Board of Finance Special Meeting Minutes-2/24/15

Call to Order

Mr. Askham, Chairman, called the Special Meeting of the Board of Finance to order at 5:58 P.M. on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices located at 933 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury, CT.  The following members were also present:   Jeff Blumenthal, Nicholas Mason and Linda Schofield.  Also present were Lisa Heavner, First Selectman, Joseph Mancini, Director of Finance/Treasurer, Burke LaClair, Board of Education Business Manager and Kyra Sheehan, Accountant, Board of Education.

Pledge of Allegiance

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance

Approve Minutes

         January 20, 2015 - Regular Meeting

Mr. Blumenthal made a motion to approve the minutes as amended from the January 20, 2015 Regular Meeting.  The motion was seconded by Ms. Schofield and it was passed unanimously.

         Amended changes are:

Approve Minutes:  Change the time for the start of the Board of Finance meetings from 5:30 to 5:45.

Budget Goals for FY2016: 

The sentence “Mr. Askham said the goals are to keep the mill rate low, flat or lower than the previous year.” Change to “Mr. Askham said the goals are to keep the change in the mill rate low, flat or lower than the previous year.”

The sentence “Mr. Blumenthal said the Town has experienced some of that loss already, as employees of The Hartford have been moved.” Change to “Mr. Blumenthal said that the Town has experienced some of that loss already, as IT and other office equipment infrastructure either have been removed or not updated, such that we’ve experienced a significant decline in personal property taxes”.

The sentence “He wanted the sewer agency to speak to the Board about its next five year.” Change to “He wanted the sewer agency to speak to the Board about is five year Capital Plan.”

         Discussion of FY2016 Budget Guidelines and Possible Action:

The sentence “Mr. Mason said the Town and Board of Education are aware of the goal to have the mill rate low, flat or lower.” Change to “Mr. Mason said the Town and Board of Education are aware of the goal to have the mill rate remain unchanged, down, or at worst, go up very  little.

         October 21, 2014 - Regular Meeting

Mr. Blumenthal made a motion to approve the minutes as amended from the October 21, 2014 Regular Meeting.  The motion was seconded by Ms. Schofield and it was passed unanimously.

Amended changes were previously approved in the November 18, 2014 minutes.

Mr. Blumenthal withdrew his motion to approve these minutes and moved to table these minutes until the next meeting.  The motion was seconded by Mr. Mason and it was passed unanimously.

5.      Request for additional funding authorization for Henry James Main Office/Hallway Project

Mr. Mason made a motion to move Item 5 before item 4 on the Agenda.  The motion was seconded by Ms. Schofield and it was passed unanimously.

Mr. LaClair discussed the additional funding request for the Henry James Main Office/Hallway Project and distributed information to Board members.  He explained that these were two separate projects with two cost estimates.  Mr. LaClair noted that a State Grant application was applied for in June 2014 and the two projects were logically combined to receive one Grant. 

Mr. LaClair explained the cost estimates and the Grant process to Board members.  He also discussed the hazardous testing that has been taking place at Henry James as well as the additional costs for these tests.  Mr. LaClair stated that they are looking for an additional $200,000 of funding for Henry James.

Mr. LaClair and Board members discussed the additional funding for Henry James and cost estimates for the projects at Henry James and Squadron Line.  Board members also discussed additional bonding for Henry James with Mr. Mancini. 

Mr. Mason made a motion to approve the Resolution “as submitted”.  The motion was seconded by Ms. Schofield and it was passed unanimously.

9.      Discussion of FY16 Budget Guidelines and Potential Actions

Mr. Mason made a motion to move Item 9 next on the Agenda.  The motion was seconded by Ms. Schofield and it was passed unanimously.

Mr. Mason noted that the Board of Finance has given clear guidance to the Board of Selectmen and Board of Education that one of their goals is to bring the mill rate increase in at zero in order to not add any additional burden on the tax payers. 

Board members discussed the Board of Education projected budget and what direction they would like to see them go.  Mr. Mancini and Board members worked with alternative numbers on a spreadsheet of the Mill Rate and discussed these options.

Mr. Mason wanted to stress that the goal of the Board of Finance is to have a zero change in the mill rate for the next fiscal year.

Finance Director’s Report

Mr. Mancini reviewed his memo dated February 24, 2015 for Fiscal Year 2015 with Board members which included the following:

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Tax Collections

Fees and others

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Pressure on snow removal

Favorability with several departments and open positions

Assessors Report

Health Insurance

Pension Discussion

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Development of Annual Required Contribution – Long Range Forecast

Updated Town of Simsbury Pension Liability Discussion

Non-Lapsing account for BOE pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes 10-248a

Mr. Mancini discussed the Non-Lapsing account for the BOE pursuant to Connecticut Statutes 10-248A document with Board members.  Mr. Askham noted that this Connecticut Statute allows towns to set up a Non-Lapsing account to appropriate money for the Board of Education only.

Mr. Askham stated that the Statute document will be reviewed by Board members and tabled at this time.

Reserve Policy on the insurance Internal Service Fund and the use of those funds

Mr. Mancini discussed the handout for the Internal Service Fund with Board members.  The document included:

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Current Fund Balance

How to use the fund

Approval Process

Mr. Askham asked Board members to sign off on what they feel are adequate reserves and then the Board will decide what they want to do with it, how much and how fast.  He noted that it is time to formalize this process.  Mr. Askham stated that Mr. Mancini will get an opinion from the Insurance Committee and Mr. Lindberg as well as another source’s opinion on what an adequate reserve should be.

New Budget Savings CNR fund

Board members reviewed the Capital Non-Recurring Budget Savings Fund Policy Statement with Mr. Mancini.  Mr. Askham and Board members discussed how to fund this so that it can be used.   

Board members discussed the changes they would like to see in the Policy Statement for the Capital Non-Recurring Budget Savings Fund.   

Ms. Schofield made a motion to adopt the new Capital Non-Recurring Budget Savings Fund with the change in 3. Funding - A. to read “The charge back for the 2015/2016 Fiscal Year and beyond will be spread out evenly over a period not to exceed 10 years. The motion was seconded by Mr. Blumenthal and it was passed unanimously.

Mr. Askham asked Mr. Mancini if the Board of Finance has to recommend an amount to the Board of Selectmen to fund this.  Mr. Mancini will look into this for the Board of Finance.

Other Items

Ms. Schofield and Board members discussed the recent public hearing that was recently held at Eno Hall to decide the future of the Town’s Senior Center.  Some of the items discussed on this were:

To conduct a survey of a larger group of seniors/or all residents in Town to find out what they would like to do for a Senior Center and include additional data/topics in the survey

What is it going to cost to operate a new building

Find out if there is support in the Town to spend the kind of money projected for the project

Small amount of seniors using the Senior Center

Is the Board of Finance willing to fund the cost of a survey

Issue of not enough parking for Eno Hall no matter what is done

Eno Hall can never be 100% handicap accessible with any renovation

ADJOURN

Ms. Askham adjourned the meeting at 9:28pm.. 

Respectfully submitted,

Leslie Brigham