OFFICIAL
AS OF 06/18/02
BUDGET COMMITTEE
MINUTES
MAY 21, 2002
PRESENT: John Caprio (Chair), Dennis Rechcygl, George Fullerton, Sue Tremblay,
Norm Pinard, Bob Wheeler (Selectmen's Rep), Dick Fletcher, Larry Raimondi, and Brad
Parkhurst.
Absent: Chris McRae, Alice Rohr.
Excused: Al Desruisseaux, John Stafford, Colleen Russo, Craig Hieber, Fred Hicks.
Chairman Caprio called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF APRIL 16, 2002
S. Tremblay moved, seconded by D. Rechcygl to approve the minutes with one
correction.
Correction: Page 7, second paragraph, change "spent" to "spend".
Page 2, last paragraph "pursuing" was misspelled.
The minutes were approved as amended.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No public was in attendance.
OTHER BUSINESS
J. Caprio: We are taking steps to put the approved minutes on the Town's Web Site.
The list of committee members furnished by the Town Clerk has been provided to the
Board.
An All Board's Meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 10, 2002 at the Town Hall. John
Caprio will be attending.
OLD BUSINESS
Meeting Schedule
Sue Desruisseaux checked the dates and they are in line with the RSA's.
Budget Committee Meeting Minutes
May 21, 2002
2
S. Tremblay moved, seconded by B. Parkhurst to adopt the meeting dates as
proposed. Voted unanimously in the affirmative.
Public Comment Procedure
J. Caprio moved to adopt the policy with the revision that the language stating, "A
copy of this policy will appear at the back of each agenda" will be eliminated.
Seconded by G. Fullerton. Voted unanimously in the affirmative.
TOWN SIDE REPORTS
Fire Department -
Norm Pinard: I am trying to get knowledge of this department. They are having a
problem with the boat. They are going to purchase a new one with the current budget.
One of the ladders is out of commission. More information will follow on the ladder.
The insurance company has approved the repair of the Town's truck.
DPW -
B. Wheeler: The department is within budget. Most of the new bids have been awarded
for the CIP projects.
Police Department -
L. Raimondi: Two officers remain on active duty. One officer will not be able to return
when he was supposed to. He may be gone up to one year. The overtime will continue.
There is a problem with overtime pay in the communications department. The Chief
anticipates problem with the overtime budget during the year. There could also be
expense regarding a chair for one of the dispatchers. They have entered into a new town
wide contract for cell phones. There was a buyout with this new program. There will be
a savings over time.
D. Rechcygl: The crime lab expenses are almost spent. Is there a reason for this?
L. Raimondi: No, they said this was in line.
B. Wheeler: It was spent for inventory.
Administration -
B. Parkhurst: Expenses are at about 33%. Revenues are up this year.
Parks and Rec -
D. Fletcher: The budget is in good shape. They are getting the pools ready. The summer
help has been hired. The Roy Park building work is completed. The maintenance of
another field has been added to this department.
Budget Committee Meeting Minutes
May 21, 2002
3
Village Water -
D. Fletcher: The Knolllcrest sewer department project will begin soon.
Grasmere Water -
No report.
Library -
G. Fullerton: The library's budget is in good shape. There has not been a large turnover
in personnel, as there was last year.
C.I.P. -
J. Caprio: I have notified the Chair of the Planning Board that I will be the Budget
Committee's rep. A meeting has been set for June 6.
Selectmen's Representative -
Bob Wheeler: On page 18, under solid waste, you will see 45930, recycling, we are
going to be in trouble. Carl feels that he under-budgeted this line. This line will only get
worse and we will go over. On page 8, 41990, other general government, this line looks
like it is high because of the printing for the town report. Don't rely on any of the
numbers in the encumbrance column. There is a problem with the report. The warrant
for the tax bills has been put in place. The assessment is on a 1.5% increase. The Main
Street Committee's Design Team won a $2,000 award recently by the state program.
SCHOOL REPORT
Sue Tremblay: I have an email from Craig Hieber stating that the answers from last
month's meeting will be forwarded to Sue shortly. I reviewed the expenditure report and
I have the same questions as we had last month. We did not receive an enrollment report
this month. Nor did we receive an expenditure report by object. The Superintendent has
submitted a draft budget for the default budget. Sue requested copies of the adopted
budget.
D. Rechcygl: I attended a recent School Board meeting. They are going to pursue a
proposal for kindergarten next year, including a new building.
School Resource Officer Funding -
This matter will be reviewed and discussed on August 20, 2002. A workshop committee
was established to further review the school resource officer funding so that they can
make a recommendation at the August 20 meeting.
The road program will be discussed at the June 18 board meeting.
BUILDING COMMITTEE UPDATE
NEW BUSINESS
J. Caprio: Has the idea of an affordability target for the operations budget been explored?
There does not seem to be any relationship to what people can afford and what the
Budget Committee Meeting Minutes
May 21, 2002
4
expenses are. The plan does not seem to take into account the revenues first and then the
expenses, like we do in our household budget. I think the goal of this committee needs to
be finding that budget for the town and the school together, which people will vote to
approve. There seems to be something wrong with the process. I feel uncomfortable
with throwing out a budget and testing the waters.
B. Wheeler: I thought we did that. I thought we did that every year, except last year, on
the Town side. We have said we are going to hold the tax rate level. My problem with
what you suggest is when you determine the level of your affordability option, how do
you get the information and set that level. Will you get a sense from the community, and
how will you do that?
G. Fullerton: I have had discussions with other budget committee members in other
towns. Merrimack tries to get a handle on growth and the tax base. They try to set a
target of what the budgets should come in at. They do not mangling and arguing about
individual articles in the budget. Our budget committee has too much wrangling about
issues that should be left to the managing people. It is a different approach. I believe the
better approach is to find out the revenues, hold public hearings so that we can find out
what the people believe should be the level of funding, and set that as a target.
B. Wheeler: I think the BOS has been coming to the BC with that approach. There are
sometimes when there needs to be an exception. For the most part, it is doable, and I
think we have been doing that.
A discussion ensued regarding what the taxpayers will accept and whether the Board
should set a goal for spending.
B. Wheeler: If you use an affordability number, it has to be credible, and there has to be
a buy-in from the public.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jo Ann D'Avanza
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