Town of Bradford
Budget Committee Meeting
May 3, 2018 Draft Meeting Minutes
David Nunnally called the meeting to order at 6:00pm
Pledge of Allegiance
Roll call
David Nunnally (Chair), Claire James, Mark Fournier, Michael James (Select Board Representative)
Marlene Freyler was absent
Karen Hambleton, Town Administrator
1. The Committee welcomed newest member Mark Fournier.
2. A new Chair was elected:
Motion: Claire James motioned to elect David Nunnally Chair
Second: Mark Fournier
Vote: 3-0 in favor, David abstaining as he was the nominee
The Committee discussed filling two vacancies left by the resignation of Beth Downs and Michael James (due to his election to the Select Board). They reviewed folks that had shown an interest. Cheryl Croto had expressed an interest, Karen will provide David contact information and David will reach out to her. Jason Allen had also shown interest and was present at the meeting.
Motion: David Nunnally motioned to appoint Jason Allen to the Committee
Second: Michael James
Vote: 4-0 in favor
Jason was seated with the Committee at 6:08pm.
3. 1st Quarter Expense Review:
The Committee outlined a department by department, line by line, review of the expense budget typically looking at the percentage spent and discussing any items that are trending over/under the percentage expected at the end of the quarter being reviewed.
a) Areas of interest were:
i. Revaluation of Property – Software support and assessing software nearly 100% spent, these are annual contracts that renew early in the year.
ii. Planning & Zoning – Supply budget is close to exhausted, may have opportunity in other areas.
iii. Government Buildings – Town Hall repairs and expenses, there were questions about the cost of heating the building; David requested a copy of invoices previously paid as he believes the cost is excessive.
iv. Cemetery – A question was raised as to whether street lighting for the cemetery’s had been swapped out for LED lighting and a question as to whether other town facilities had been converted to LED. No specific action was identified. A question was also raised related to landscaping and whether this activity had been sent out for bid. The Cemetery work had been bid out two years ago but not Town landscaping had not, primarily due to the amount of time (resource expense) involved in preparing, analyzing and awarding bid packages. A suggestion was made to award 3, even 5 year contracts as a way to reduce that resource demand.
v. Insurance – 12 percent of budget remains in the unemployment compensation line due to early year payment requirements.
vi. Police Department – Questions about overtime, Karen will send the Chief an email to ask for feedback on overtime. There were also questions around what was included in some of the sub-accounts that the Police Department uses.
vii. Rescue Squad – Virtually no spending has hit the Rescue Squad budget line. In previous years charges did not hit until later in the year. Michael James will review contract obligations with Karen and speak with the Select Board members to identify a resource that can provide detail on pending charges from the Henniker Rescue Squad.
viii. Highway Department – Questions around part time wages and over time were raised. Karen believes the rates are typical as the winter season drives the majority of this spending. The committee questioned equipment repair, Karen mentioned some large repairs. Winter Salt & Spring Repairs were discussed, with the Committee wondering whether the town had stockpiled salt. John Pfeifle is investigating. The Committee revisited the subject of understanding the cost of gravel previously discussed in Select Board meetings. David will develop an information request for the Select Board outlining a formal list of components, related to the total cost of gravel, that will be presented to the Select Board to identify to the cost components. A request will also be made to identify which budget lines hold the budget for which components. The Committee also discussed a means to compare quality but no specific action was identified.
ix. Street Lighting – It looks like the work done to reduce demands is paying off in savings.
x. Welfare – Michael James commented that this budget line looked favorable.
xi. Library – The Committee commented on why the budget is a lump sum. The Library is managed by a Board of Trustees and uses as separate accounting system. The Committee would need to speak with the Library if they wanted additional detail.
xii. Patriotic Purposes – A question was raised as to why there was spending in this category. It is driven by deposits that need to be made for the 4th of July event.
xiii. Community Center – There was no real question about budget but there was a question about tree work which Karen will follow up on.
b) The Committee felt the grand total was in line with where they would expect to see it at the end of the quarter one.
4. The Budget Committee will independently review their by-laws prior to the next meeting and vote to edit or adopt these at the next meeting. David will send these to the Committee.
Adjournment
Motion: David Nunnally motioned to adjourn at 7:30pm
Second: Claire James
Vote: 5-0 in favor
Meeting reopened at 7:32pm to discuss future meeting schedules.
Motion: David Nunnally motioned to meet the 3rd Thursday on a monthly basis
Second: Mark Fournier
Vote: 5-0 in favor
Re-Adjourn
Motion: David Nunnally motioned to adjourn at 7:30pm
Second: Claire James
Vote: 5-0 in favor