BOARD OF FINANCE REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2019
TOWN HALL HEARING ROOM
Filed subject to approval.
Present:
Dr. Kimberly Yonkers, Chair
Ward Mazzucco
Jamie Barickman
Ed Miller
Susan Clark
Rob Dean
Also Present:
Patricia Moisio, Tax Collector
Steve Gniadek, Finance Director
Wes Higgins, Treasurer
Members of the Public
Chair Yonkers called the meeting to order at 7:30PM.
1. TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE BOF MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
MOTION:
Mr. Mazzucco made a motion to approve the minutes of the BOF meeting held on Monday, September 23, 2019. Ms. Clark seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous, and the motion carried.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT
Chair Yonkers opened the floor for Public Comment. No members of the public commented.
3. TAX COLLECTOR’S REPORT
Ms. Moisio addressed the BOF.
Collections are a little over half of the FY 2020 budget.
Ms. Moisio said she receives many questions about development in Georgetown. The interest is well over 50% of the total debt the GLDC owes and there are 18% interest increases every year.
A tax sale starting for the 2015 and 2016 Grand Lists. There are 15 people on the 2015 Grand list and 21 on the 2016 Grand List that have not paid taxes.
The CT DMV registration period is now three years instead of two years. This will effect property tax collection for vehicles.
The Georgetown Sewer District still owes $5,000,000 and the delta payment is $3,000,000.
4. FINANCE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Mr. Gniadek addressed the BOF.
Mr. Gniadek attended a Cybersecurity workshop on Thursday, 10/24/2019. He said the presenter was great and could come present at Town Hall for employees and members of the public. This presentation would be free of charge.
Discussion followed concerning when and where this presentation could happen.
The FY 2018-2019 audit is proceeding nicely and a draft can be available next week. It will be an agenda item for the November 2019 BOF meeting.
The FY 2019-2020 budget calendar has been distributed. The Joint meeting is on Wednesday, December 18, 2019; the Selectman’s Budget workshop is on Friday, January 10, 2020; and the BOF public meeting will be Thursday, March 19, 2019.
The West Redding railroad station has been running a deficit. The Finance Department is looking at lighting solutions to reduce energy costs at the station. This LED lighting conversion could save $17,000 over a 10-year period.
There has been a loss of revenue for the West Redding railroad station due to the Bethel Train Station and its large parking lot.
The Town is getting rid of the parking ticket company we are currently using and is going back to Police Department enforcement.
The Highway Department is moving forward with a lighting conversion like the train station. This will save $10,000 over 10 years.
Mr. Gniadek had the Finance Department look into savings on the Town’s bottled water service. The Town moved from doing business with ReadyRefresh to working with W.B.Mason. The annual savings are estimated at $4,000.
Sexual Harassment training is a requirement for all Town employees as of 2020.
5. TREASURER’S REPORT
Chair Yonkers discussed the Treasurer’s Report.
The operating cash balances as of September 2019 was $23,100,000. This is an increase of $2,000,000 over prior years.
Mr. Gniadek said that the tax collection service may change from Webster Bank to People’s Bank. He said this is due to the service quality that Webster Bank has provided. The change would be cost-neutral.
Ms. Clark said interest rates are coming down.
6. UPDATE ON SCHOOLS CONSULTANT
Ms. Clark said the scope has changed. There will be one full day of meetings Wednesday, December 6, held in the Town Hall conference room. This will be followed by another full day of analysis and discussion. The process will conclude on Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at the Tri-Board meeting.
Ms. Clark said the cost of the consultant has increased by $500, bringing the total to $10,000.
First Selectwoman Pemberton said the BOF must approve the cost of the consultant and send this decision to the BOS for final approval.
Mr. Gniadek said this was an unbudgeted item and that the BOS must find a place in the budget to apply this action. Discussion followed as to where the consulting cost should be applied.
Mr. Gniadek asked Ms. Clark if there will be follow-up action from the Consultant once they are done with this process. He said it would be prudent to have extra funds allocated for follow-up actions as opposed to just asking for the initial job.
MOTION:
Mr. Mazzucco made a motion to transfer not more than $20,000 from contingency to the Consultants line item for the Tri-Board Communication Consultant. Ms. Clark seconded the motion. Mr. Barickman asked if the motion needs to be this specific. Mr. Dean said this needs to specific for transparency reasons. The vote was unanimous, and the motion carried.
7. SCHOOL ENROLLMENT UPDATE
Mr. Mazzucco said the official enrollment figures differ from the projections.
Chair Yonkers discussed the totals.
The 2018-2019 K-8 enrollment was 798 students. As of October 8, 2019 there are 784 total.
The projected enrollment for 2019-2020 was 791. Pre-K numbers aren’t tallied until December.
Discussion followed concerning enrollment and the difference between historic numbers and projected numbers.
8. REPORTS FROM INDIVIDUAL BOARD MEMBERS AS ASSIGNED
There were no reports from individual board members.
9. CORRESPONDENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
There was no correspondence and administrative matters discussed.
10. PUBLIC COMMENT
MOTION:
Mr. Mazzucco made a motion to thank Ms. Clark for her service. Chair Yonkers seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous, and the motion carried.
Chair Yonkers adjourned the meeting at 9:00PM.
Submitted by,
Zachary Smith