Board of Finance Minutes-3/27/13

BOARD OF FINANCE
REGULAR MEETING - 5:30 PM
MARCH 27, 2013

CALL TO ORDER

Paul Henault, Chairman, called a regular meeting of the Board of Finance to order at 5:30 P.M. on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 in the Main Meeting Room at the Town Offices, 933 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury, CT. The following members were also present: Peter Askham, Jeff Blumenthal, Nicholas Mason, Kevin North and Barbara Petitjean. Also present were Mary Ann Harris, Finance Director; Mary Glassman, First Selectmen; Tom Cooke, Director of Administrative Services; Leslie Faraci, Commissions Clerk and other interested parties.

1. Approve Minutes - March 12, 2013

Ms. Petitjean made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 12, 2013 Board of Finance Meeting, as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. North and unanimously passed.

2. Board of Selectmen - 2013/2014 Budget Presentation 
At this point in the meeting First Selectmen Glassman addressed the Board of Finance in order to present the Town of Simsbury Budget Presentation FY 2013-2014. Ms. Glassman reviewed the following topics:  Budget Goals, Pressures on the 2013-2014 Budget, Budget History, Where Your Tax Dollars Go, Cost Saving Efforts, Board of Selectmen Adopted Budget, and Next Steps in Budget Process.  Ms. Glassman reviewed the history of Taxable Assessments in detail for the Board, showing the effects of the recent revaluation. She spoke in detail about Emergency Response and the costs associated with recent storm-related incidents. Ms. Glassman then provided an in-depth look at the Board of Selectmen Budget History. Ms. Glassman walked the Board through the process of how the Board of Selectmen arrived at the budget she is presenting tonight. (.65% increase from last year, net of pension changes) She then reviewed the effects the change in pension assumptions have on the budget (bringing the total increase to 1.71%). She then concluded her Budget Presentation.

Mr. Henault opened the floor up to questions from the Board of Finance members. Ms. Glassman fielded questions regarding the CNR. The Police Chief's requested priorities were discussed. When Ms. Glassman was asked about cuts the BOS had to make within this budget, she said they had to exclude some tree work, a one-time clearing of trails within Open Space.  Potential funding sources for the Open Space tree work related maintenance was discussed. Tree work in general, as it is currently represented in the budget was discussed.  The topics of road maintenance and the history of annual road maintenance spending were discussed.  Ms. Petitjean requested a budgeting schedule in terms of long-term and short-term road work. Mr. Sawitzke commented on the scheduling of road maintenance and noted they work hard to coordinate with sewer/drainage projects for efficiency purposes. He spoke further about the current strategy regarding road maintenance. Ms. Glassman said of course Mr. Roy would love more money for road maintenance, but the Board of Selectmen was given strict budgeting perimeters, which forced tough decisions. The topic of benefit plans and contributions were then briefly covered between the Board members and Mr. Cooke. 

When asked about the projected reserves level, as of end of June 2013, Ms. Harris discussed the increases on the revenue side for the Town this year. Mr. Askham asked Ms. Harris to produce a forecast of projected revenue. The changes in State Aid were reviewed by Ms. Harris.

Ms. Petitjean requested the schedule, by department, of FTE equivalent. Ms. Petitjean then requested to see an analysis of the Sewer Fund and any rate impact. Ms. Petitjean then requested a detailed breakdown of the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT).  Additional details of the presented budget were discussed regarding the following topics; PILOT, Building Department Costs, Legal Fees, Town Clerk, and Cruiser/Bus Costs.

Mr. Henault described the budget process moving forward from this point. 

Many Board members commended the BOS bringing the budget in at such a small increase. That being said, it was asked if in bringing in budgets like these, is the town underfunding on the long-term strategic goals. Ms. Glassman said each department is seriously considered and the basic maintenance needs have been met.

Mr. North made a motion to move the Board of Selectmen - 2013/2014 Budget, as presented, onto Public Hearing. The motion was seconded by Ms. Petitjean and unanimously passed.

3. Board of Selectmen - 2013/2014 Capital Improvement Plan Presentation (pursuant to Section 803 of the Town Charter)

Ms. Glassman spoke about the philosophy taken when coming up with the CIP, speaking specifically about projects that are multiple years out.  Ms. Glassman saying there are some placeholders for projects they know will come up. She mentioned school safety recommendations that will be put together by August. Ms. Glassman reviewed each of the line items on the CIP and spoke in some detail on each item. At this point, the Board members asked questions. There were concerns raised about the “known-unknowns” (i.e., effects resulting from The Hartford, decreasing State Revenues, cost of School Safety improvements). Some of the specific line items of the CIP were discussed in further detail. Mr. Sawitzke provided specific details regarding a few of the line items, concentrating mostly on the future sewer projects. Future bonding capabilities were discussed. Possible funding sources for the Ethel Walker III was discussed. Ms. Petitjean asked for the debt service schedule and to include the debt service assumed with this particular cash flow. The funding for the School Safety related costs was discussed. The location options for the Senior Center, and associated costs, were covered by Mr. Sawitzke briefly. It was requested that Mr. Sawitzke provide some further detail regarding what improvements are included within the Center Area Charrette Infrastructure ($540,000). Alternative revenue generation possibilities to fund the potential parking deck in town center were considered and discussed. The idea of a one-time expanding of the 7% guideline in order to allow increased borrowing capacity (considering today’s attractive interest rate environment) to fund projects now instead of putting them off until later, when rates may be higher, was discussed.

Mr. Henault noted that moving this onto public hearing is not an endorsement of the plan by the Board of Finance. He then reviewed the Mill Rate worksheet, saying if this budget gets adopted as presented, it would generate 37.28 mills, which results from the recent revaluation. He then provided an example of calculating property taxes using these new numbers.

Mr. North made a motion to move the Board of Selectmen – 2013/2014 Capital Improvement Plan, as presented, onto Public Hearing.  The motion was seconded by Mr. Mason and unanimously passed.

ADJOURNMENT

Ms. Petitjean moved to adjourn the March 27, 2013 Regular Meeting of the Board of Finance at 7:20PM. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mason and passed unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

____________________________________  ______________________________
Paul Henault, Chairman                                     Leslie U. Faraci, Commissions Clerk