Board of Selectmen Special Meeting March 5, 2015
SIMSBURY BOARD OF SELECTMEN – SUBJECT TO APPROVAL
BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETING MINUTES – MARCH 5, 2015
CALL TO ORDER
First Selectman Lisa Heavner called the Simsbury Board of Selectmen’s Budget Workshop to order at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, 2015. The meeting was held in the main meeting room of the Simsbury Town Offices located at 933 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury, CT. Also in attendance: Selectmen Sean Askham, Cheryl Cook, Nancy Haase, Chris Kelly and Mike Paine. Staff included Director of Administrative Service Thomas Cooke, Deputy Director of Administrative Services Sean Kimball and Finance Director Joseph Mancini.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Everyone stood for the pledge of allegiance.
PUBLIC AUDIENCE
Anita Mielert, 57 East Weatogue Street, said she is in favor of restoring Simsbury Main Street Partnership’s funding to the $50,000, from $45,000. She said Main Street is the most effective economic development program the town has ever had and needs the town’s full support.
Joan Coe, 26 Whitcomb Drive, said as a candidate for First Selectman she is listening versus talking.
Kristen C. Barnett, 15 Ox Yoke Drive, said supports restoring Main Street to its $50,000 level, and allocating $50,000 toward a proposed "hub" that would bring groups like the chamber, Main Street, and tourism to one centralized location, such as a visitor center.
OVERVIEW OF BUDGET
Ms. Heavner said the town budget for fiscal year 2015-2016 is $19,029,456. The budget represents a $318,093 increase over the current year, or a 1.70 percent increase. She noted that this year’s increase is below the last two years. She said the department requests that were submitted would have increased the budget by $815,914, or 4.36 percent, to $19,527,277.
Mr. Mancini related that an additional $80,000 was available for the budget due to lower than expected OPEB (other post-employment benefits) Arc payments.
DISCUSSION
GENERAL GOVERNMENT
Town Clerk
Carolyn Keily described the work of the town clerk’s office from marriage licenses to death certificates, dog and fishing licenses, to land records, absentee ballots and more. She said the department works with other town department and the state government. The office had a new moveable shelving system put into place that is shares with the probate office. The money used to make the improvement came from a surcharge fee that the state imposed on land record transactions of which the town gets to keep a portion. She said the office had $773,308 in revenues for fiscal year 2013-2014, but 30 percent, or $228,447, went to the state.
Ms. Cook asked about public notices going online. Mr. Cooke said that has not taken place.
First Selectman’s Office/Central Administration
Ms. Heavner went over increases, such as under contractual services, $15,900 is for a license fee that will simplify and streamline the HR process and move away from paper-based systems. The town is working with the Board of Education on this. There is also a contractual obligation of $4,100 to NeoGov for the online application process, which has been beneficial. If the HR system moves forward, the town will eliminate NeoGov. If nothing is done then the town will retain NeoGov.
Ms. Cook asked if this was a definite. Mr. Cooke said it is not. Ms. Haase asked if there was the possibility of phasing things in. Mr. Cooke said there is a possibility of working with modules. Mr. Askham asked if the current technology platform in town could support this. Mr. Cook said it would.
Ms. Heavner pointed out a reduction in the first selectman’s salary, a change in Mr. Kimball’s salary, and a new line item for special activities, such as employee award or retirements ceremonies, to make the budget more transparent. Conferences and education were moved back to the various departments so there was a reduction there. Mr. Mancini negotiated a better telephone contract so there was another reduction there. Legal services are essentially the same. There was a small contractual increase for health services.
FINANCE
Mr. Mancini briefly went over the past year and where some savings were realized. He said some of the goals for the future are to maintain the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the GFOA; maintain the Town of Simsbury’s AAA rating; exceed the $25,000 budget for investment income in fiscal year 2015; and implement a quarterly budget review process with department heads.
His budget request reflects a decrease of one position funded at $42,000, funds contractual increases of $12,000, and allows for two staffing changes within the department. Mr. Mancini would like to resurrect the assistant finance director position, and increase the number of hours worked for the payroll/accounts payable employee to 40 hours from 35. This budget request also includes $4,000 for help during the summer months. Mr. Mancini said audit service is a fixed dollar amount that will be competitively bid or a one-year extension signed.
Ms. Haase asked if the annual report printing was competitively rebid. Mr. Mancini said he thought so.
Tax Collector
The collection rate is 99.5 percent. The number of online bill payments continues to increase. The office successfully transitioned from two full-time employees to one full-time and two part-time employees this past year. A collection agency was used for the first time this past year primarily for old vehicle taxes. About $15,000 has been collected. There is no cost to the town, as the agency adds a 15 percent tax that it collects. The department is transitioning the majority of its billings to be done electronically, which cuts down on mailing and printing.
Assessor
Town Assessor David Gardner said the current grand list shows an increase of .757 percent, up from .596 from 2013. His budget includes the requested reinstatement of a full-time assistant assessor, last funded in FYE 2010 to improve assessment quality and succession planning. Having an assistant assessor in place before the 2017 revaluation gets under way should help with assessment quality and fairness. In this proposal, the 1⁄2 time clerk position is eliminated. The clerk’s position is currently staffed through June 30, 2015. The budgeted salary for the assistant assessor is $59,096.
Ms. Haase said with the changes to the office, the net increase would be about $37,000. Ms. Cook asked how much revaluation services cost. Mr. Gardner said about $300,000.
Mr. Cooke stressed the need for succession planning in this and other departments. Mr. Paine said succession is something the town should be constantly thinking about. It was supported to put the assistant assessor position on the wish list.
Information Technology
Computer manager Rick Bazzano gave a few highlights of the past year: at the Simsbury Public Library he updated all the network switches and they are now connected to the Nutmeg Network. The police department went to cloud-based storage and has new spam filtering that is running successfully. The police also went with video cameras in the cruisers, and the mobile data terminals in the patrol cars were all updated.
His department worked with the building department, engineering and others to launch GIS. Fiber deployment, with the help of a grant, is underway (except when the ground is frozen). Outside of the parks department, almost everywhere all town facilities are connected to fiber. The migration to Windows 8 was successful, as was the virtual desktop rollout. Any increase in the budget is contractual.
Mr. Askham asked about security and it was suggested to have another security audit, especially if there are plans to help employees work remotely from home by logging on to the town system. Security testing is done regularly, but Mr. Askham wanted to make sure it is always top of mind with more and more threats and more and more information moving and business being done online. He said he would rather spend money to prevent exposure than to try and recover from a breach.
SOCIAL SERVICES
Director of Social Services Mickey Lecours-Beck said her budget increased a bit due to a bumping situation, and due to contractual obligations. She requested the youth program be matched as that amount allows them to fund all of the youth programs the department offers.
She said the department:
• Gave food to 7,432 residents through its four food programs.
• Completed 266 energy assistance applications, resulting in $176,300 in energy benefits back to qualifying Simsbury residents.
• Completed 110 renters rebate resulting in $55,800 in rebates back to residents.
• Provided financial assistance to 1,543 residents in the amount of $105,456, which was used for everything from oil and electricity bills to food and car repairs.
• The department collected $134,893 in donations. Ms. Lecours-Beck described Simsbury as a "very, very generous town."
A suicide prevention program was held, as were 38 youth programs. Online registration at senior center is growing and six intergenerational programs for seniors and high school students were held. The senior job bank was operational and senior center artists had a show.
Ms. Haase wondered if there was a possibility of doing the suicide prevention training again. Ms. Lecours-Beck said the program was made possible by a grant, but she thought it was possible.
Adding back $4,000 for youth programs was added to the wish list.
CULTURE, PARKS AND RECREATION
Recreation Director Gerry Toner went over what the department is responsible for: park and facility maintenance, recreation programs, and golf course maintenance and the pro shop.
The largest function of the department is park and facility maintenance, which includes 535 acres of parks and recreation, 2,400-acres of open space, 40 athletic fields including board of education fields that the board partially funds. Facilities include the Simsbury Farms Recreation Complex, Performing Arts Center and the Farmington Valley Greenway. The department is involved in an exciting program where a consulting forester is overseeing 630 acres of town property. Mr. Toner also met with Yale School of Forestry about developing a relationship with them.
He said the department administers 750 recreation programs annually and has a database of families that is about 7,000 strong. More than 90 percent of program registration is done online. There are 50 summer camps, serving 2,000 youngsters and 30 youth and adult programs. The department also administers Simsbury Celebrates annually. About 37,000 rounds of golf were played at Simsbury Farms Golf Course. Improved restaurant concession has helped the golf course.
He asked that the facilities maintenance account for tree maintenance for open space be reinstated. He said this is a contracted cost. The department cannot do that in-house.
Ms. Cook mentioned maintenance at Memorial Field pool. Mr. Toner said all safety issues are immediately handled and that further improvements are in the capital improvement project budget.
Mr. Toner mentioned the increase in minimum wage and its effect on his budget.
There was discussion on the Simsbury Farms budget and changes made to it to reflect current accounting practices.
Mr. Toner said there is no request in the capital and non-recurring budget for golf course maintenance equipment. He said there is a surcharge to course fees earmarked for equipment replacement.
Ms. Cook asked if Mr. Toner worked with the economic development commission or other groups in for marketing. He said he has worked with various groups and that his department is probably not working with them as much as it should.
PLANNING/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Director of Community Planning Development Hiram Peck is seeking an increase for Colleen Fenn to $53,562 as a reflection of her work and to keep her on par with other department administrators.
His top three additional requests in order are: funding for a part-time certified assistant building official to keep the inspection process running smoothly for $32,240; restoring Main Street’s funding to $50,000; and $4,000 for conferences.
ADJOURN
Ms. Haase made a motion to adjourn at 8:20 p.m. Ms. Cook seconded and all voted in favor.
Respectfully submitted, Stephanie Riefe