Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Live reporting - Finance Committee - Apr 2, 2013

Present: Smith, Dufur, Feldman,  Roche, Dewsnap, Aparo, Huempfner
Absent: Goldsmith, Quinn

Susan Gagner, Jeff Nutting and Jim Dacey (from right to left as you watch the video broadcast)

motion to approve meeting minutes, approve 7-0


Begin by reading the budget line by line, if any one hold a dept that should be acknowledged
those questions can be answered, then they can go and approve the budget as a single item

Holds

Fire Dept

Dufur - recognition for the excellent Fire Dept presentation. Recommending one part-time addition, recognizing the aging of the department, the growth of the community would increase additional pressure on the service level performance. Overall creates a compelling agrument

Roche - one guy will help but...

Nutting - reviewing additional info in regards to the injuries, last Fri had a graduate from the Academy, a second person coming back in July, another person is being planned for hiring in July, yet another anticipated coming back from injury. Not currently in the budget but planning ahead for a disability retirement, exactly when will it happen, hard to say. Increasing three new people will help shift the burden. The runs have not yet increased but it is anticipated they might. 14 -15,000 hours of OT averaged. Need to think about the burden above the salary to cover the benefits and insurances required. It is not easy but we should be able to hold our breath for another year.

Nutting - still don't have a collective bargaining agreement with the Fire Fighters union, about to go to arbitration. Would you save some money via reduction in overtime in short term maybe, but the overall costs salary and benefits is a lot of money

Dufur - it is manageable

Feldman - looking at the outlook, it doesn't get rosier

Nutting - scheduled for 91 tours, with the overtime it gets to about 95 tours. Going to the 24 hour shift has had some effect versus what they did with the 10-14 hour shifts

Motion to approve the budget
general fund 95 million etc.
approved 7-0

motion to approve the budget
enterprise budget 10 million etc.
approved 7-0


Old business - none

New business  -
Jeff has submitted a five year forecast "The sky is not falling but it is getting lower"
forecast based upon best estimates, forecast has not really changed over time
"we have eliminated 20% of the workforce"
we don't get 2.5% increase in our revenues
"The only thing that fixes roads is money" I think we need a dedicated override for the roads
it can only be spent on what it was funded for, i.e. roads
as opposed to a general override where it goes to the general funds after the first year

(a copy of the letter will be posted here later)

We are working regionally for safety dispatch, it may come in about 18 months and save us about $100,000. It is the right thing to do and we are doing it. It is hard to get people to come to the table. We share recreation, dog services, and sewer. We tried the library and they left.

Our general fund debt outside of Prop 2.5% is dropping, as our old debt gets paid off. Some of the buildings get paid off over the next couple of years as the high school comes on

I have level funded the state funding and am very concerned about that especially with whatever happens at the Federal level increasing pressures on them

How did the snow and ice come out?
Knock on wood, we should be just under the amount budgeted ($900,000). it is very unpredictable

Has OPEB made it to the state house agenda?
No, it is woefully inadequate. They started on lengthening the requirements for eligibility

Question on auditors report
In the management report, working on a plan to address the recommendations
Fraud risk assessment

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