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2011-03-08bud Budget Committee Meeting – 3/08/2011 TOWN OF BERLIN BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, March 8, 2011 Board of Education Meeting Room 6:00 P.M. A.CALL TO ORDER Chairman Robert Dacey called the Budget Committee meeting to order at 6:08 p.m. B.PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE C.ROLL CALL Those in attendance were: Councilor Karen Drost Councilor David Evans Councilor Stephen Morelli Councilor William Rasmussen, Jr. Councilor Rachel Rochette Mayor Adam Salina Chairman Robert Dacey Also in attendance: Town Manager Denise McNair Finance Director Jim Wren Len Zielinski, Budget Analyst D.DISCUSSION ON DEPARTMENT BUDGETS: 1.Registrars #0510 Registrars Elizabeth Tedeschi and Charles Warner presented the Registrar’s budget. Supplies – 201 Requested $17,500 – Elizabeth Tedeschi explained that they are required to pay for all the programming and the ballots. This cost varies on the amount of elections that are held. This also includes the price to shred the ballots. Maintenance & Repair - 245 Requested $2,700 – Charles Warner stated that the State no longer has a maintenance contract with LHS and the Town must absorb the cost of $191 for each of their 12 voting machines. The remaining $400 covers the maintenance costs on other voter equipment. 1/8 Budget Committee Meeting – 3/08/2011 2.Police #1532 Police Chief Paul Fitzgerald, Deputy Police Chief John Klett, and Robert Peters, Chairman of the Police Commission presented the Police Department budget. IT Network Application Specialist - 125 Requesting $59,005 – This is a request to hire a full-time IT employee to handle the desktop support, server support, application support, wireless support, and to serve as a liaison for the Criminal Justice Information System. He explained how important this position is to the Police Department. Robert Peters, Chairman of the Police Commission stated that they are requesting an increase in the Police Chief and Deputy Chief’s salaries. He stated that the Police Chief is doing a good job and they would like to increase the Deputy Chief’s salary to keep him ahead of the Lieutenants salaries. Telecommunications-Statewide - 101 Requested $20,000 – This is a reduction of $5,000 from last year’s budget. Computer Support - 813 Requested $79,600 – This is an increase of $5,000 from last year’s budget. Photo Supplies – 212 Requested $1,000 – Town Manager reduced to $500. Capital Outlays: Police Vehicle – 54000-04 Requested $100,000 – This request is to maintain a 2-3 year rotation or their vehicles become high mileage vehicles. Chairman Dacey stated that they will be asking for a $25,000 reduction in this account. Mayor Salina inquired if they are fully staffed with the Dispatchers in the Police Department. Police Chief Fitzgerald stated that they placed an ad for the one vacancy in the Dispatchers. They have two vacancies in the Police Officer positions but they have selected one officer and are working on the second. Councilor Rochette asked if the new police vehicles will be more expensive than the current vehicles. 2/8 Budget Committee Meeting – 3/08/2011 Police Chief Fitzgerald stated that they will no longer be making the Ford Victoria police vehicles and the new police vehicles will be more expensive. He stated that the equipment for the vehicles is almost expensive as the vehicles. Emergency Comm. Recorder – 54000-1111 $25,000 – This is for the 911 calls. Councilor Evans stated that he would like to make sure that we are aggregating the orders for supplies for all the departments as much as possible to save on costs. Deputy Chief Klett stated that they are buying most of their supplies from Staples as the other departments are doing. Town Manager McNair stated that they have seen a significant savings with the Police Department and other town departments purchasing their supplies from Staples. They are still working with the Board of Education on using Staples for their supplies. Traffic Lights/Signals – 238 Requested $21,150. Police Chief Fitzgerald stated that they have to maintain their signage standards in order to keep liability claims down. There are now new standards that the traffic signs will have to meet. Councilor Evans inquired about the towing of vehicles and if the Municipal Garage is a secure location for them. Police Chief Fitzgerald stated that they have secured the fenced-in area for the towed vehicles. Telephones - 902 Requested $10,500 - Councilor Evans inquired if the cellular telephone service is different than what is used throughout the town. Police Chief Fitzgerald stated that they separated their cellular telephone service from the town service because of the FOI requests. They do monitor that service to make sure it is being used efficiently. Professional Development - 916 Councilor Evans inquired as to how much of an impact was the increase in the training ammunition to the Police budget. Police Chief Fitzgerald stated that they have been holding down some of their training in other areas due to budget constraints. Deputy Chief Klett stated that it cost approximately 4 to 5 thousand dollars a year for ammunition. 3/8 Budget Committee Meeting – 3/08/2011 Deputy Chief Klett explained that the cost for police services for the football and basketball games is paid for out of the Board of Education budget. Mayor Salina stated that the press releases regarding the apprehension of suspects are good because they let people know what is happening in town. He asked if there is any possibility of regional cooperative efforts between police departments that could be used to help reduce costs. Police Chief Fitzgerald stated that they do participate in a regional enforcement group. Additionally, they have trained some of the traffic officers for specialized training and all five regional towns participate in it. Mayor Salina asked if there has been any communications about more regional cooperative efforts for additional services for the Police Departments. Police Chief Fitzgerald stated that the Town Managers have been discussing it. Robert Peters stated that he is in support of the Fire Departments increases. He stated that it would probably cost about 2.5 million dollars to have a paid fire department. He feels that our volunteer fire departments do a tremendous job and they save the town money. 3.Town Council #0513 Mayor Salina presented the Town Council budget. Supplies – 201 $100 – To purchase supplies, proclamations and town pins. Organizational Fees – 944 Reduced to $0. 4.Health Department #3052 Town Manager McNair stated that the Health Department budget total should be changed to $84,953. 5.Mobile Home Park #2541 Town Manager McNair presented the Mobile Home Park budget. Water & Sewer – 917 Requested $7,400 – an increase of $100 over last year’s budget. Contractual Services – 814 4/8 Budget Committee Meeting – 3/08/2011 Requested $600 – This is to pay for the yearly cleaning of the boiler that was previously charged to the Public Building Maintenance department. (Councilor Morelli exited the meeting at 6:51 p.m.) 6.Town/BOE Principal & Interest #4063-4066, Transfers #4567 Jim Wren, Finance Director presented the Town/BOE Principal & Interest accounts. Current Outstanding Debt: ? 14 million dollars outstanding in bonds ? 10.3 million dollars in outstanding notes He presented a copy of the document from CCM showing the debt per capita in all of the towns in Connecticut. In 2009, Berlin was $309 per capita, which was one of the lowest on the list; in 2010 it was $648 per capita. He gave examples of outstanding debts for towns that are comparable to the size of Berlin. Debt Issuance Plan: Outstanding Notes st ? Pistol Creek, McGee School (1 half) and Sherwood Remediation, - Total $8,890,000 New Debt nd ? McGee School (2 half), Sherwood Remediation, McGee School Roof, Roads – Total $5,000,000 – Bond Counsel is recommending authorizing $6,000,000 in debt but only issue $2,000,000 over the next three years. This would equate to approximately $98,000 reduction in interest. Notes ? Beckley Road Bridge ($350,000), Town Hall Chiller ($328,000) and the Material Storage Yard ($200,000) – These are budgeted in the Transfers account. This will be the second payment out of a total of five payments. Remaining Notes ? Open Space ($280,000) and Berlin Turnpike ($335,000) – Recommending paying off in the next 3 years. Proposed New Notes ? Berlin High School ($5,000,000) Interest is 1.5%. $75,000 is in the budget. ? Police Station ($2,000,000) – cover purchase of land and initial costs ? Material Storage Yard ($100,000) Jim Wren stated that the proposal assumptions are that the Notes will be 1.5% interest and the Bonds will be 4%. Summary of Principal and Interest Budgets: ? $1,075,600 – Principal payments on the 5-year Notes ? $205,000 – Principal payments on the 3-year Notes ? $1,620,000 – Principal payments on existing loans ? $0 – Principal payments on new debt 5/8 Budget Committee Meeting – 3/08/2011 ? $334,700 – Interest on existing debt ? $840,670 – Interest on newly issued debt This did not include the $42,258 for the CBRA – being paid off through 2020 Principal Payment -Town Issue of 2009 - $600,000 Refunding Issue A of 2010 - $650,000 Refunding Issue B of 2010 - $370,000 Principal Payment - Schools $0 – The school projects principal payment has not started yet. Interest Payments - Town CBRA - $27,083 Issue of 2009 - $133,700 Refunding Issue A of 2010 - $79,900 Refunding Issue B of 2010 - $45,425 Issue of 2011 - $435,751 Issue of 2011 BANs - $37,320 Interest Payments - Schools Issue of 2009 - $76,675 Issue of 2011 – 311,349 Issue of 2011 BANs - $56,250 7.Revenues Finance Director Jim Wren presented the Revenues budget. Taxes: Current Levy – 98% Collection Rate – Jim Wren is recommending to increases the collection rate to 98.2%. Back Taxes and Interest from Overdue Taxes – Slight increase over last year’s budget. They may be able to go a little bit higher on these figures. Licenses, Permits & Others: Town Clerks Fees – The Government is taking passports away from the Town Clerks offices. Mayor Salina stated that he received information that we can still do passports within the Town but it must be another department other than the Town Clerk’s office because they no longer want passports being done in the same office that birth certificates are issued. There will be further discussion on this item and perhaps they can find another office to do the passports. 6/8 Budget Committee Meeting – 3/08/2011 Jim Wren stated that the projected $300,000 in the Town Clerk’s fees also includes the conveyance taxes. The Governor’s proposal has an increase in the conveyance taxes. Planning & Building – An increase of 3% over last year’s budget. Outside Police Services – Projecting $312,500. This line item has expenditure offsets in the Police Department budget. Park & Recreation – Projecting $113,000 due to increase in their rates. Golf Course Revenue – Projecting $825,622 (3-year average plus 5%) Golf Cart Revenue – Projecting $285,000 (3-year average plus 2.5%) Nursing – Projecting 1,300,000 School Grants: Education Equalization Grant - $6,169,410 Excess Special Education Grant - $506,797 – It may come in at $590,000. School Transportation Grant - $133,344 – consistent to what we received in 2010. Other State Grants: Manufacturer’s Equipment Grant - $0 – discontinued – Budgeted $926,111 for last year’s budget but only received $646,000 from the state. Jim Wren gave an overview of the Revenue items in the Governor’s budget. Projected New Revenues: ? Conveyance Tax – $281,635 - The revenue from this is already included in the Town Clerk’s budget – There is proposal to double the tax rate for all towns ? Retail Sales Tax – $181,635 - not budgeting for this increase ? Room Occupancy Tax - $18,710 The total of these new revenues for Berlin is $482,081 but he is recommending budgeting $175,000 to $185,000 for the proposals. Other Services & Earnings on Investments: ? Interest on Investments – budgeted $250,000 suggesting reducing to $200,000 ? Refund on Expenditures – budgeted $50,000 ? Cell Phone Tower Rent – budgeted $100,070 – yearly increase ? Other Receipts – budgeted $10,000 ? Telephone Access line share – budgeted $60,000 – program was reduced Transfers from other Funds: 7/8 Budget Committee Meeting – 3/08/2011 ? Transfer from other Funds – budgeted $5,200 – last year was a one-time transfer for the mobile home park. ? Water Control Commission – budgeted $2,500 ? Water Control Commission Other – budgeted $127,500 ? Fund Balance – budgeted $1,300,000 (same as last year) Chairman Dacey gave a brief summary of the proposed budget. He stated that March 14, 2011 will be the first Budget Committee workshop. E.ADJOURNMENT Mayor Salina moved to adjourn the budget meeting at 8:06 p.m. Seconded by Councilor Rochette. Those voting in favor were: Councilor Drost, Councilor Evans, Councilor Rasmussen, Jr., Councilor Rochette, Mayor Salina, Chairman Dacey Vote being 6-0. (MOTION CARRIED) Submitted, Kathryn J. Wall ___________________________________ Clerk of the Meeting Robert Dacey, Chairman 8/8