Town of Gilford, NH - Budget Committee Meeting

GILFORD BUDGET COMMITTEE MINUTES

Members Present: John O’Brien, Sue Greene, Dick Hickok, Bill Phillips,

Margo Weeks, Dale Dormody, Terry Stewart, Kevin Roy,

J. Kevin Hayes, Doug Lambert and Skip Murphy

Members Absent: None

Also in attendance were Interim Town Administrator/Finance Director Debra A. Shackett and Recording Secretary Renee McMahon.

The Budget Committee recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Chairman Hickok welcomed the Committee to the evening’s meeting to review the status of the budget.

Chairman Hickok turned the meeting over to the Finance Director, Debra A. Shackett. Ms. Shackett presented a summary in writing of the 2008 Budget for the board for review emphasizing on the areas of concern due to the unanticipated expenditures the town has incurred this year. The following is a brief description of those areas.

· The relocating of the TC/TC salary.

· Town report printing cost.

· Staffing changes in the Finance office may cause the training expenses to go over budget.

· $25,000 paid out to former employees in accrued benefits. If needed, we could withdraw some of that from the capitol reserve fund established last year for this purpose.

Election, Registration & Vitals:

· Town Clerk/Tax Collector’s salary account will be over expended by approximately $10,000.

· We will have to watch closely…unanticipated expenses due to the demise of the UPS and the Town Clerk’s MAAP system installation.

· Good shape at this point.

· Some concern here due to the TC/TC legal fees and continuing union negotiations. We also just incurred a significant unanticipated expenditure for Liberty Hill.

Personnel Administration:

· Unemployment Comp and Workers Comp are paid for the year. Health Insurance rates went up 4%. The budget projected a 13% increase for the second half of the year.

· Flooding in the Rowe House has caused some over expenditure here. Also snow removal from building roofs ($1750) was unanticipated.

Property Liability Insurance:

· Staying with current provider for another year. Cost increase projected a 9% increase for next year.

· Police- Budget is on track. Tasers on order. Chief’s car just in (Ford Fusion)

· Fire-No concerns, new fire truck delivered ambulance on order (September delivery).

· Public Works-Administration on track, Sheldon is working on a job description for the new PT office staff position.

· Highway & Streets-Overtime Account looks ok, but may be a problem by the end of the summer. This section of the budget hasn’t seen its busy season yet. Salt budget is mostly spent. Approximately $10,000 remaining at this time. We usually spend about $43,000 during the last quarter of the year. Provisions have been made to reduce the amount of road construction if necessary this year.

· Vehicle Maintenance:-We have had some significant repairs in this area and will have to monitor this section closely.

· Solid Waste: In good shape, no concerns at this time.

· Health Officer- We will be unlikely to replace the current officer with the same rate of pay ($2,000). It is likely this line item will be over expended by the year end.

· Humane Society- As usual, the contract amount is slightly higher that what we budgeted, but not significant to the whole.

· Health Services- (Outside Agencies) only two were funded and have not been paid yet.

· Welfare- This budget is going to be a concern all year. The cost of heating fuel and housing is having a significant impact on us. There are more people seeking more assistance than at anytime in the recent past. We have already spent as much in heating costs as we did for the whole year in 2007. This budget will be closely monitored and other areas of the town budget will have to be identified to make up for the overages here.

Culture & Recreation:

· Parks & Recreation- Budget is in good shape. The fire works for Old Home Day are being planned. Herb is working on the bidding process for the new swing set.

· Skating Rink- New management is saving us money. Pump repairs were unanticipated which caused and over expenditure in one line, but the rest is in good shape.

· Library- Overall budget looks good. Staffing changes won’t affect the budget.

· Conservation Commission- Spent $1000 of the $1500 planned for the Lake Host Program. This will result in an over expenditure of the Invasive Species Management account, However, we will identify another area of the budget to cover this if necessary.

· The interest account may go over a little due to the timing of the project. The actual loan payment amount was not available while the budget was being prepared and is in an estimate. The Bean Property loan is paid on a monthly basis which saved a little on the interest rate.

· I am optimistic that we will not have to borrow in anticipation of taxes (for now)!

· Projects/New Equipment- Ambulance, Defibrillator and Tasers on order.

· Capitol Reserve Funds- No payments have been made yet.

The Finance Directors general instinct regarding the overall town budget at this time is cautious. We have several areas of watchful concern, and she can’t determine any of the usual areas of under expenditures. Revenues are projected to come in more slowly and at lower totals than usual primarily due to the general economy.

How the Wesley Woods project was being taxed was discussed by all members. They wanted to know if all the buildings were being taxed on an individual basis. Deb informed them that they all get billed separately under the First Methodist Church.

Chairman Hickok asked if anyone had any comments on how last years meetings were held and if anyone had any new ideas for the meetings.

· How the agenda’s were to be posted on the website in a timely manner was suggested.

· Chairman Hickok addressed that no tie votes were to be made on any issues.

· Sue Greene asked that no members be able to abstain from voting on any issues.

· Terry Stewart asked the board not to address old matters of business unless a member of the committee was absent from a previous meeting. Terry also requested that the subcommittees submit an agenda for the departments to review before they meet with the budget committee in order to be better prepared for the meetings.

· Skip Murphy requested that the departments get the information to the committee earlier in order to get an earlier start on the budget process.

· Doug Lambert spoke of the Tax Cap that some surrounding areas are pledging to follow. Doug read out loud a pledge that he signed and intends to follow while on the committee. Doug urged all members of the committee to sign and follow along with him. Kevin Hayes reminded Doug that the committee is responsible for not letting the taxes go above the cap themselves and doesn’t feel that a pledge is necessary. Margo Weeks agreed with Kevin.

· Doug motioned to adopt the pledge and Skip seconded the motion. The vote was turned down with a vote of 4 to 7.

· Terry wanted to know if all department heads were happy with the sub-committees recommendations from the past meetings. Everyone agreed that all departments were happy.

· Kevin Roy wanted to know when the meetings were to be held and how he would be notified. Terry advised all to monitor your email closely and keep up on the dates and times of all meetings.

· Any changes in scheduling needs to go to Sandy Bailey in order to have them posted in a timely manner on the website and on the bulletin board of the town hall.

· A vote for new Chairperson and Vice Chair was brought forward by Sue Greene. Sue nominated Dick Hickok for Chairperson seconded by Kevin Hayes. All members voted yes on this matter.

· John O’Brien was nominated for Vice Chairperson. All members voted yes on this matter.

· Skip brought forward that all members email addresses be posted on the town website.

· All members agreed that the GAWD representative know more about the water district.

· Kevin Roy requested that any quotations from him be 100% truthful and accurate. Kevin stated that he is a very honest person and doesn’t want to be mis-quoted on any blogs or in newspapers.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,