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TOWN OF GRANBY
BOARD OF FINANCE
SPECIAL MEETING
MINUTES
MARCH 26, 2007
PRESENT: Michael Guarco, Chairman; Gordon Bischoff, Francis Brady, B. Scott Kuhnly, Frederick Moffa, OD; and Al Wilke
Also present: Board of Selectmen: Vice-Chairman, Sally King; Ronald F. Desrosiers, and Mark Neumann; William F. Smith, Jr., Town Manager; Roger Hernsdorf, Town Treasurer; Barbarajean Scibelli, Administration Finance Officer; Board of Education: Chairman Cal Heminway, Marie Nicholls, Edward Ohannessian, John O'Connor, and Matthew Wutka, Gwen Van Dorp, Superintendent of Schools; and Harry Traver, Business Manager
Chairman Guarco confirmed a quorum and called the special meeting to order at 7:07 p.m.
MINUTES
The Board reviewed the minutes for the meeting of February 13, 2007 and noted one correction - first paragraph under Discussion of Final Budget Guidelines for 2007-08, last sentence: remove “decreased from last year” and replace with “increase of 1.73% was not as high as expected”.
ON A MOTION by Scott Kuhnly, seconded by Frederick Moffa, OD, the Board voted (5-0-1) to approve the minutes of February 13, 2007 with the above noted correction. Gordon Bischoff abstained.
Consideration of Approval for Purchase of Two Parcels of Land
Board of Selectmen Vice-Chairman, Sally King addressed this issue and gave some background information on the purchase of these two parcels. The town would like to purchase these parcels and most of the money is in the Open Space Fund.
175 Salmon Brook Street – This is approximately a 26-acre parcel. Salmon Brook runs through it and there is a wetland area. There may be opportunities for a park entrance or playing fields here. The landowner is willing to sell this land to the town for the appraised value of $255,000.
149 Old Messenger Road – The present owner would like the town to purchase this parcel for $100,000. A grant for $40,000 needs to be applied for and approved in order for the purchase to be completed. Open Space Funding ($45,000) and General Fund balance ($55,000) would be used and when the grant is received, the net amount of General Fund use would be $15,000. Fran Armentano was present and explained in more detail about this property, stating that access to this parcel is very limited. It could be built on or logged and has a great view. The town owns an abutting 6-acre piece of property, which could create an easy access to this parcel. It was noted that there is a wildlife corridor that runs through this property. Mr. Brady commented that the purchase price seems to be fair.
ON A MOTION by Francis Brady, seconded by Gordon Bischoff, the Board voted to approve (6-0-0) the purchase of 175 Salmon Brook Street for the price of $255,000. It will be paid for from the town’s Open Space/Town Improvements Fund.
ON A MOTION by Scott Kuhnly, seconded by Al Wilke, the Board voted to approve (6-0-0) the purchase of 149 Old Messenger Road for the price of $100,000 with the condition that the town receives a State Open Space grant in the amount of $40,000. It will be paid for with $45,000 from the Open Space/Town Improvement Fund, and $55,000 from the General Fund. Once the grant is approved, the General Fund will be reimbursed the $40,000 or the property may not be purchased if the grant is not received.
2007-2008 Budgets from the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Education
Chairman Guarco indicated the Board had received the town and school budgets and announced review of these documents for this evening.
Town Manager William F. Smith, Jr. presented the Board of Selectmen's budget. He indicated that this budget just maintains the current level of services for the town. He spoke of the State of the Town report in the Proposed Budget Book and how it has information comparing Granby to other communities, showing a past history of what we have done. The budget increase is 5.53%, which is a little above the Board of Finance guideline of 4-5% and can be attributed to the increase in energy costs, money for grant fall offs, benefits, insurance, solid waste, and fuel all being higher. The Board of Selectmen agreed to a $50,000 revenue from the Solid Waste Fund to offset this increase. The funds are available from the CRRA settlement with ENRON.
The Town Manager also reviewed the Revenue Budget, the Expenditure Budget, Debt Service, and Capital Budget. In summary, the Revenue Budget identifies an increase in State Grants of $1,162,879, which includes the Governor’s proposed budget and Local Revenues at $1,616,950. He commented the draw down from fund balance is less than last year. The Town Manager noted that the Expenditure Budget was reduced by $204,050, which was mostly staffing requests. The major increases ($374,891) for the Expenditure Budget were wages, grant fall-off, insurances, solid waste, fuel and electric, and health benefits. Debt Service showed a major increase due to bonding for the last of the school renovations. The Capital Budget for the town and school is $1,212,250. The Capital Improvement Program is a 10-year
forecast showing a dollar amount of $20,703,615.
Town Manager Smith went on to speak about the Fund Balance Analysis, which will retain an estimated 8+% balance at June 30th with State Revenues as proposed by the Governor. Without new proposed State Revenues, it will retain an estimate of 5%.
He thanked Barbarajean Scibelli, Administration Finance Officer, and the Department Heads for their assistance in preparing the budget.
Questions about Public Works staffing, the Governor’s budget, and other clarifications were brought up and answers were provided by Town Manager Smith.
Mr. Brady stated that he felt the Board of Selectmen and the town staff did a good job preparing this budget. Chairman Guarco also stated he felt the Town Manager and others did a fine job in keeping the increase as low as possible. Mr. Brady asked if the Board of Selectmen’s budget proposal was adopted unanimously and Vice-Chairman Sally King indicated it had.
Board of Education Chairman Cal Heminway presented their budget. The Board of Education budget shows a 5.4% increase. However, the Board of Education is providing additional education revenues that would effectively lower the increase to 4.5%. FY ’08 BOE operating budget would support level services, including additional students expected for next year. Some of the major factors impacting the BOE FY ‘08 budget are the rising costs for electricity, fuel oil, transportation, and salary/health benefits. Chairman Heminway showed a power point presentation, highlighting some goals achieved through the BOE FY ‘08 budget to be: 1. to maintain moderate class size for K-8 and reduce high school class sizes by adding teachers; 2. enhance continuous improvement through program enhancements; 3. promote
educational opportunities and enrichment through quality and diversity initiatives; and 4. support district infrastructure and operational needs. He touched on per pupil expenditures, educational results, budget request, capital improvement, transportation, building maintenance, FFE, and technology. The Board of Education operating appropriation request was $25,155,524.
Mr. Heminway identified the Capital Equipment/Improvement Fund request at $510,000 and the Education Quality and Diversity Fund request at $223,579. These items are actually run through the general government budget.
Chairman Heminway and Superintendent Gwen Van Dorp answered questions. Some were:
1. Technology budget breakdown was reviewed upon request, with Scott Kuhnly stating he feels the technology in the schools is beneficial to all students.
2. Quality and Diversity – how does it compare to last year? Gwen Van Dorp gave an explanation.
Gordon Bischoff had questions pertaining to the Town Manager’s Budget message, which he had reviewed. Town Manager Smith replied.
Chairman Guarco made a point that cooperation between the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Education could move to combine grounds and building maintenance between the school and the town.
The consensus of the Board of Finance observers for the budget workshops was that the budget was diligently thought out with planning work well done.
Chairman Guarco thanked both boards for presenting their budgets and commented the budgets showed thorough, careful devised budgets. The budgets indicated service levels were sustained. He also noted that since this winter has been rather mild, he is assuming there will be some money turned back to the General Fund.
A FY '08 Rev. 3 Budget Worksheet was distributed to the Board of Finance members that showed the Grand List at 1.73%. The Mill Rate is proposed at 3.76%. In order to accomplish this, the Board of Finance requested that the budgets presented be reduced by $30,000 from the Board of Education and $10,000 from the Board of Selectmen.
Some of the Boards comments were: keeping the General Fund Balance healthy is a priority. Keeping the mill rate increase low is also a priority. Chairman Guarco made mention of the Governor’s Budget. He had a meeting with Town Manager William Smith and Town Attorney Donald Holtman to discuss this. If the Governor’s Budget comes to the town as proposed, the Board of Finance could lower the mill rate. This should be taken into account before the mill rate is set, which is within ten days of approving the Budget.
ON A MOTION by Gordon Bischoff, seconded by Scott Kuhnly, the Board voted unanimously (6-0-0) to forward for public comment, the following budgets to the public hearing scheduled for April 9, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the High School Auditorium. It was further noted that adjustments to Intergovernmental Revenues, fund balance transfer, and Board of Education and Board of Selectmen expenditures are included in the numbers below, including a reduction to the budgets totaling $40,000 (BOS - $10,000 BOE - $30,000).
REVENUES |
Property Tax Levy |
$29,117,799 |
Other Property Tax |
570,000 |
Intergovernmental Revenues |
6,116,902 |
Local Revenues and Fund Transfers |
791,950 |
Fund Balance Transfers |
1,600,000 |
Total |
$38,196,651 |
|
EXPENDITURES |
MUNICIPAL SERVICES |
|
General Government Department |
$8,308,126 |
Board of Selectmen and Board of Education Capital Equipment/Improvement Allotment |
900,000 |
Economic Dev. Funds |
10,000 |
Debt Service |
3,853,001 |
|
EDUCATION SERVICES |
|
Education Department |
25,125,524 |
|
|
Total |
$38,196,651 |
|
|
OTHER FUNDS |
REVENUES |
EXPENDITURES |
Dog Fund |
$18,100 |
$18,100 |
Recreation Events Funds |
$353,000 |
$353,000 |
Sewer Utility Fund |
$111,350 |
$111,350 |
Education Quality & Diversity Fund |
$223,579 |
$223,579 |
Capital Equipment/Improvement Fund |
$1,212,250 |
$1,212,250 |
ADJOURNMENT
Chairman Guarco announced that a public hearing on the proposed budget is scheduled for April 9, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the High School Auditorium.
ON A MOTION by Alfred Wilke, seconded by Gordon Bischoff, the Board voted unanimously (6-0-0) to adjourn the meeting at 8:48 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Christian
Acting Recording Secretary
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