HomeMy Public PortalAbout07.14.21 FinCom PacketTown of Brewster Finance Committee
2198 Main St., Brewster, MA 02631
fincommeeting@brewster-ma.gov
(508) 896-3701
MEETING AGENDA
Remote Participation Only
July 14, 2021 at 6:00 PM
This meeting will be conducted by remote participation pursuant to Gov. Baker’s March 2020 orders suspending certain Open
Meeting Law provisions and imposing limits on public gatherings. No in-person meeting attendance will be permitted. If the Town is
unable to live broadcast this meeting, a record of the proceedings will be provided on the Town website as soon as possible.
The meeting may be viewed by: Live broadcast (Brewster Government TV Channel 18), Livestream (livestream.brewster-
ma.gov), or Video recording (tv.brewster-ma.gov).
Meetings may be joined by:
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Finance
Committee
Harvey (Pete) Dahl
Chair
Frank Bridges
Vice Chair
William Meehan
Clerk
Andrew Evans
Alex Hopper
Honey Pivirotto
Robert Tobias
Robert Young
Town
Administrator
Peter Lombardi
Finance Director
Mimi Bernardo
1.Call to Order
2.Declaration of a Quorum
3.Meeting Participation Statement
4.Recording Statement
5.Public Announcements and Comment: Members of the public may address the Finance Committee on
matters not on the meeting’s agenda for a maximum 3-5 minutes at the Chair’s discretion. Under the Open Meeting
Law, the Finance Committee is unable to reply but may add items presented to a future agenda.
6.Finance Committee Reorganization – Nominations and Votes for Chair, Vice Chair and
Secretary
7.Town Administrator/Finance Director Report
8.Policies and Procedures Update (Standing Item)
9.End of Year Budget Transfers – Discussion and Vote
10.Discuss and Determine Feedback to Select Board on Priority Goals for Upcoming Annual
Retreat and Updated Strategic Plan
11. Discussion – Nauset Regional Public Schools, Budget and Finance issues.
12. Liaison Reports
13. Review and Approval of Minutes
14. Request for agenda items for future meetings.
15. Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair
16. Next Finance Committee Meeting – 8/11/21
17. Adjournment
Date Posted:Date Revised:Received by Town Clerk:
July 12, 2021
TOWN OF BREWSTER
2198 MAIN STREET
BREWSTER,MA 02631
PHONE:(508)896-3701 EXT 1147
FAX:(508)896-8089
ACCOUNTANT@BREWSTER-MA.GOV
WWW.BREWSTER-MA.GOV
OFFICE OF
TOWN ACCOUNTANT
July 8, 2021
To: The Brewster Selectboard & The Brewster Finance Committee
From: Mimi Bernardo, Finance Director
RE: FY21 Year End Transfers per M.G.L. Chapter 44, Section 33B (b)
Dear Brewster Selectboard & Brewster Finance Committee,
I am writing to request authorization for transferring the following funds per MGL Ch44 s33B
(b):
1.TRANSFER TO: Sealer of Weights & Measures the amount of $225.00; current deficit is
$225.00
2.TRANSFER FROM: General Fund Health Insurance the amount of $225.00; current
balance is $245,661.28
Note: amount transferred will be the actual deficit when all FY21 expenses have been posted to
the ledger; the amount transferred will not exceed amount requested. Final amounts will not be
known until 7/15/21.
Thank you for your consideration.
Regards,
Mimi Bernardo
Town of Brewster July 12, 2021
Finance Committee
Prepared by: Harvey Dahl, Chair
Re: NRSC
A Way Forward
Purpose: To define the Brewster Finance Committee’s role in FY 2022 with respect to Nauset
Regional School Committee and define action items that will improve relations with NRSC while
ensuring that Brewster’s Finance Committee performs its primary function to review financial
information relevant to Brewster taxpayers and make recommendations to Brewster Town
Meeting
Scope: NRSC budget for FY2023.
The Finance Committee’s role is limited to the review of the budget as presented by NRSC and
to make recommendations to Town meeting. Recognizing that 40% of Town Meeting voted
against the NRSC budget and 48% of the Nauset Public Schools Assessment is paid by the
taxpayers of Brewster, we express the following concerns and will move forward with the
action items outlined below.
Concerns:
1.We do not get a full look at budget until…
2.We have recently received pdf’s of poorly copied budget material.
3.Many revenue and expense items are unbudgeted.
4.Difficulty reconciling Budget to Year-End Report to the Annual Audit
5.Budget is compared to previous budgets as opposed to recent actuals
6.Large reserves items (Reserve for Negotiations) need to be reconciled to the actual
contracts/expenses
7.Lengthy delay in releasing audited financials (2 years) and concerns over material
weakness and significant deficiencies.
8.NRSC and Superintendent not accepting requests to attend additional meetings of the
Brewster Finance Committee during budget deliberations.
Action Items
1.Work with Select Board to include improving relationships with NRSC as an integral part
of their Strategic Plan.
2.Work with Select Board to help them understand the Finance Committee’s desire to
prepare and present analysis to Select Board on NRSC budget.
3.Invite Interim Superintendent to a Finance Committee meeting to welcome anr and
discuss
4.Work with NRSC to fully understand budget calendar and make certain that all budget
materials disseminated to School Committee officials are provided to Brewster Fincom
as required of public documents.
5.Present requests for information early in the budget process.
6.Request budget materials in original form (i.e. spreadsheets) that will allow better
analysis.
7.Request detail on Revenue and Expenses for unbudgeted Revolving Funds and grants
with historic information.
8.Assign multiple liaisons to NRSC with the intent of keeping current on the budget
process and following the process of hiring a new Superintendent.
Finance Committee Minutes
June 23, 2021 Page 1 of 5
TOWN OF BREWSTER
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Date: June 23, 2021 Time: 6:00 PM
VIRTUAL MEETING MINUTES
Present: Chair Pete Dahl, Vice Chair Frank Bridges, Clerk Bill Meehan, Honey Pivirotto, Bob Young, Andy
Evans, Robert Tobias, Alex Hopper
Also present: Mimi Bernardo, Finance Director; Peter Lombardi, Town Administrator; Lisa Vitale,
Treasurer/Collector; Donna Kalinick, Assistant Town Administrator; James Galagher, Assessor
Absent:
The Chair called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.
This meeting will be conducted by remote participation pursuant to Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021. No in-person meeting attendance will be permitted. If the Town
is unable to live broadcast this meeting, a record of the proceedings will be provided on the Town website as soon as possible.
The meeting may be viewed by: Live broadcast (Brewster Government TV Channel 18), Livestream (livestream.brerwster-ma.gov), or Video
recording (tv.brewster-ma.gov).
A quorum was declared for the Finance Committee.
1.Public Announcements and Comment- none
2.Town Administrator/Finance Director Report – including ARPA funds
Peter Lombardi said he would be brief as there are many other items on the agenda to which he will be
speaking. We have received a number from the Fed for the amount received from the ARPA funds, just over
$1M. We have until FY24 to spend down those funds. We have specific guidelines on how to calculate where
that money can be spent. We plan on putting together a recommended plan in the next few months and will
bring to the Select Board and Finance Committee once that has been completed. Frank asked about the CARES
spending totals. Mimi Bernardo said she could not give a firm number at this point. The first Coronavirus relief
program was through FEMA, then after that we found out about CARES. She has been going through each
invoice to see which would be eligible for either program. When the Biden Administration came in, the
coverage percentages changed. No firm answer yet, but she will be going back and starting from scratch with all
the invoices to reconcile with new percentage splits and new eligibility requirements. Frank said it sounds like
there will be more money, than we thought previously, disbursed. Mimi Bernardo said that was correct.
3. Policies & Procedures Update - none
4.Status Update on Finance Team’s Progress Implementing Recommendations from MA
Department of Revenue’s 2019 Report
Approved:
VOTE:
Finance Committee Minutes
June 23, 2021 Page 2 of 5
Peter Lombardi said back in late 2018/early 2019, the Town invited the Department of Revenue to come in and
do a comprehensive analysis of the Town’s finances. That analysis was delivered to the Town in June of 2019.
In August of 2019, the finance team put together a high-level plan from that report from their recommendations.
It has been two years since that report, and we have made a lot of progress throughout. This is an update relative
to those recommendations. There are 17 recommendations in the plan. Peter Lombardi went through each of
those recommendations and where we are at at this point.
Establishing a Town Charter and reviewing Bylaws. There has been significant work and at Town
Meeting, the Charter was overwhelmingly adopted. The Charter governs over the existing Bylaws.
Establishing an HR Department. This was originally planned in the FY21 budget, but with the
pandemic, it was moved to include it in the FY22 budget. Susan Broderick will shift over as the full-
time HR Director. We will hire a part-time HR Generalist to help establish this office. We will also
be adding a new Project Manager in the Town Administrator’s Office. We also hired a consultant to
conduct an audit on our personnel policies and procedures to use as a roadmap to establish this
office.
Sustaining the Personnel Board. The Charter Committee engaged the Select Board in drafting the
Charter around this issue and ultimately shifted primary responsibility for personnel to the Town
Manager who will be working with the HR Department. The Select Board still does retain authority
to approve all personnel policies and collective bargaining agreements.
Procuring Audit Services. Our long-time auditor’s contract expires after he completes this last audit.
The Town will issue a formal solicitation this winter, the Audit Committee will make
recommendations, and ultimately as the Chief Procurement Officer, Peter Lombardi will award the
3-year contract.
Adopting Enterprise Fund accounting for Water and Golf. We felt confident in the Water
Departments’ ability to be transitioned to an Enterprise Fund Account, which was approved at Town
Meeting. At the same time, we secured funding to engage a consultant to do a similar analysis with
Golf. They are soon to complete their work. The earliest we would transition that would be next July
1st, requiring a Town vote as well. They have already been acting as if they are an Enterprise Fund.
Codifying the Budget Process in Bylaw. Once the Charter is adopted, we will have to go back and
revise the Bylaw.
Revise the Capital Planning Bylaw. We have reconstituted the Capital Planning Committee,
developed a 5-year Capital Improvement Plan, put a good program in place we feel confident in. The
Capital Planning Process is outlined in Chapter 6 of the Charter. The one change is that the Capital
Planning Committee is appointed by the Town Manager not the Select Board under the Charter.
Determining if a special purpose Capital Stabilization Fund was necessary. We had one for many
years, but more recently, in the financial reserves policy, the town committed to investing a combo
of free cash and short-term rental revenues to grow to approx. $4.5M. we have appropriated, so far,
about $750,000 from various sources which will help reduce cos-impacts of major capital projects
by reducing the amount of debt issued.
Seeking professional development and training for staff and committees. Professional development
for staff has been difficult during this pandemic, but we have done the best we can. We try to send as
much as we can your way from DOR, MA Municipal Association to have all resources on our radar.
Clarify reporting structure of Consolidated Department of Municipal Finance. Some confusion and
contradiction that needed sorting. Working through the Charter Process, we included that the
department heads report directly to Peter Lombardi.
Conducting Workflow analysis and creating a procedures manual. The Treasurer/Collector’s office
have been working on this already. The Assessor’s Office same and the Finance Department to
create within the next year.
Finance Committee Minutes
June 23, 2021 Page 3 of 5
Expand remote entry – we have made a ton of progress on this front. Moved to a cloud-based
version of our accounting software. Transitioned to a new payroll platform. Accounts receivable and
payroll have been decentralized with remote entry capability.
Shifting Water Dept. collection to the Collector’s Office. Best route to take was to shift over to
Town’s software. We will be live with Water in the next couple of days. It is a work in process.
Reposition the IT Department. This department will report to the Town Administrator.
Explore Software Upgrades. Done a lot on this front. We invested in Zoom. We transitioned to
paperless daily beach stickers for non-residents and plan on license plate reader technology this year
as well. E-permitting platform for Building Department and Health Department, implementing soon.
Refocused our efforts in making our existing accounting software work. We are looking to invest in
a new platform integrated with current VADAR and stand alone which will help us develop our
operating budget and our capital budget with a tremendous amount of transparency.
Implement a Human Resource Information System. Our payroll was transitioned to Harper this
winter. Once HR department established, we will look to see where we stand.
Maintain vigilant cyber security awareness. The State has really focused on this in the last few years.
We realized we were ahead of what the State was looking for us to do. The IT upgrades we
implemented enhanced our Cybersecurity on all fronts.
Bill said he was very impressed by the amount of progress that has been made during these very difficult times.
He wondered if Town Counsel had been consulted regarding HR which assumes a large burden of law and
thought it might be wise to get their input. Peter Lombardi said the Town has a special labor counsel that
handles all our HR issues. Depending on the nature of the personnel issue, we regularly bring counsel in as we
see fit, but err on the side of caution in all personnel issues. The audit that was completed is very thorough and
one of the key things will be putting together an employee handbook. Having that in place will be a big first
step. We do talk to counsel on a regular basis. Bill also questioned Cyber Security – he wondered if Kathy
Lambert could use some expert help in this area as it deserves very close attention and fare investment. Peter
Lombardi said the State has a best practices program which is great for the really small towns that do not have
an IT Director with any expertise. Kathy Lambert, our IT Director, does have funds in her operating budget
which she uses for a variety of things included Cyber Security.
Frank was wondering about the State approval of the Charter - if they approve it, can they approve it with
changes? Will we have to revisit this? Peter Lombardi said there was language in the Warrant giving the Select
Board some leeway in dealing with the back and forth if the legislative counsel is looking for minor changes,
which likely will happen. Invariably, the State will find something to change. Town Counsel has been involved
all along the process in developing the Charter. The Legislature, if supported by Town Meeting, are not in the
business of making any significant changes in the Charter. There might be some minor amendments. Frank then
asked about the Audit Committee – there are still open positions and wondered where we are in getting that
Committee filled. Peter Lombardi said there are still two vacancies. The Select Board completed its Annual
reappointing process for all our boards and committees, and we will be posting an announcement with all
committee openings shortly.
Pete said he has one more question regarding the lock box and if there is any consideration moving to direct
ACH payments. Lisa Vitale said people can pay online which is a direct ACH payment or credit card payment.
Honey asked about the Audit Committee and the issuance of the RFP and timing. Are there thoughts about
issuing the RFP in January or March? Peter Lombardi said this has been discussed. There is a whole host of
other responsibilities in the various offices in the next 6 months, and we are looking to issue the RFP in January.
We are hoping to meet with the Audit Committee sometime in November to go over.
Finance Committee Minutes
June 23, 2021 Page 4 of 5
5.Discussion – Nauset Regional Public Schools, Budget and Finance issues
Pete said he has numerous concerns on budgeting and lack of transparency on this and wants to make sure we
investigate suggestions on this issue. He thinks it enormously important to get this information out to the
community and other member towns of the Nauset communities to highlight some of the policies and practices
that should be improved in the budgeting process. Andy asked if, like the DOR report and the audit we had
done, can we request such an audit from a similar organization? Pete said the School Committee could request it
– which is what happened in Brewster. The DOR came in, did an analysis, indicated their recommendations - it
was a two-year process. We do not have the authority to ask them to do that. We can request the School
Committee take up that issue. They are under no requirement to do anything more than to listen to the
recommendation. Pete felt that would be reasonable and a call to action. He said we could put the Regional
Agreement on a future agenda item to discuss further.
Bill said that Town Law is clear that the Finance Committee has the right to require any town department to
open their books to us and perhaps the School Committee is not aware of that. Peter Lombardi said the schools
are a regional entity, independent from the Town, and he does not know if the Finance Committee has the same
authority over the regional school district as it does in other town departments.
Frank said it was an objective of the Select Board to improve its relationship with the School Committee. He
would be interested to hear from the Select Board as to how their relationship is with the School Committee.
Last year, our colleagues had several conversations with the finance team and the school administration and
went back to DESE and got contradictory information. He thinks it is in the best interest of the Select Board,
Finance Committee, and town citizens to make that process more transparent and smoother than it was last year.
He would like to work with the Select Board on somehow making this possible. Peter Lombardi said that was
one of the goals for the Select Board, who will be holding their Annual Retreat in August. They will be
soliciting from the committees what are important discussion points for them. He thinks this is the right place to
start – have the Finance Committee to weigh in and pass that along to the Select Board and then we can go from
there. He feels there is an opportunity with a new Superintendent to begin this process.
Peter Lombardi said the working group on this would need to be a sub-committee. In response to Bob, the
teachers’ contracts have all been approved. They ended up doing a one-year agreement that addressed the
COLA for FY21, then a 3-year agreement for from FY22-24 that included COLA and other elements that were
bargained. All the contracts for the region and elementaries have been voted on by the School Committee at this
point.
Tony Ortiz – resident of Brewster, with 40 years of finance experience addressed the Committee. He has looked
at many documents for the Nauset Regional School Committee. There is a definite lack of transparency. We
need to put our hands around the fiscal entity of the Nauset Regional School System. Being an Accountant by
trade, the only document which could be useful for transparency would be to have a full trial balance sheet with
all the accounts that exist. We need to start somewhere. We cannot be completely in the dark. Because the fact
of the actual numbers for the last 3 years are not available, what are the actuals? There is a significant difference
between the budgeted and actual amounts, several million dollars. Pete thanked him for his comments and said
he understands his frustration.
6.Brewster Visioning Committee – Update and Discussion
Honey said there was a wonderful working informative recapture of the work effort that has gone into the
Vision Plan and now going into the Local Comprehensive Plan in the packet. They are putting a summary
Finance Committee Minutes
June 23, 2021 Page 5 of 5
together of what people are thinking in terms of the original plan, where things are completed, what needs to be
completed, and what is missing and needs to be added. This will hopefully be included in the Local
Comprehensive Plan going through for approval. How does the work of the Vision Committee fit with all of the
work that has gone on in the budget process? The work that the committee is doing is to identify every
accomplishment that has been made, but it seems to her that putting dollars to that would have merit. Peter
Lombardi agreed and talked with Ryan Bennet just today about this point. The Vision Committee is tracking the
Vision Plan from a couple of years ago and making sure we are making progress. The second part is developing
the local comprehensive master plan primarily focused on land use. It would make sense to say, we have done
this, and we have invested x dollars to that end, and he thinks the first report will be reviewed next month. It is a
learning process for all of us. When he sees this, we will better understand the need to insert more financial
numbers to what they are getting done. Honey thinks it is amazing what they have already accomplished
reaching out to so many in the community.
7. Liaison Reports - none
8. Review and Approval of Minutes- 5/5/21
Frank Bridges MOVED to approve Minutes from 5/5/21 as presented. Bill Meehan second.
Roll Call Vote: Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Bob Young – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew
Evans – yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Alex Hopper – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes.
The Committee voted: 8-yes 0-no
9. Request for agenda items for future meetings – please email Pete
10. Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair- none
11. Next Finance Committee Meetings – 7/14/21
12. Adjournment
Bill Meehan MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 8:17 PM. Frank Bridges second.
Roll Call Vote: Frank Bridges – yes, Bill Meehan – yes, Bob Young – yes, Honey Pivirotto – yes, Andrew Evans
– yes, Robert Tobias – yes, Alex Hopper – yes, Chair Pete Dahl– yes.
The Committee voted: 8-yes 0-no
Respectfully submitted, Beth Devine
Packet of additional materials for public review posted on the website.