Advisory Budget Committee Minutes

Monday December 14, 2009

PRESENT: Committee Members: Scott Simano, Howard Hatch, Dick McDanolds, Barbara Dutile, Eleanor Ingbretson, Dick Fabrizio, Larry Corey, Peter Conrad, Bruce Simonds, Mike Conrad and Wayne Fortier; Selectboard members: David Joslin and Lynn Wheeler; Town Manager Glenn English; Administrative Assistant Jo Lacaillade; Chief Cecil Smith, Sergeant Byron Charles, Corporal Wallace Trott, PD Office Manager Lori Peterson; and Robert Fillion.

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm.

Police Department: TM English thanked Cecil; it has been a rough year for the Police Department and in his short tenure one of the first things he had to do was put this budget together and he thinks the numbers speak for themselves; it is down. Chief Smith gave a presentation of the Police Department budget for 2010 and explained changes within that budget. There was a brief discussion regarding the prosecutor and hours needed; cruisers; grants for equipment; dispatch; mileage reimbursement rates; new equipment budgeted; officer vacancy; training needed; the fuel line item; tazers; and calls for service. Dick Fabrizio made a motion to approve the budget excluding the salary lines; the motion was seconded by Bruce Simonds and carried unanimously.

Police Department Vehicle Lease: There was a brief discussion as to the mileage on each of the cruisers and the use of the SUV. Mike Conrad made a motion to approve the police vehicle lease budget ($13,365); the motion was seconded by Barb Dutile and carried unanimously.

Personnel Salary Schedule: Discussion ensued about the changes being made to the employee health insurance benefit provided and the added costs that will have to be absorbed by the employees. Larry Corey stated that WGSB was also giving 2% raises and that was mirrored by other employers in the area. With the changes to the health insurance plan many of the Town employees will not see a raise with the 2%, they will see a net take home pay decrease; those are the employees with a family plan. It was suggested that employees with family plans could opt to put their children on Healthy Kids and not have the family plan coverage. The amount of the stipend that is paid to employees that aren’t on the health insurance was discussed but there are no employees taking that stipend at this time. Howard Hatch felt that the raise should be taken out; places all around are either not giving raises or taking reductions. There was further discussion about the impact of the health insurance plan changes to the employees co-pay and reductions already made to the budget. Barb Dutile made a motion to approve the salary schedule as presented; the motion was seconded by Peter Conrad. Voting yes was Scott Simano, Dick McDanolds, Barb Dutile, Larry Corey, Wayne Fortier, Peter Conrad, Eleanor Ingbretson and Bruce Simonds; voting no Howard Hatch; abstaining Dick Fabrizio and Mike Conrad.

Special Duty: Dick Fabrizio made a motion to approve the special duty budget ($3,662) as presented; the motion was seconded by Bruce Simonds and carried unanimously.

Board of Selectmen: Larry Corey made a motion to approve the budget as amended in the amount of $48,628 which reflects the reduction in Professional Services after removing the added costs for internet service paid to the SAU; they have stated that they are not going to proceed with putting fiber optics into the building. The motion was seconded by Barb Dutile and carried unanimously.

Town Administration: Mike Conrad made a motion to approve the budget ($86,214) as presented; the motion was seconded by Barb Dutile and carried unanimously.

Town Meeting/Trustee of Trust Funds: Larry Corey made a motion to approve the Town Meeting ($327) and Trustee of Trust Funds ($2,717) budgets as presented; the motion was seconded by Dick McDanolds and carried unanimously.

Town Clerk: Barb Dutile made a motion to approve the Town Clerk budget ($78,272) as presented; the motion was seconded by Wayne Fortier and carried unanimously.

Voter Registration: Larry Corey made a motion to approve the budget ($9,052) as presented; the motion was seconded by Barb Dutile and carried unanimously.

Accounting and Auditing: Peter Conrad made a motion to approve the budget ($106,883) as presented; seconded by Barb Dutile and carried unanimously.

Tax Collection: Larry Corey made a motion to approve the budget ($36,810) as presented; seconded by Barb Dutile and carried unanimously.

Treasurer: Barb Dutile made a motion to approve the budget ($2,561) as presented; seconded by Dick McDanolds and passed with all voting in favor except Larry Corey who abstained from the vote because he is the deputy treasurer.

Data Processing: AA Lacaillade explained that 2010 will be a conversion year to a new assessing/Tax Collector system and during that time the annual maintenance will have to be paid on both systems. It is hoped that in 2011 that will not be necessary but that will be dependent on the conversion. Mike Conrad made a motion to approve the budget ($15,743) as presented; the motion was seconded by Barb Dutile and carried unanimously.

Revaluation of Property: TM English gave a brief overview of the utility revaluation that will be done in 2010 which is reflected in the higher budgeted amount. Barb Dutile made a motion to approve the budget ($63,000) as presented; the motion was seconded by Wayne Fortier and carried unanimously.

Legal: Bruce Simonds made a motion to approve the budget ($15,000) as presented; the motion was seconded by Barb Dutile and carried unanimously.

Larry Corey made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Barb Dutile and carried unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 pm.

Minutes transcribed by Jo Lacaillade