PRIORITIES COMMITTEE
JANUARY 25, 2011
MINUTES
The meeting of the Priorities Committee was held at 7:30 pm in the Selectmen's Meeting room
and was called to order at 7:42 p.m. by Chair Laura Salomons.
Members Present:
Chair: Laura Salomons
Board of Selectmen: Richard Powell and Walter Joe Roach
Finance Committee: Ira Miller and Charles Goodman
School Committee: John Hitter
Others Present:
William Fowler, Cindy Doherty, Barbara Dunham, Tim Farmer, Benjamin E. Puritz, Barbra Nadler and Alex Korin.
Meeting Minutes
It was MOVED and SECONDED to approve the Regular Session Minutes of December 13, 2010 VOTED: 6-0-0
The January 11, 2011 Regular Session Minutes were held until the next meeting.
Review FY’11- Compare voted numbers with real numbers
Chair Salomons requested that the committee try to have one conversation at a time so we can all understand each other and also to be respectful and not make any accusations. The goal is to move forward for the good of the Town.
Chair Salomons called upon Treasurer/Finance Director Bill Fowler to compare voted numbers with real numbers in FY’11. We need to know what went wrong and how we can fix the problem for the future.
Mr. Fowler handed out the comparison spreadsheet and discussed extensively line by line the following:
Revenue Sources FY11 (Estimate-mid) FY11 @Recap Variance
Taxation
New Growth 1,000,000 593,375 (406,625)
Net Debt Exclusion 1,813,521 1,854,636 41,115
Levy Limit 2,813,521 2,448,011 (365,510)
Excess Levy Capacity (3,584,884) (1,870,002) 1,714,882
Net Tax Revenue (771,363) 578,009 1,349,372
State Aid:
Green Sheet: 8,027,176 7,842,897 (184.279)
Total State Aid: 8,027,176 7,842,897 (184.279)
LOCAL SOURCES:
Local receipts: 5,190,853 4,409,491 (781.362)
Total Local Sources 5,190,853 4,409,491 (781,362)
AVAILABLE FUNDS:
Other Available Funds 759,158 360,308 (398,850)
Total Available Funds: 759,158 360,308 (398,850)
ADJUSTMENTS TO REVENUE
Less Assessments & Offsets:
Total Cherry Sheet charges: (776,314) (763 924) 12,390
Overlay: (500,000) (497,271) 2,729
Total Assessments & Offsets: (1,276,314) (1,261,195) 15,119
12,700,873 11,351,501 (1,349,372)
11,929,510 11,929,510 (0)
The following is a list of some of the major FY’11 discrepancies and how the problem can be avoided in the future:
· New Growth numbers were much lower than expected. Because we were making estimates on 18 months of growth, there was no reason to think that that number would be lower than FY’10’s new growth based on a 12 month period…but it was. So to better ensure this problem doesn’t happen again, the estimate for FY’12 new growth is very low.
· “Other available funds” was lower than expected only because of timing issues. To avoid in future, this category has been eliminated and replaced with an itemized list that is easier to follow.
· “Miscellaneous non-recurring” was also certified at a much lower amount. This line-item includes MSBA reimbursement for previously completed work. The reason for the mistake was timing. This money can be used for FY’12.
· To further avoid bad estimates, Town Accountant, Cindy Doherty and Finance Director, Bill Fowler are working more closely as a team on revenues and Bill Fowler and Mark Mazur are working more closely on new growth numbers;
· To further avoid timing issues in terms of putting appropriation votes on the Town Meeting Warrant, certain items will be watched more closely in the fall, including “supplemental tax revenue,” “licenses and permits,” and “investment earnings.”
· Finally, it should be noted that most of the line items where there were discrepancies are one time revenue and are so unusual as not to be an issue in the future.
FY’12
New Growth: Assistant Assessor, Mark Mazur and Finance Director, Bill Fowler, have met and Mr. Mazur has a listing of properties and there is no substantial new growth expected. Wilber School and Avalon Bay are completed. We are only expecting added on residential decks, garages and patios, etc.
Debt Exclusion: Mr. Fowler, referring to the Revenue Forecast spreadsheet FY’12, said we are estimating $1,598,910 in excluded debt that will be charged to the Town in FY’12, but this number does not include the Middle School. Will have final numbers at a later date. Mr. Fowler explained in detail the FY’12 spreadsheet entitled “Debt Exclusion”.
Permits: With permits coming in FY’12, we will have an idea if we are on target with Sharon Commons at the end of March 2011.
State Aid: The initial version of Spreadsheet had a 4% reduction. Based on the MMA Annual meeting we now have a 7% reduction of unrestricted local aid. But Chapter 70 has increased, resulting in a net increase of .57%.
State Assessments: 2% increase in State Assessments.
Mr. Fowler discussed the items under Local Sources
There was discussion by the Committee on whether or not to take a preliminary vote on a 2.45% allocation for budget planning purposes, but it was decided that this was not necessary.
What still needs to be discussed:
· Do FY’12 estimates make sense to the Committee?
· How much do we rely on 1 time fund revenue for FY’12?
· Do we add money to the Stabilization account?
· What does the long term look like?
· What percent allocation will the sectors receive in FY’12?
The next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room.
It was MOVED and SECONDED to adjourn.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m.