article IGenera/ Provisions,
Section 3: Appointment to Town Office;
Article VI General Committees,
Section 1; Appointment of Members;
Artic/e X Duties of Town Officers,
Section 4a: Building Renovation Committee Composition, Mode of Selection, Term of Office,
Vacancies paragraph 2;
Section 56: Permit Advisory Committee Composition, Appointment, Term of Office;
Article XVI Miscel/aneous,
Section 1: Fi/ling Vacancies in Non-Elective Positions;
Section 6a: Council on Aging Appointment, Powers;
Section 6A: Beautification Committee, paragraph 1;
Section 19.1: Community Preservation Committee;
And by adding a section to the General By-Laws Artic/e I General Provisions,
Section 4: Term of Office for E/ected Member of a Board or Committee;
No member of an Elected Board or Committee may run for reelection if that
election would result in consecutive service of more than ten (10) years,
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And by adding a section to the Genera/ By-Laws Artic% XIII Planning Board
Section 2: Term of Office;
No member of the P/anning Board after serving two consecutive terms or 10 years,
whichever is longer, shall be eligible to succeed himself.
A motion made by Ms. Gallagher to accept the revised motion for Article 27 as provided in the
handout from Mr. Sims was seconded by Mr. Casamento.
Ms. Gallagher spoke in favor of the terms limits and stated that change could result in a positive outcome.
Ms. Gustafson spoke against the motion and spoke in favor of continuity and longevity with allowing
individuals to serve consecutive terms.
Vote: 5-4-0. Mr. Barker, Chair Saint Andre, Ms. Gustafson and Mr. Bergschneider voted in opposition to
the revised motion.
Vote -Articles 28, 29, 30 & 31 —Reservoir Pond
A motion made by Chair Saint Andre that the subject matter of Articles 28, 29, 30 and 31 as printed
in the warrant be indefinitely postponed was seconded by Mr. Dorfman. Vote: 9-0-0.
Vote —Article 32 —Create Substance Abuse Committee
A motion made by Mr. Bergschneider that the General By-Laws be amended to add a new section
to establish a Substance Abuse Committee and that $10,000 be transferred from Free Cash for
this Committee was seconded by Ms. Gallagher. Vote: 9-0-0.
Vote —Article 37 —Amend- Zoning By-Laws —Manufacturing and Light Manufacturing Definitions
Chair Saint Andre stated that she had received an email from Tim Richard, the Town Planner, that Light
Manufacturing does not include incidental sales.
A motion made by Ms. Gallagher that the motion presented by the Planning Board to Town
Meeting for Article 37 as written in the warrant be adopted was seconded by Mr. Casamento.
Vote: 9-0-0.
Vote —Article 42 —Acquisition of Property at 96 Revere Street
A motion made by Mr. Bergschneider that the language presented for Article 42 in the warrant be
adopted except the removal of "to raise, appropriate, transfer from available funds" from the
article was seconded by Mr. Barker. Vote: 9-0-0.
Vote —Article 4 —Act on "Consent Agenda"
A motion made by Mr. Bergschneider that the following articles be disposed of by a single vote, in
accordance with the Finance Committee motions as printed in the report of the Finance
Committee: Article 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 16, 25 and 41 was seconded by Mr. Barker. Vote: 9-0-0.
D. Other Business/Open Issues
Liaison Reports —There were no liaison reports given at the meeting.
E. Approval of Minutes
A motion made by Mr. Barker to approve the minutes as written for March 8, 2016 was seconded
by Ms. Gustafson. Vote: 9-0-0.
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F. Next Meeting Date: The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room of the Canton Public Library. Adjournment: A motion made by Mr. Sims to adjourn the meeting at 10:15 p.pm was seconded by Mr. Casamento. Vote: 9-0-0. Minutes reviewed by: Jim Casamento Respectfully submitted, r_- Pl Barbar aint Andre Chair, canton Finance Committee 20160316 FINCOM MINUTES —Open Session Page 7 of8 04/24/16
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Town of Canton
Finance Committee Meeting —Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Open Session
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).
Estimated Cash Reserves, provided by Mr. James Murgia, dated 3/16/16 (page).
FY17 Municipal Departments' Operating Budgets, provided by Mr. James Murgia, dated 3/14/16
(2 pages).
Article 27 —Term Limits for Elected/Appointed Boards/Committees —Revised Motion, provided by Mr. Jim
Sims (1 page).
Article 42 —Acquisition of Property at 96 Revere Street -Plot Plan, provided by Mr. Jim Murgia (1 page).
20160316 FINCOM MINUTES —Open Session Page S of8 04/24/16