Present: Dufour, Dowd, Conley, Huempfner, Weich, Fleming, Moses, Smith, Dewsnap Absent: none
Fiscal 2019 budget document (160+ pages of good reading)
http://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/news/fy19_complete_budget_fincom_with_page_numbers_0.pdf
1. Call to Order
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2. Public Comments
none
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3. Approval of Minutes
motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
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4. FY 2019 Budget Presentations:
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Dept.
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Tab
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overview provided by Jeff Nutting
See the budget doc for the details
proposing to use the budget stabilization account this year, without making dramatic changes;
Board of Health and Inspection being merged, using an outsourced contractor to do the inspections
with almost $2M in the bank, you don't go ask citizens for more money
you can't just have a one year fix, that is not sustainable
Veterans
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543
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Human Services
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Council on Aging
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541
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Human Services
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Inspections
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240
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Public Safety
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Health
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510/525
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Human Services
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ZBA
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176
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General Government
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Planning/Conservation
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177
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General Government
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Assessors
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141
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General Government
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Treasurer/Collector
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147
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General Government
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Comptroller
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135
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General Government
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Human Resources
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152
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General Government
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Facilities
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192
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General Government
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Veterans - Dale hired via arrangement with County although working here in Franklin
got some clients to get employed and as they did, they dropped off the roll
VA benefits get reimbursed at 75% rate
Veterans walkway, funding by selling bricks through VFW
walkway along the common near the war memorial end
Council on Aging -Karen Alves
$200K funded by Town but grants and other funding sources also provide the services for the seniors
asking for 7 hours for health services nurse
housing, fuel assistance and social needs are the three top drivers
dozens of homeless folks over the last several years
Open House Saturday - Apr 21 from 10 to 1:00 PM
Inspections - Gus Browm
will combine Planning, Health and Building to actually provide better service
Fire Dept - Capt Gary McCarragher
new deputy coming later this year
increased call volume by 9.5%, first Q another 5%
more calls through 3/4 than we did 5 years ago
hence a lot of pressure on the system, back to back to calls
mutual aid then needs to help, which drives up the average response times
we need an additional level of supervision to help provide support
we were dealing with a meth lab, a medical emergency and another call
training when there are no calls, it can be handled, with our call volume it gets challenging
vehicle maintenance is increasing, may need another vehicle to reduce that
14 employees with less than 5 years experience, another 5 to be replaced soon
5 hours out of 24 he can't respond due to the system is already busy
minimum staffing now at 9 when we should be at ten
working on wellness program to help avoid injuries and injury rates
60% of retirees retire on a line of duty injury; not good
did request an additional 8 firefighter/EMTs to help with response times, injury avoidance and reduce the mutual aid calls
would take an override to provide the support and sustain it
Board of Health, budget down $19K due to staff reduction (re-alignment mentioned above)
typo page 85 of the budget doc the Administration and FinCom are using
Planning and Community Development, Bryan Taberner
minor corrections being applied to the numbers
due to toner replacement plan, some adjustments are being made to dept budgets to reflect the changes
Assessors, Kevin Doyle
no real changes, COLA increase and nothing more
incorporated update to the mapping for 911 system
Treasurer/Collector, Chris Saldini
anticipate hiring a deputy collector later this year, to keep succession plan going
Controller, now a Finance Director (no longer a Controller)
HR,
personnel replacing Stephanie, added money for physicals for new hires
schools do their own hiring and physicals (on their budget)
Facilities, D'Angelo - can't be here tonight but can come next week
new bid of contract for electricity now 10 was 7 cents
Water/Sewer
preventive maintenance software implemented
90% of our electricity comes from solar, most of the schools are or will be LED liaghting
couldn't get to 20% reduction from baseline, could only get to 19.5% as we were already efficient
approx 1700 lights in town, will do in chunks of 100-200 at a time
awaiting NationalGrid to reconcile the data to put the final plan in place
DPW - wage increase due to collective bargaining
snow and ice increase planned, award from State on water system
last year was the first year in over 20 with an increase in personnel (2)
within months of updating the pavement management plan (likely June)
likely a presentation to Council when ready
without March the snow/ice budget would have been good, up about 200K over budget
Street Lights
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424
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Public Works
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DPW
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440
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Public Works
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Enterprise
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450
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Enterprise
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Tri-County
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390
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Education
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Norfolk Aggie
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395
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Education
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Employee Benefits
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910
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General Government
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Liability Insurance
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945
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General Government
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Debt Service
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710/750
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General Government
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Town Council
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111
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General Government
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Town Administrator
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123
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General Government
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Finance Committee
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131
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General Government
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Legal
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151
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General Government
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Central Services
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196
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General Government
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Animal Control
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292
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Public Safety
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Historical Commission
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691
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Culture and Recreation
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Memorial Day
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692
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Culture and Recreation
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Cultural Council
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695
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Culture and Recreation
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Enterprise accounts (Water/Sewer, Trash)
rate increases coming, Charles River assessment increasing and primary driver
bond authorization likely coming in May for wells 3/6 approx 17M expense for the repairs required
water meter replacement is more about equity for everyone, could have an individual variance but globally it should not be material
$4 increase in trash budget
Tri-County - assessment
based upon student enrollment, with October's enrollment
will be looking for an increase sometime to help repairs for the roof, HVAC, etc.
did go to MA School Building but did not get approved
Employee Benefits -
pension up 8-9% to catch up on funding schedule
health costs only a 4.5% increase, helps a lot this year
Insurance Health Advisory committee gets all the credit on keeping the reductions to the minimum
town active, all town and school retirees are covered by this Town line item; school cover their active employees with their budget
68/32 split for supplemental insurance
45 cities/towns in GIC (of the 351 in MA)
Debt Schedule
high school doesn't affect the general fund as it is debt excluded
library debt to increase next year but others come off, so we'll have some debt capacity
Town Council
mostly MMA dues and some professional development
Town Administrator, increase only due to wage adjustments
FinCom, mostly advertising, budget books, etc.($1500) $0 on one page (an error to be fixed)
Legal budget
also includes money for labor attorney, arbitration, etc.
all collective bargaining expires at end of this fiscal year
Central Services
postage, copiers, toner, etc.
Animal Control
long standing agreement with Bellingham for this splitting coverage
Historical Commissin
hoping for part-time staff at some point for technical storage help
Memorial Day
mostly for the flags
Cutural Council
ArtWeek coming up this month, easy and small increase with great potential returns
what are the next big projects?
recycling center will be an item once the state land transfer takes place
will need to file a capping plan; est $3M (swag)
police station, addition and renovation sometime
dispatchers will have left
water is the biggest one (paid for by the water rates)
sewer - Beaver St intercepter the big one
eventually roofs will need to be replaced
maybe an opportunity to buy some land
you can borrow money for roads but you're really just chasing your tail with interst esxpense
motion to adjourn
