BOARD OF FINANCE MARCH 16, 2015 MINUTES Present: T. Hollinger, B. Sullivan, O. Nejdl, D. Donovan, L. Saunders, L. Santos, B. Farmer, V. Nye and J. Murphy Nejdl called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. APPROVE MINUTES Hollinger made a motion, seconded by Saunders to approve the minutes of February 17, 2015. The motion was unanimously approved. CORRESPONDENCE There were none at this time. VISITOR AND PUBLIC COMMENTS K. Carr emailed his budget summary to the board last week. Carr asked for the board to support a budget with no mill rate increase. Kim Buckley, Board of Education member, spoke in support of the education budget. Kristin Sandler and Quiana Peralta spoke in support of the Human Services Prevention Coordinator position. Dave Capece, former employee of the Board of Education Maintenance Department, spoke about the mismanagement of spending in that department. $19,000 APPROPIATION REQUEST FOR PUBLIC WORKS EQUIPMENT REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE Sullivan made a motion, seconded by Hollinger to appropriate $19,000 from contingency to the Public Works Equipment Repairs & Maintenance budget. The motion was unanimously approved. BOARD OF EDUCATION POLICY LAW The Board of Education has a meeting scheduled next week with their attorney regarding the policy law. They should have more information by the end of the month. Hollinger made a motion, seconded by Donovan to table this until next month’s meeting. The motion was unanimously approved. FINALIZE 2015/2016 PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET FOR TOWN AND BOARD OF EDUCATION Town Budget The board reviewed each department, including capital and made the following changes.  Tax Collector salaries line item had to be adjusted. The Assistant Tax Collector salary was originally budgeted for a 30 hrs. per week position instead of 35 hrs. per week. J. Murphy BOARD OF FINANCE MARCH 16, 2015 MINUTES  recommended increasing the salaries line item by $4,320. The total salaries line item will be $113,950 with a total budget of $145,090. Police Budget – $8,164 was added to part time salaries for crossing guards. Total line item is now $60,927. Full time salaries needed to be increased by $6,406 for a total of $2,105,871. Total police budget is $2,809,605. Donovan made a motion, seconded by Sullivan to approve a total town budget of $16,752,237 and send to a public hearing. The motion was unanimously approved. Board of Education Budget Nejdl made some cost saving recommendations to the Board of Education. Hollinger asked if any capital items can be purchased now with surplus funds. The only capital items that could be purchased now would be computer replacement items. The Board of Education’s estimated surplus is approximately $380,000 - $450,000. Emergency repairs needed to be done at the Joel School kindergarten wing due to water damage. The insurance deductible is $5,000 and they estimate the repairs from $18,000 to $20,000. Also two special educations students have moved into town. At this time they do not have the estimated cost. Sullivan made a motion, seconded by Nye to approve a total Board of Education operating budget of $31,747,588 and send to public hearing. Nejdl opposed the motion. The motion was approved with a vote of 5 in favor (Hollinger, Donovan, Sullivan, Saunders and Nye) and one opposed (Nejdl). Sullivan approved a total Board of Education capital budget of $459,430. The motion was unanimously approved. Nye approved a total Board of Education Debt Redemption budget of $833,313. The motion was unanimously approved. The total Board of Education budget is $33,040,331. The public hearing has been scheduled for April 8th at 7:00 PM in the Green Room. Immediately following the public hearing the board will hold a special meeting to finalize the budget. PROPOSED REVENUE Fritz recommended putting $100,000 back into the budget from reserves to appropriated surplus. This would increase that line item from $150,000 to $250,000. Nye made a motion to increase appropriated surplus from $150,000 to $250,000. There was no second to the motion. The motion failed. Hollinger made a motion, seconded by Sullivan to approve the proposed revenue for the Board of Education at $7,005,678. The motion was unanimously approved. Donovan made a motion, seconded by Hollinger to approve the proposed town revenue at $2,563,000. The motion was unanimously approved. BOARD OF FINANCE MARCH 16, 2015 MINUTES Hollinger made a motion, seconded by Sullivan to approve the proposed revenue from other sources at $1,447,800. The motion was unanimously approved. FINANCE DIRECTOR’S REPORT AND ALL LINE ITEM TRANSFER REQUESTS Nye made a motion, seconded from Hollinger to transfer $4,456 from contingency to Tax Collector full time salaries line item. The motion was unanimously approved. Murphy notified the board that she will be closing out any outstanding capital improvement projects and transferring the money back in the general fund. Sullivan made a motion, seconded by Nye and unanimously adjourned the meeting at 8:45 PM. Respectfully submitted, Mary Schettino Administrative Assistant