Canton, Massachusetts · Saved source text
October 04, 2016, Finance Committee Meeting. Minutes
Saved text from 4 source pages. Transcription and OCR may contain errors; verify figures and wording against the original. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
Source page 1
Town of Canton Finance Committee Minutes Voted on: 11/2/]6
Meeting Minutes vote: 5-0-2
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Members Present:
Rob Barker, Nichols Gallagher, Dianne Gustafson, Cynthia Holcombe, Stephanie Leach, Tim McKenna
and Barbara Saint Andre.
Members Absent:
Sepp Bergschneider, Gerald Dorfman and Cindy Thomas.
Guests Present:
Paul Gargano, Partner, Roselli, Clark &Associates
Tony Roselli, Partner, Roselli, Clark &Associates
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
7:45 on Tuesday, October 4, 2016 in the Community Meeting Room of the Canton Public Library.
A. Approval of Agenda
Chair Saint Andre reviewed the items on the agenda which included a discussion with the auditors
regarding the FY15 Management Letter and a discussion of the changes to the Finance Committee by-
law.
B. Announcements
A few members of the Finance Committee will attend the Association of Town Finance Committees
(ATFC) annual meeting on Saturday, October 15 at the Devens Common Center.
C. New Business
Finance Committee By-Laws —The Committee discussed a few proposed changes to the Finance
Committee By-Law:
• Change the composition of the Committee from the current even number of 12 members to an
uneven number of nine members.
• Three appointments per year would be made by the Moderator.
• A transition provision would be added to the By-Law.
• Non-attendance by a Committee member could be addressed by the Moderator.
• Annual Town Meeting would act on the new By-Law.
Discussion with Partners from Roselli, Clark &Associates — Roselli, Clark and Associates partners
Tony Roselli and Paul Gargano, joined the meeting at 7:55 p.m. The Committee recognized and
congratulated Mr. Gargano who had recently been made a partner of the firm. Mr. Gargano and Mr.
Roselli provided a meeting handout to the Committee and made the following comments regarding the
audit:
• The Town of Canton received a clean opinion versus a qualified opinion for a third straight year in
a row. A clean opinion is the highest grade available.
• The CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report), with a deadline of December 31, 2015,
had been provided to the GFOA (Government Finance Officers Association) for the 10th year in a
row.
• Mr. Roselli reviewed the excellent financial trends for Canton "weathering" the economic
downturn during 2008-2010. Canton's reserve ratio (general fund assigned and unassigned fund
balances divided by the general fund expenditures) is at 14.9% (just shy of tier one 15%) which is
well above the state average.
• The Town has maintained its AAA bond rating for eight years since 2008.
20161004 FINCOM MINUTES Page 1 of4 10/30/16Source page 2
• Mr. Roselli suggested that the Town continue to conserve free cash and that is acceptable to use
for one-time expenditures such as snow and ice deficits. He confirmed that it would also be
acceptable to use free cash to supplement SPED.
• Currently 5-6% is allocated to capital projects which is viewed favorably by the bond rating
agencies.
• Informational Items —With regard to SAS #115, there were no significant internal deficiencies for
the 3rd straight year in a row.
• The Town is required under GASB pension to place the Town's liability on the balance sheet for
those purchasing the Town's bonds. As of June 30, 2015 the net pension liability for Canton is
approximately $39.2 million which is to be fully funded by 2032. The Town is 60% funded and is
considered to be in the top half of the state.
• The Town will be required to report its OPEB pension liability (other post-employment benefits) on
its financial statements starting in 2018. Currently the Town has $3 million in its OPEB fund.
Approximately 90% of Massachusetts communities are in similar circumstances as Canton.
Efforts by the MMA (Massachusetts Municipal Association) to push for OPEB reform changing
the requirement from 10 years to 20 years to be eligible for insurance benefits upon retirement
was never implemented.
• Municipal data breaches — Mr. Roselli continued to recommend that the Town minimize its risk for
data breaches by dedicating a specific computer to be used for banking transactions only.
• Single Audit Report —Chair Saint Andre inquired as to the finding and recommendation on page 9
of the Single Audit Report. The recommendation stated that "for employees that are charged to
multiple grants or funding sources, the grant administrators should maintain and certify an
accounting of the time the employee spent on each grant or activity and maintain them with the
payroll certifications." Mr. Gargano stated that this was not a major finding and that the auditors
would follow up with a review of this in the next audit.
• Management Letter —The auditors stated that the Town has since corrected the findings in the
management letter. With regard to how departments are selected for review by the auditors,
suggestions are made to the auditors by the Finance Director, Town Accountant and Town
Administrator.
Chair Saint Andre thanked Mr. Roselli and Mr. Gargano. The discussion with the auditors ended at
approximately 8:47 p.m.
General Fund's Fiscal 2016 Operating Results and Enterprise Funds' Fiscal 2016 Operating
Results — Mr. Murgia provided a summary of the excellent year the Town had with regard to Fiscal 2016
(see meeting handout). Unspent appropriations (also known as "turnbacks") totaled approximately
$410,000. The Town's cash reserves for Fiscal 2016, currently being audited, are expected to be $14.6
million.
With regard to the Enterprise Funds' operating results (see meeting handout), the water enterprise fund
ended the fiscal year with a cash reserve of $2.5 million, or 35% of expenses and the sewer enterprise
fund ended the fiscal year with a cash reserve of $1.6 million or 25% of expenses.
Modernization Act — (see meeting handout) Mr. Murgia provided a few highlights of the Modernization
Act:
• Stabilization Funds —Allows municipalities to create one or more stabilization funds, by permitting
appropriations into the fund by majority vote and permitting the Town, without appropriation, to
dedicate a particular revenue stream to a stabilization fund. Eliminates the cap on the amount
reserved (10% of prior year property tax levy) but retains requirement to obtain 2/3 vote to make
appropriation from the fund.
• Certification of Local Property Assessments -Decreases from 5 years to 3 years property
revaluations/assessments by DOR (Department of Revenue).
• Snow and Ice Removal —Eliminates prior approval by the BOS/Finance Committee for deficit
spending for snow and ice removal and allows authorization by chief administrative office (Town
Administrator).
• Year End Transfers —Allows end of fiscal year transfers from health insurance, debt service or
other unclassified/non-departmental line item appropriation and eliminates the 3% cap on the
amount that may be transferred.
20161004 FINCOM MINUTES Page 2 of4 10/30/16Source page 3
• Insurance Proceeds/Restitution Funds —Increases from $20,000 to $150,000 the amount that
may be spent without appropriation to restore or replace damaged property.
Budget Timeline — (see meeting handout) At the request of Town Administrator Charlie Aspinwall, Mr.
M urgia put together a Budget Timeline. Mr. Murgia reviewed the key dates as follows:
• November 7 —Municipal Departments, Boards and Committees submit capital requests for FY18
through FY22 to the Finance Director's office.
• November 14 —Finance Department sends out FY18 budget worksheets to be returned by
January 3.
• December 30 —Municipal and School balanced capital plans for FY18 are sent to Capital
Planning Committee.
• January 17, 2017 —Finance Director sends to Finance Committee FY18 budget requests
submitted by all departments, boards and committees.
• January 27, 2017 —Finance Director sends to Finance Committee FY18 revenue voted by
Revenue Forecasting Committee.
D. Other Business/Open Issues
Ms. Gustafson requested information regarding class sizes and the number of new positions in the
School Department. Questions should be sent to the Chair and the liaisons.
E. Approval of Minutes
A motion made by Mr. Barker to approve the minutes as written for July 28, 2016 was seconded by
Mr. McKenna. Vote: 7-0-0.
F. Next Meeting Date: The next meeting date would be possibly one meeting in October and one
meeting in November.
Adjournment: A motion made by Ms. Gallagher to adjourn the meeting at 9:25 p.m. was seconded
by Ms. Leach. Vote: 7-0-0.
Minutes reviewed by: Tim McKenna
Respectfully submitted,
Barba~Saint Andre
Chair, Canton Finance Committee
20161004 FINCOM MINUTES Page 3 of 4 10/30/16Source page 4
Town of Canton
Finance Committee Meeting —Tuesday, October 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).
Press Release dated August 1, 2016 —Announcing Paul Gargano as a Partner of Roselli, Clark &
Associates (1 page).
Audit Exit Conference — Roselli, Clark &Associates, October 4, 2016 (11 pages).
Management Letter — FY15(8 pages).
Single Audit Report Pursuant to OMB Circular A-133 June 30, 2015(13 pages).
General Fund's Fiscal 2016 Operating Results (10 pages).
Enterprise Funds' Fiscal 2016 Operating Results (3 pages).
An Act to Modernize Municipal Finance and Government(17 pages).
Finance Committee By-Law —Draft(2 pages).
Fiscal 2018 Budget Timeline (2 pages).
Finance Committee Liaison List (Draft)(1 page).
20161004 FINCOM MINUTES Page 4 of4 10/30/16