PRIORITIES COMMITTEE

                                                 January 19, 2012

                                                      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 :30 p.m. by Chair Ira Miller.

Members Present:

Chair:                          Ira Miller

Board of Selectmen:   Richard Powell and Walter Joe Roach

Finance Committee:   Charles Goodman

School Committee:     John Hitter and Glenn Allen

Others Present:

William Fowler, Cindy Doherty, Benjamin E. Puritz, Jim Wright, Tim Farmer and Alex Korin

I.  Introductions

    Chair Ira Miller asked that the members introduce themselves

 II.   Meeting Minutes

Approval of Minutes

    The Priorities Committee Regular Session minutes of April 28, 2011

MOTION:  To approve the minutes of the Sharon Standing Building Committee       

    meeting of April 28, 2011 (Roach/Goodman)  - Abstentions by Powell, Allen 

    and Hitter

   Chair Miller informed viewers who may not be familiar with the Priorities    

   Committee the following:  Town By-laws Article 3 (Financial Affairs) Section 

   7.  There is hereby established with the Town of Sharon a committee to be

   know as the Priorities Committee to be made up of six (6) members detailed 

as follows:  The Chairperson and Clerk of the Board of Selectmen; the

   Chairperson and the Vice Chairperson of the School Committee; and the

   Chairperson and the Vice Chairperson of the Finance Committee.  Each

    respective Chairperson shall serve as Chairperson of the Priorities Committee      

    for a term of one year; beginning with the Chairperson of the Board of  

    Selectmen, then the Chairperson of the School Committee and the Chairperson 

    of the Finance Committee.  Mr. Miller also explained the duties of the  Committee.

The Priorities Committee’s duties shall be as follows:

a. Inform itself with the Town’s revenue forecasts, sources of funding for the current fiscal year and estimates for the next fiscal year;

b. Inform itself of the Town’s fixed uncontrollable special expenditures items;

c. Inform itself of an estimate of available appropriations;

d. Aid and coordinate budget forecasts for the Board of Selectmen, School Committee and Finance Committee;

e. Inform itself of sources of revenue including, without limitation, state aid, excise taxation payments in lieu of taxes and taxation revenues;

f. Inform itself of and forecast debt levels and the availability of free cash;

g. Present to the Board of Selectmen, School Committee and Finance Committee a coordinated financial forecast and projected budget allocations and/or adjustments related thereto for the ensuing fiscal year.

III.  Review of FY2012 to date

       Mr. Fowler gave the following information as to where we are in 2012:

· Last year we made a commitment that there would be no impact on the tax levy except for the override related to the Middle School – We picked up an extra $17,000;

· Distributed the following to the Committee:  DOR Tax Rate Recapitulation; Tax Rate Recapitulation; Local Receipts not allocated; Certification of Appropriation and Sources of Funding and DOR Fiscal 2012 Tax Levy limitation for Sharon;

· Compared FY2012 as it relates to recap.  Due to lack of clear format to review the differences between the revenue estimates of specific items, the review will continue at the next meeting on February 2, 2012;

· Sharon Commons:  Permit issues (about $120,000 in permit monies) and Design component issues (will be brought back to the Zoning Board of Appeals) – Project viable and moving forward but expected permit revenues will not be available for the FY13 budget.

· Need to compare actual receipts to the estimate receipts.

Town Accountant, Cindy Doherty, checks in December re the budget revenue.  Cindy informed the Committee that we have received about 52% of the estimated budget revenue.  The Town Accountant will have a recap sheet of the revenue for the next meeting. 

IV.  First Draft of First Priorities Worksheet FY2013

       This item has been deferred until next meeting.  Finance Director, Bill  

       Fowler, informed the Committee that late breaking information has just

 come in on Motor Vehicle Excise tax and that there will be updated   

 numbers for the next meeting from the state on local aid.

 V.  Next Meeting:  Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. – Selectmen’s 

       Meeting Room.

MOTION:  To adjourn the meeting at 8:55 p.m. (Powell/Goodman) - unanimous