001[Music] all right comment seeing done we can move on to communication correspondence received this month received one communication for the joy Greenstein in your packet for that I sent over everything that I received both from you know mr. krei and directly reply back and everything like that I consider that to be close yeah so we can move on to approval of minutes from the last meeting okay I make a motion to approve the September 25th special meeting minutes as printed in your handout I'll second discussion on the minutes as they were right here done call the motion to a vote all in favor indicate by saying aye hi zero so this we are absent my first election and we await the arrival of one of our selectmen she's not here yet so we will go
002ahead and move on to the report of the Finance Director Roger arranged for 7:30 so we talked to you about the current year revenues and expenditures we're still working on balancing the revenues we try to balance it with the other departments and where taxes are kind of a bear to balance that are our new clerk put in about ten hours and gave it to me and I put in about ten hours and finally got a balance this afternoon for June or July because every transaction is that could be up to four different buckets and sometimes the credit cards are added together so it's a very very manual process but over 54% of the list year 2018 taxes have been collected as of September 30th we've collected approximately a hundred and forty thousand and back taxes
003nothing has changed from two weeks ago on the intergovernmental revenues we weren't expecting anything more we didn't get anything more the next big check to come in is the education cost sharing and we have not received that yet that and year-to-date in October we have not received any any further general fund monies from the state on the expenditures I sent that out to you and I you have a printed copy there's not too much of a concern that that is anything material that we have a few things that were still cleaning up because we made changes to the chart of accounts and the actual didn't always follow the thought that but I think we've talked about the ones that are of a concern that Pennysaver News Times issue so I pointed those out the ones
004that were over 23% or significantly over 23% are things where we pay upfront that the salaries should be at 23% and they are at 23% anyone have any questions on any of the budget to actual information never exciting at this time of year no no all right Jimmy just go page by page Jimmy wait a few minutes okay capital projects status that last month you had each of the budget to actual zouri to the projects in the capital projects budget and in the capital non-recurring funds those haven't changed that for the prior years that there's some projects running into the three-year limit and we've sent an email to the departments to say hey you're you're up against the wall here what is the plan that and we'll be discussing that with bond Council as we
005go through right now we're working on rolling over the bond anticipation notes and taking out new ones for this year so we do have some things with a three-year limit that is it three years in progress or three years it hasn't started summer in progress in summer haven't started that there might be three of them that are non Board of Education one is the GIS system that is $36,000 they were going to do it and then they thought West cog would do and then West hug didn't do it too much more than I won't know about this and then when West rock did it it was grainy and so now they're gonna do it themselves so it's gone back and forth so they are going to get a contract signed but the best time to
006do that is after November leaves on the trees alright I'm not really sure but but they're going to get a contract signed I did talk to the bond Council about that it's considered de minimis because it's under a hundred thousand dollars and we would be able to just put money aside in a non interest-bearing account that their son at the Board of Ed I forwarded that out well and can to see what's happening with those so we'll have a much better we'll know the next meeting the current year that many of the projects are in the planning are in the bidding stage that those are underway I think the HVAC might be out for bid or these Jerry's working on the fit for that that's the biggest is of a million dollars a half million
007dollars as the paving they've just finished on Monday the final paving for the current year if you want to see if you're going to be paid and the Public Works website so that'll continue again next time and the other big one was the fire truck that they needed to work through the specifications on that one and then next year that Steve has told it to the department's October 1st is the deadline and we want to pull in their budgets for capital projects what they're going to ask for for their 2021 year so we can get that to you earlier than in the budget season along with their updated 10-year plan with respect to the audit not much has changed since last month just two weeks ago that we did receive the information we're waiting for
008from MassMutual that it's been posted I need to review it and it needs to be sent to so the actuary that the interns are working on different projects we're trying to clean them up before um while we wait for the FEMA money we could go through the audit without it but let's without them particularly cleaning than some of these compensated absences munis has cannot give us a schedule this year for that we've always done it by hand and it just makes my skin crawl that but there is a new feature in the update so for next year we should be able to do it electronically so the interns did that by hand and I have to review it capital assets that in many cases we have four lists for example vehicles we've had the list
009of the auditors are using what's in munis what the insurance company has and then what ralph has and so we're trying to coordinate all that and make it all one list same with land and buildings and equipment some of our our lists are pretty crappy like movement bought this year and some be hard to do too much for that capital plans before if the deadline for the department submissions is the end of this month well would you lend this to pay getting a new capital plan work up um we'll see if promised that we would do a few for November that I would like to save maybe the sambar would be good as we've got elections we've got bonds all do before your next meeting in November so I would say December would be more
010reasonable but we could have it by December yes okay because this is going to be a basis of budget process going forward because we put forth these numbers correct and and we here's the model for how much we think we can spend so I think that that'll be nice were the and the contractor and driveway bonds that it's being tracked but it's not has never been tracked by finance it should be tracked by Finance so it ties out to the cash just makes sense munis we don't own the program that will track that and and we're not everything units are so expensive view point is what they used for permitting in land use and they do a number of the bonds we checked with them to see if we could coordinate it in there but
011know that and so for right now we are we own QuickBooks that that's what the fire marshal has been using for billing so we're just stealing the balance sheet of his QuickBooks we own one copy online so we can't add another company over thinking he's not going to notice that so we have the intern just he's done a lot and one of them has done a lot of research going back and just putting him in and it'll be nice because as we do more research to figure out who's coming in who's coming out QuickBooks is very forgiving and we can make changes as we go along and then statements that I haven't done anything in the last two weeks but we have a three-day weekend they'll be nice and quiet I hope that I do
012move those most those for work and get some of this stuff reviewed any questions for me just have one question on page 11 our darling repayment upon principle by looks of it that is I mean that's up well over 20% but presumably that is a very well defined schedule just pure timing correct we had a big a big payment I think I was September 15th that it was due okay I also should let you know that the word Cemetery is misspelled in your County changes I uh you know I didn't realize there was a UN cemetery it's very very alright then if nothing else for Martian legs are like relaxer did you go over mr. chair just a couple things that she had sent over do we have a financial report but also so financially
013as you its forgiveness Marshall in your report it's fairly early the fiscal year so a couple of areas are watching but there's nothing that were alarmed or led to yet [Applause] questions yeah I have a whole lot so here we go alright I was looking at last month's ones as well and trying to figure out where we actually stand so basically what I'm seeing is we have a million dollars worth of areas we save money in this year we identified the salaries rideshares unless last time we appropriate yeah we appropriated eighty five thousand dollars as well so right now I'm sorry a million we identified a million dollars in areas that we had savings in you had five 585 on salaries 103 on transportation 45 on copiers you get to about 900,000 you're throwing the
014eighty-five thousand dollars that we appropriated you are 177 to the plus if my numbers are right last month you're now down to 140 plus so basically we're at right now about $85,000 stored now $40,000 that good because we gave you 85,000 of that 140 so right now we're running only with all these savings we're only running $45,000 ahead a budget with a surplus and we're down 30,000 this month so we're heading in a direction that's really not good on this these numbers because if you had a million up top do you identify the savings you already offset them to 177 that was our last month's thing this month you have 76,000 going the wrong way versus 46,000 the positively I'm thirty so right now the questions I have is if we keep going down thirty
015thousand a month you won't make budget you won't make budget and I didn't close the budget if you're only 40 thousand ahead one hundred forty thousand a head right now we gave you an extra eighty five thousand then it leads into as we're identifying these areas you have one point three million dollars in our model for next year's increases if we got a million dollars that we can't we've ate up this year plus the seven hundred sixty thousand in payroll increases next year's budget won't meet them out what are we doing to identify these issues that were dealing with now in today's moments how we moving them forward to next year's budgets moments to stay in line because this is a lot of money you're talking 1 billion dollars of surplus that you did while
016managing I'm not saying that but there's still a million dollars on the plus side that we've chewed up I do but I'm going to put it a different way you're making it seem like we had a hundred we had a million dollars that we just kind of ducked off and didn't do anything with this is managing a forty plus million dollar budget you have extra expenses here you identify it to pay for it there absolu end up so so the idea that you're saying we have a million dollars we did identify able to do it with savings with breezes six hundred thousand was salaries Collette that was a salary line we haven't gotten six hundred thousand the savings any year unless we're miss budgeting for the last five years so what I'm saying is there
017is places now that we are losing money on were 142 the positive we're losing thirty thousand dollars a month if not more expenses versus budget that we didn't budget for we're only at one forty thousand plus right now and we're not losing thirty thousand a month we identified it this this month with incumbent says that may completely change next time okay so we saw that we had the Medicaid for example making expenses they're not coming in as they are we just started they're still working on having parents signed consent we get an increase in that that goes up the the special education transportation is mainly in town and as could be for a variety of different reasons that could easily that doesn't have to it's not going to be that negative each month that can
018change so this is it's highly fluid I'll ask the question a different way okay you didn't have the savings of the 585 on the salaries that should have you know that's a hard thing identified but that's a good number that's like a bonus we'd be well under that we being over budget right now you can't you couldn't accumulate that 585 and savings in what you've picked up here that 585 it's such a big number on the salary line on the salary line to get a boost from and I appreciate what's happened and I get it but what I'm saying is what are we looking at and how we identifying this and where we're managing the moment but what I'm afraid of it's beyond the moment we are and again this month you came up with
019you identified CV she got away from last month's summary which was the the big numbers we got to a smaller number you still identified 76,000 and short cuts you identify 46,000 to offset that so again last month we were 177 to the plus side with the identification of these big numbers this month now we're down to 140 and of that 140 we gave you 85,000 extra dollars as an appropriation to cover I need a teacher I need a teacher but we're still looking at we don't have a very big surplus and if each of the month these things come out that surplus is going to go away how are we identifying and my bigger concern is what's identified towards next year how big of a number are you gonna need next year to cover this
020you're not gonna get 585 next year in the salary you're not gonna gather know you're looking at a snapshot of one month I can't just in the six months Oh three months but but your concern is what you are seeing at the financials of this month which is one of the first months that school is in session that could completely change next month week we could identify different offsets there may be things that come in under budget or revenues that come up increased so it's then explained them to me can you explain for us next month while you can get aside for the next nine months up what do you foresee in the next nine months out that you're gonna achieve the savings or you're not gonna meet the budgeted amount because what we've seen
021here is the only thing that saved you was the 585 on the up top salary line that's the only saving grace we've had in your budget what's that 585 we can draw it out edit every single month you go along it becomes more honed in more refined but yes we can we can do a little bit more of a of an you know out place look next month absolutely can I just ask a question because I'm I'm sorry that it wasn't paying attention as it was paying attention as to that what's the 585 fit the the identification of the retirements leaves in vacancy spending freeze be picked up 585 we budgeted probably two hundred thousand on that which we budgeted the last three years I've been on this board and it's been roughly give or
022take some 585 no time you achieved that number is when we offered the buyout plants so the 585 is a big number on the revenue side or basic revenue side of savings so my concern is without that and we start identifying these monthly things that were going in the wrong direction we don't have buckets of yeah as we suck these buckets out in these bigger buckets out of savings for windfalls shortfalls gotta stop that's what the assumption that we're gonna have these movies everyone it's it the assumption what was I on you're assuming that all of the unexpected cost that we had last year carry onto this year as well again it's the budget forty million dollars when you have unexpected costs you find the savings elsewhere we've able to do that at this point
023I mean it's very early in the year but we're confident we can do it this year as well any other questions with that do we see that the cumulative plus and minus throughout well I see I see the 5125 in here but is it possible to see like because we had a laundry list of items on this from age last time right Darrell yep how do we see those how we see those go through here this was so what was realized here was for the lastest boys budget exactly so this is what you're seeing this was just this is September those things so that's why this one and this one how this will continue on so this will roll yeah you'll see refinement of this what you saw last I was for the last fiscal
024year and a tie out so this is what you'll see going forward so then basically we're down 30,000 and start right now okay sorry I get I didn't understand your question honey and as I learned to read these reports on the very last page that the amount that we're down is the plug figure that it's required required actions to be determined not blood figure it's the balance in figure that 33 650 651 sure we'll keep all those Islands yeah of course can I just ask given with all the columns on this page which column does the percent use that should be connected which dollar column well there's a con entitled percent used and is there a equivalent dollar number in any of these columns see the overage well you've got the projected variance the very
025last one is the average the number have you get that yeah whether whether that if whether for any given line can you connect the percent used to an actual golf it in one of the other columns well yes he says you've got you got three vice budget number so if you have a hundred percent used of the revised budget number that would be a hundred percent of that amount how about column 3 / column 2 no thank you it's it's the year-to-date actual which is what was spent plus the encumbrance so if you were to good for now the monitor this is doing activity all right Student Activity this was I'm sorry dance I hear because he was different so this is a summary of what is happening right now with a selectivity just as
026a recap we were all very aware that the Student Activity Fund was the fund in which embezzlement did occur several business directors ago so when this administration came in and probably before that the first thing they did was put in the controls that you see on the first page the Student Activity fund was quite frankly a mess there it most of the items were mislabeled or in the inappropriate positions the accounts were allowed to accrue without being used they were occurring over years of not decades and not being used so it was kind of right to the miss abuse if it would be so the first thing they did before they can get in and start to resolve that was put the controls that you see since then there's been a series of deep dives
027getting into it trying to untangle it unwind the entire Student Activity fun so what you see here is probably the result of three years of work longest an activity month it's not complete there's still work to be done there's still deeper dives to go it is significantly significantly improved you see here just within the last time that can give us a report we are down 200 thousand dollars in this account a lot of that is just the accounts that have been allowed to recruit accrue Candice really making sure building administration works to use an example of it that you see in every one of the schools are the field trip funds generally the practice has been that they would slightly round up a field trip cost in case there are any expected cost they would
028be able to cover it with that round up over years and years and perhaps decades you have really large amounts in the future funds what they're doing now is actually rounding down and so they can spend it down so so doing some reimbursement on the future accounts as well as using that for those that might assistance for the field trips so those are kinds of crashing going down as well then expand upon it is a field trip coming out this month in the high school which is $5 per student yes yes this is actually a trip to UConn it's a deal for 5 bucks [Music] so they are working on it um if you see one of the one of the main items to that we're still gonna be working on is determining which one
029of these funds would go into the general fund or get tweezed out of this a good example which you don't even see down here because for the high school Ken just listed the ones that are above five thousand dollars because there are so many but gate receipts and TIG receipts which is at about three thousand dollars and that we've discussed and made a plan next year that that will go into the general fund it's it's a better place for it it's more appropriate and I know that is also an item that a lot of people have questions about what's used for and in the general fund it might make more sense those that are searching for it it's not so what is it use for everything that has to do with the games itself extra
030police presence ambulance reps umpires anyone that has to be hired those that take the ticket receipts right but that all flows through right ins and outs right so like the cash comes in it's registered the checks that go out the register right yes yeah so it's again right now there's about a three thousand dollar balance in that wouldn't walking be a good candidate for general fund it was actually discussed as well okay um we are we have asked him to check with appropriate ministration to see what we won't even need to do with a parking going forward if it's a necessity and if it is a necessity how do we best direct those funds right now they're being used to offset student activities that students may not be able to afford right we're trying to
031determine right now for that cross-subsidization well and and honestly is we're trying to determine if the fees have actual purpose or whether this is just something that's been done traditional wise so that is something I wish I could give you more but this is a discussion we just had two days ago so we'll probably be able to definitely have better details are there any accounts like the police as their secondary account that they come to us and they say gee we need this we can give you 30,000 idealistic counts of business that we could use stores the budget to buy things like the police come to us with their surplus account and say and I know it's gonna be a lesser scale don't think I can't do the math but these are like 2,000 in
032here from like swing sets or something in here that we can utilize at budget time or capital project fund like the police come to us a Jake of us says gee you know we need this a new apparatus we have a thousand in our surplus fund can we use that everything in here has to be used for the divine purpose for the right but I really want to find purpose in here that can go for that I understand there's some groups in here but there's some lone pine foundation stuff there's things in here that can they be identified in your group identify that can be used towards budgetary items or all these locked in can't be used on a budget no ha no we had this discussion last time in mark and Marcia and you
033can chime in if you want with this as well because last time we had looked at that actually with library fees I'm our library funds in the books in here and what's defined in here our actual collections by the students they need to stay there so they can't be put into the general fund for budgetary purposes so he brought it up there what about okay so lost textbooks the school will be using these money that purchased classrooms libraries but it was a textbook that started off - deaf people towards textbooks why is that wording in here says if you lost something I lost my math book a calculus book why do I have to buy a library book with this fund I can't but of course textbooks last time we were just told that this
034needs to stay within here for the defined purpose brought it up last time and that was the rationale we have I can check again I think it's still work-in-progress that who defines this thing who defines this list I guess another candidate Gatsby Government Accounting Standards sport and so the meeting on Monday we had some talking about that and it just needs some follow-up to see what actually belongs to the student account and what actually be put over to the general fund the confusion I think has been it's called Student Activity Fund and all these are student activities but that's just the generic means that that it's called that it's actually a fiduciary fund and it should only be fiduciary assets that are in there so if we can direct them or redirect them they should
035be in other funds and so that's the conversation that were in the middle of it's it's a long detail because it's like the NHS soda fund this account holds proceeds from the beverage machine I mean there's 2,500 dollars in there why can't I thought again why can't that be used for even because the teachers on teachers best or some work buying capital equipment why can't we go to this and say we the soda fund I mean what significance we Chad had when we're going through these budgets glad we're looking at taking away twenty five hundred they're fifteen hundred here and we are as well we are very quick cuz we asked we asked specifically about that fund and they were gonna check and see what it was whether it actually has to be used for
036teachers lounge furniture or everything else since it would arrived from there we did Ken to investigate deeper that one as well think of teaches them drinking too much soda well then again you don't know how long again this fun has been brewing that is what we found with a lot of these these months they haven't been touched and we've been there for years and years and years and that's pretty normal the soccer the sport teams you know so that they raise money for warm-ups and they have eight thousand dollars in that it's a lot of warm-ups one but how long is I mean you think that that would have been spent down by the team's purposes for that right but but when you start talking specifically with the sports teams it is at their discretion
037to although technically you'd like to see in Houston perhaps it's that they don't know that they have $6,000 in the girls soccer because it took us three years to wrap our heads around hell exactly in these funds so did they actually know yes it's a soccer those softball knows that they have seen you $900 they met how are they know um they know now I would like to think yes yes coaches and or advisers depending upon whether you're talking about a sports team or whether you're talking about the class of you know money 20s graduation fund office do you think that before the we start go to budget for next year we can find out about things like the textbook yes ten thousand dollars yes and that's more significant number for library books when you
038look at the budget line items that is your Xbox bit absolutely we didn't remember we have a budget going forward so we'll definitely discuss it is that one quick question the Boosters that's an organization that's connected to the school are they the the team that collects the gate no actually how are they involved the Boosters are fighting like their own separate okay profit so they collect your own money and dispersed their own life they have nothing to do with ticket receipts the money that they generally fundraise for goes for like the banners that you see on the wall may have several scholarships that they award they do give gifts to the different teams like monetary gifts that the teams can use for what they want but it's it's separate from I mean works in conjunction
039with the athletic department but it's completely separate okay so in the same way that the I'm sorry in the same way that perhaps the grad partyís grad parties its own separate nonprofit to the funds that they raise go directly towards that okay also there is the Booster Club the limits benefiting from the play of the capital project remember if it was approved or not but to build the outdoor food high school menu high school that would be that would be a benefit of the entire community definitely not monetarily benefits no one said I'm on it I mean it's it's going to be so many southern food so some musicians yes alright I'm just right right the Booster Club and I've got to check to make sure they monitor it different teams take turns doing it
040and the teams that have representatives itself at time the proceeds go to that specific team if I'm a couple of years I would have having kids at the high school level but that's how it was the years yes yes but but the area that is being proposed for the capital Truman is so much more than a concession stand that's slush that's that's um that's restaurants that's a budget in the future right so does that money can't kidnap money from concessions be turned into something that the logic and a benefit from they hot or is that's gonna be specifically so we use various vendors exactly right but the concession this is just one part of it so you say you can't say that that we're building this for the the booster club I mean we're work
041build we wouldn't be storage facility is not gonna make any money no no but it's gonna be taking everything that's now store boys locker room that's fair I'm not on any bar it was saying is if there's extra money coming in from the concessions yeah and that helps to the Boosters well if I might have befuddled hanging around in to me yes the counterweight I think we are about ten steps away from you in determining anything from that I mean I'm just trying to figure out if the concession stands but if that is built I think well I think it's a valid question because what we're saying is these revenues that are coming in in these funds they're Barry's boosters or whatever they're being spent at discretionary things when the towns and taxpayers are being
042asked to fun things and all we're saying I think Ricky's say this a little help maybe with this discretionary funding like course textbooks like Eileen said a little colony just stories I think there would be a good discussion to have going forward perhaps when we do the next budget presentation and you know with that is in the next budget presentation okay and if it gets that will dig up yes any further questions for the Chairman thank you very much sir back to total misunderstanding on my part I was heading to the cable in authority meeting so I'm glad you caught me let's see I do have a report from Steve I like tribuna that's okay okay so what we'll be talking about I'm on streetscape phase three Laurel Hill and old route seven in front
043of drycleaners the project when designed has a new cost estimate of 1 million five hundred and twenty thousand dollars our original preliminary cost estimate was 1 million three hundred thousand we had a town meeting at that time and the town unanimously approved a town match of 20 percent or two hundred and sixty thousand dollars and to apply for a grant to cover the remainder that grant was approved by Westcott we went back to Wes Cobb and asked for a larger grant to cover the additional cost it was agreed that we would receive additional grant money and this awards will be approved by the entire cobb next week net result is the town will still put up 260 thousand and the loss of grant will cover the remaining 1 million two hundred and sixty thousand next
044is streetscape phase 2 project is on time and under budget with final walkthrough of state and contractor next week the ribbon-cutting will be next week on the 16th hope everyone condemned the school project the Board of Selectmen has on the recommendation of the municipal building committee agreed to hire our Cadis as our owner's agent they will be responsible for overseeing the entire project I did on a daily basis for on behalf of the town and are charged with keeping all records needed to be fully reimbursed for the state ground the MBC has been meeting regularly on the project and we have had information session for the public at the huckleberry hill school and two more sessions are planned the Board of Selectmen also appointed the Energy Commission to work with the MBC and to advise
045the MDC on the most energy efficient and green ways to construct the new school was that so when we hire our gayness to be this agent broker or whatever do they thou take on the liabilities of the paperwork not being filed at the $800,000 so the town whatever money we're paying our cavus takes all liabilities off the town small budget sixty three million and if we don't get the state money back it's on their diamond on our dime that's a quite a lengthy thing of what they are responsible for but we're always still responsible for reviewing it and putting our best so if the paperwork that he doesn't get submitted like the what the fiasco we've went through a nice school three hundred thousand dollars who's the town still and the hookers are cadence unhook
046I haven't read the contract but I would assume that the town is so on the hook and that's why we would need to review everything before I probably lessens the risk significantly having the agent do it you know how much we pay them to lessen the risk I mean what was the value of our Cadis in the process just a question of what are we paying arcade is to oversee sixty three million dollar contract what's their kind of the process yeah so why don't we send will send you the write-up this is quite lengthy of all the different things that they're responsible for and I think the fees are right in there what are the fees there's a town number what are the fees no no you do that so a million dollars was going
047to pay that - yeah but it's quite extensive and it was explained to us at the worst like a meeting by Monday what they will be doing it was a brief description but we still quite lengthy yeah so there's several pages unlit but they'll be doing for us any questions for our selecting all right you item two whole business new business items to come aboard sir I would like to make sure that all six people watching know that there is a vote coming up on November 5th please your friends and others who are [Music]