TOWN OF BRADFORD
BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING
NOVEMBER 10, 2011
6:00PM
Call to Order and Roll Call:
Dick Keller, Chair called the meeting to order at 6:00pm with Gary Wall, Jon Marden, George Cilley, Jack Meaney, Selectmen’s Representative and Marge Cilley, Secretary present at the Community Center. Don Jackson and Beth Rodd were absent.
Review and Consideration of the November 3, 2011 minutes:
Jon Marden advised the 4th paragraph second line reads $63.50 and should read: Account 4210- 6350:
Motion was made by Jon Marden to approve as amended, seconded by Gary Wall. Motion carried 4-0. George Cilley abstained, having not been there.
Updated expenses:
Dick Keller handed out updated reports to the committee. Dick explained he had left an item out, on Town Facility – Item L which is emergency showers.
Dick Keller advised he was disappointed that the Selectmen were unable to attend tonight’s meeting as was originally planned, but they found they had another commitment. It was discussed if the Budget Committee should meet with the Selectmen at their regular meeting next week and the decision was that they should schedule a separate meeting next week to meet with the Selectmen.
Dick Keller questioned the board if there were any questions regarding the Budget and CIP limits. Radio equipment for the Fire Dept. was discussed and was moved up from 2013 to 2012 as being non negotiable. With the adjustments, the total stays the same at .08% increase showing.
Motion was made by Gary Wall for “The Bradford Budget Committee supports a goal of keeping the Town Tax Rate level and that the total warrant for the 2012 Town Meeting, including operating expenses and all warrant articles, will not exceed the 2011 level of expenditures approved by the town meeting.” Seconded by George Cilley. Jack Meaney, Selectmen’s Representative advised it is unrealistic as there is no way you can keep the tax rate low as most of it comes from the school district. Much discussion ensued. Motion carried 4-0. Jack Meaney, Selectmen Representative voted No.
Discussion of Department Budgets already in hand:
Review of hand outs from Cheryl Behr, Administrator at the last meeting.
General Fund – 4130- Executive up with a 3.5% increase, which is a 9.4% increase over 2010. Should indicate 3.6% increase. Jack Meaney, Selectmen Representative advised the increase is the same as the social security increase. Jack also advised the account had to be recalculated because of the 54 week year. Figure should show as $113,977.00.
Jon Marden questioned, is the Budget Committee working with what the Town Meeting approved by line item or are we going to work with what was revised after Town Meeting?
Another question was postage? There is going to be an increase in postage this year.
Jack Meaney, Selectmen’s Representative suggested the Budget Committee talk with Cheryl with questions.
4152 – Revaluation of Property: $25,555.00.
Line 2 questioned the tax map update, is this an annual event or is this an occasional.
Jack Meaney advised it is a regular event as properties change, and the assessor does this. Both the tax map and the cards are done by them. Dick Keller advised the last date on the tax map at the town hall was 2008. It was noted that this needs to be checked out to see if it is being done if we are paying for it.
4153 – Legal – $15,000.00 Jack Meaney, Selectmen Representative advised personal items do not come out of this figure, the majority of that comes from the insurance through the LGC. This heading is basically for letters, initial legal consultations, court appearances etc.
4196 – Insurances- Is up 18% over 2010. Jack Meaney, Selectmen Representative advised the only insurance area under review is the health coverage for employees. Liability had an increase of 10% and needs to be reviewed. Jack advised that part of the increase was due to the purchase of the backhoe. as well as the trailer the police department now inhabits. Gary Wall questioned if there could be a credit in liability insurance when the town hall is closed. Cheryl Behr, Administrator will be asked to check this out.
Fire Department – The Selectmen have approved at $53,220.00 which is down 11%.
Jon Marden questioned some areas. Dept. request second column lists $70.00 and should show at $700.00. Next line down, $1700.00 should be $17,000.00, five lines up from bottom, $11,000.00 should be $1,100.00. With all the corrections, the total number should be the same as last year at $59,250.00. Under radios, repair and maintenance, other money is being set aside for radios and would all be under warranty the first year,
why do we need $2,700.00 for maintenance? Jack Meaney advised some other radios will need to be maintained. Not all radios will be replaced, but will be replaced over time, and some will need to be recalibrated and still used.
4316 – Street Lighting – $4700.00 vs. $4500.00. Jack Meaney advised this is not for any new lighting, but for existing electricity for street lights.
The secretary questioned if this would include additional lighting in front of the now town offices at the Community Center, which is pretty dark. Jack Meaney, Selectmen Representative advised that would be done from Public Service.
45509 – Library – 1.3% increase, was flat last year.
4711 – Long Term Notes is down to $31,880 from $35,000.00.
Question if that should not have gone down last year as it was the same as the year before? Jack Meaney indicated the reason it is down this year is the final payment was made for the highway garage.
Interest on TAN Notes is holding its own.
The Selectmen passed the following two items at their meeting last Tuesday.
- Election and Vital Records at $9689.00 which is up as there are four elections this year.
2. General Govt. Buildings – $53,263.00 which is up $3,000.00 from last year.
This will be reviewed prior to the next Budget Committee meeting.
Police, Rescue, Highway and Welfare Department’s budgets are expected in soon.
Dick Keller, Chair passed out an Operating Budget score for each member to look at and follow along as to what is coming in and see if they are meeting the Budget Committee’s goal. Question was asked, will they vote each one, or wait until everything is in, and the decision was to wait for the finale.
Jon Marden handed out an excerpt from an LGC seminar on Budget Committees breakdown basically dealing with their budget process to be used for Public Hearings, thus cutting out many questions. Once this was implemented, they noted the effects of it and this particular town noted every municipal budget passed for the last ten years. It was suggested that perhaps this could be worked on for next year for Bradford.
Jon Marden also showed a projected State Graph they furnish for Municipalities. This shows how the State Budget gets balanced. Jon will reproduce this and hand it out to all the members.
Jon also advised he has a Method for a Tax Cap on the Town portion of the tax bill.
Discussion ensued.
Public Input:
Jim Valiquet, Police Chief advised he had already turned in his report. Jack Meaney advised the Selectmen do have it, however it had to be recalculated for an extra week by Cheryl Behr, Administrator due to the 54 week year.
Will Hurley asked if in the presentation that meant each Dept. Head came into talk with the Budget Committee. It was explained that if there were specific questions then they would be called in for discussion and explanations.
General discussion ensued.
Will Hurley questioned if he could get copies of the budgets the Budget Committee is working on. Jack Meaney advised he could contact Cheryl Behr, Administrator for copies and he also advised there may be a fee attached.
It was decided to see if the Selectmen could meet with the Budget Committee next Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 6:090pm.
Motion was made, seconded and carried to Adjourn at 7:10pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marjorie R.Cilley
Secretary