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MINUTES OF THE JOINT MEETING WITH SELECT BOARD & FINANCE COMMITTEE REGULAR SESSION
DATE : February 07, 2022
TIME : 6 : 00 PM
PLACE : Remote Participation
REMOTE PARTICIPANTS : Chair Bingham , Selectperson Whitney, Selectperson Hoffmann , Selectperson
Chatelain , Town Administrator Peter Lombardi , Assistant Town Administrator Donna Kalinick, Mimi
Bernardo, Finance Committee members : Frank Bridges, William Meehan , Honey Pivirotto Andrew Evans,
William Henchy, Robert Tobias, Robert Young
ABSENT : Selectperson Chaffee, Finance Committee Chair Pete Dahl
Call to Order & Declaration of a Quorum , Meeting Participation Statement and Recording Statement
Chair Bingham called the meeting to order at 6 : 00pm . A quorum was . declared, and all Select Board members
present were announced . Finance Committee Vice Chair Bridges declared a quorum and announced the
Finance Committee members present . Chair Bingham read the meeting participation and recording
statements .
Public Announcements and Comment : None
Select Board Announcements and Liaison Reports : None
Town Administrator' s Report :
Mr . Lombardi stated he has nothing to report at this time .
FY23 Budget Overview Presentation and Discussion ( Select Board FY22-23 Strategic Plan Goal G -6)
Mr . Lombardi shared the presentation that is in the packet on pages 2 - 18 . This is a high - level overview of the
FY23 budget presentation , on Wednesday February 9th each department will be presenting their budgets to
the Select Board and Finance Committee . Town Administration and Finance Director provided a financial
forecast starting off the budget process about 2 months ago, meeting with department heads and going
through their FY23 budgets . Mr . Lombardi noted this as a collaborative team effort, acknowledging the work
of Finance Director Mimi Bernardo and Assistant Town Administrator Donna Kalinick .
The highlights of the presentation included :
• Review of Updated Revenue Assumptions .
o New Growth - projected at $ 225k
o State Aid ( cherry sheet ) - 16% increased from FY22 actuals; unrestricted general government
aid is up 2 . 7 %, consistent with Gov . Baker' s proposed state budget and Brewster' s Chapter 70
( State aid for education purposes ) allocation for FY23 is increasing to over $ 300k .
o Local Receipts - 7 . 6% increase from a conservative FY22 assumption ( area of most increase is
motor vehicle excise )
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Town of, Brewster
(office of:
Select Board
= 2198 Main Street Town Administrator
3 A > c Brewster, MA 02631 - 1898
Phone : (508) 896-3701
Fax : (508) 896-8089
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o Short-term Rental Revenues - $ 250k increase to $ 750k, the second year these revenues are
included . This is based on FY21 actuals of $ 1 + M , totals so far this FY for the first two quarters
is almost $ 1 . 4M based on data from the Department of Revenue .
o Ambulance Receipts - $ 74k decrease to $ 722k due to one -time reduction in lease payments ,
contributes about 25 % of total Fire Department operating expenses
o Water Indirects - $ 34k increase to $ 193k to better reflect actual services provided
o Golf Indirects - $ 76k increase to $ 205k to better reflect actual services provided
o New Solar Revenues- now at Captains Golf Course main parking lot and driving range
■ $ 20k per year to the General Fund to help support cost for an Energy Manager
■ Projected $ 65k increase to Golf Department
o New Marijuana Revenues ( anticipated facility opening by Fall 2022 ) - $ 0
Mr . Lombardi mentioned that we had projected $49 . 5M in FY23 revenues to the General Fund in our
forecast, the budget now is built on a $ 49 . 6M revenue stream for FY23 .
• Summary of Expense Drivers and Major Changes
o Cape Cod Tech
■ Significant enrollment increase, doubled in past two years . Increased from a 4 . 7 %
share of operating budgets to 9 % in terms of assessment, Proposed 35 % assessment
increase
o Nauset Regional
■ Projected 2 . 5 % operating increases ( plus . 5 % for potential enrollment increase ) ;
Proposed 6% operating increase , there was a 1 . 6% reduction in student enrollment,
our net assessment is due to increase to 4 . 1 % .
o Brewster Elementary Schools
■ Projected 3 % increase; proposed 2 . 5 % increase for both Eddy and Stony Brook
• Noteworthy FY23 Budget expense drivers
o Health Insurance
■ Projected 5 % overall increase ( plus elimination of one - month premium holiday in
FY22 ) ; actual 3 % premium increase ( no premium holiday)
o Pension
■ Projected 9 % increase , actual 4 . 2 % increase based on experience
o Transfers Out
■ Projected $ 200k increase to Affordable Housing Trust & Capital Stabilization ( Short-
term rental revenues ) ; actual $ 300k increase , including +$ 100k for a new Brewster
Special Education Stabilization Fund
o Town Personnel
■ Projected 2 . 75 % COLA, 3 % step increases, plus compensation and classification study
implementation ; actual 5 . 8% increase
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00, Office of.
Town of Brewster
Select Board
0 0 2198 Main Street Town Administrator
P:t Brewster, MA 026314898
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Faxa (508) 896,,,8089
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o Town Expenses
Projected 2 % increase ( not including health insurance and pension ) , actual 2 . 4%
increase ( including health insurance and pension but not Sea Camps ) , actual 3 . 7 %
increase ( all ,, inclusive )
o Total Town Operating Expenses
Actual 3 . 75 % increase ( not including Sea Camps ) , actual 4 . 8 % increase ( including Sea
Camps )
Presentation of Proposed Budget Initiatives
o Purchase of the Sea Camp properties
ShortAerm Debt' due to increase by $ 50k to $ 300k due to our plan to pay down $ 400k
balance of other short,,,term debt obligations this coming Spring with available funds,
this is on the Long Pond property . The $ 650k balance for this property to be paid by
short,mterm debt over next 2,,,3 fiscal years .
Excluded Debot,,, $ 1 , 28M gross to acquire the Bay property ( $ 20M total cost ) . Year I
payment of 30 due next fall , excluded debt is anticipated to increase by a little over
$ 1 . 25M . Our annual payments in FY24 and beyond will be a little under $ 1M .
Sea Camps Property Management ( short,,,term property plan ) ,,t gross impact of new
expenses $ 203k, includes salary and health benefits for property manager, insurance ,
utilities, maintenance, and irrigation .
Original $ 200k Town Meeting appropriation in September 2021 will cover all
FY22 operating expenses, plus FY23 septic costs .
Short4erm revenue allocation policy, which sets aside up to 10% of funds to
cover operating budget expenses directly related to goals and initiatives in the
Select Board strategic plan . Including $ 75k of revenues to cover some of the
costs associated with these expenses .
Proposed Staffing Enhancements at $ 52k net impact on FY23 General Fund budget
Public Health Nurs & $ Ok net due to proportional reduction in VNA expense .
Seasonal Natural Resources Dept Staffing ( 2 ) ,-* $ 5k net / $ 10k gross .
Shared Town Hall Administration Assistant t,i $ 25k
Planning Office Administrative Assistant $ 8k ( increase hours from 19 to 5
hours, total budget impact of $ 19k including health insurance ) .
Assistant Town Accountant $ 3k net $4k gross ( increase hours from 35 to
37 . 5 for new hire ) .
Teen /Young Adult Librarian $ 6k net/$ 12k gross ( increase hours from 27 to
35 ) a
o Creation of new Brewster Schools Special Education Stabilization Fund
Intended to serve as a reserve fund for unanticipated special education and out of
district tuition/transportation expenses ,
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■ Can be approved by a vote of the Brewster School Committee and Brewster Town
Meeting, no Special Act required . Would require majority approval of both Brewster
School Committee and Select Board .
■ Proposing a $ 100k transfer to the new fund through Chapter 70 state aid annual
increases and unexpected additional levy capacity .
o Other ongoing budget initiatives
■ Continue to invest new short-term rental revenues in housing and long-term tax relief
• $ 375k to Brewster Affordable Housing Trust
• $ 300k to Capital Stabilization Fund to help mitigate tax impact of future major
Town capital projects
■ Continuing commitment to address Town ' s unfunded Other Post- Employment Benefit
( OPEB ) liability- $ 300k total FY23 appropriation to Trust Fund
■ Continuing to increase investments in technology and infrastructure/cybersecurity-
$ 76k gross ( $ 54k net after increase in Golf/Water indirects )
• FY23 Budget Summary
o Estimated FY23 General Fund revenue totals : $49, 619, 054
o Projected FY23 General Fund operating appropriations : $49, 591, 078
o Estimated available FY23 levy capacity : $ 281k
There was discussion regarding the indirect costs, Mr. Lombardi noted that the Water Department is
formally established as an enterprise fund , and we are planning on doing the same for the Golf Department
in FY23 . One of the requirements as an enterprise fund is that the department be charged for time and
materials that are provided by general fund departments and employees such that they are paying for the
full costs of actually operating their departments and accounting for those costs in their operating expenses .
The indirect calculations have been divided to drill down on each employee and what percentage of their
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work week on average supports water and golf, at the low end 2 . 5 % and at the very high end 10% . Various
departments as well as water and golf department heads have supported the indirects as calculated . Mr .
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Meehan stated that cost controls in any enterprise are vitally important and would like to see more detail to
the point in saying that the services these enterprises could provide themselves at a lower cost . Mr .
Lombardi noted that any enterprise funds that are small , typically rely on general fund employees to provide
services, it was reviewed if services provided in house were more effective . Adding that with the golf
department we finally hired a full -time administrative assistant for a $ 4M operation , makes sense to have
this done by someone in the golf department .
Mr . Lombardi provided clarification on the Brewster Schools Special Education Stabilization Funds this new
fund is meant to deal with unanticipated expenses that otherwise hadn ' t been budgeted in a particular fiscal
year . These are issues that were not known at the time the budget was developed . Accountability for the
expenditure from the funds are through a joint vote by Select Board and Brewster School Committee and
appropriations to the fund are approved by Town meeting . Responding to a question from Mr . Tobias
regarding the use of the Special Education Stabilization Funds versus regional funding, Mr . Lombardi stated
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that excess and deficiency by the region is only available by appropriation to regional expenses, that would
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Tem of Brewster office of:
Select Board
2 f 9m a 3 2198 Main Street Town Administrator
3 n Brewster, MA 02631 - 1898
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be a scenario where there was significant unanticipated special education at the regional level , this couldn ' t
be applied if we ran into the same scenario at the elementary school level . Noting that this fund is specific to
our elementary schools .
Mr . Young requested clarification on the ambulance receipts . Mr . Lombardi reviewed that the ambulance
receipts are used as an appropriation to build the general fund operating budget, since the lease payment is
dropping off for FY23 , we would not seek to use as much money from this account to fund the general fund
budget next year . Mr . Young asked to see the beginning balances of where we are today, the planned
additions to the funds ( affordable housing trust and capital stabilization ) , the expected or planned uses and
the estimated ending balance at the end of the fiscal year . This is to understand the long-term goal of where
we are going to set the target balance for these stabilization funds . Commenting that there has to be a goal
in terms of what size these funds should be , how to sustain them and the plans for the revenues that will get
freed up once we get to a point of the appropriate balance and the sustainability at the balance . Mr .
Lombardi shared that this information will be available in the budget meeting schedule for tomorrow, there
is a page specific to the transfers to the trust and capital stabilization which will show the starting/ending
balance and appropriations by fiscal year . Additionally, there will be a presentation of the 5 -year capital plan
that will review the use of capital stabilization funds at a meeting next Wednesday . Mr . Lombardi noted that
as of today there is no plan on utilizing any funds from capital stabilization until at least FY25 potentially
FY26, right now the only use , of funds would be for the library renovation project at $ 2 . 5M . By that time, we
should have at least $ 2M , in the financial reserves policy we have capped our appropriations to capital
stabilization at 10 % of the then operating budget . There have been talks about developing an operating and
capital plan for the Affordable Housing Trust, should have more detail on this by end of this fiscal year . Ms .
Kalinick added that the Affordable Housing Trust did set their goals and priorities for FY22 , at the top of the
list is to create a 5 -year financial plan .
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Mr . Henchy inquired if the budget anticipates any use of free cash . Mr . Lombardi confirmed that we do not
plan on using free cash to support our operating budget . Mr . Henchy asked the comfort level given a $ 49 . 6M
budget with an upside of the levy limit of about $ 28k? Mr. Lombardi responded that typically once the
budget process is completed , we have anywhere from $ 20-$ 50k of available levy capacity . Noting that the
Town is very diligent and thorough in going through revenue projections and are generally pretty
conservative on this front . To fund our capital plan , our plan relies on the assumption that we will have at
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least $ 1 . 75M a year to cover capital expenses, we typically try to close out the free cash balance at or above
$ 1M . Mr . Lombardi stated that when looking at the $ 1M starting balance and the $ 1 . 75M free cash for
capital , means you typically must land at or above $ 3M a year in certifying free cash . The Town feels very
confident in the assumptions made on the revenue side as this is really where decision points are in terms of
building capacity . 1
There was a small discussion regarding the pension expense, it was noted that the school is up significantly
more based on the language applied , the experience is a snapshot of what the school department employees
are at a given time in September of each calendar year and where they were a year before that . Mr. l
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Town. of Brewster office o>f:
ey
O of � �ncq '� %; Select Board
_ A 3 2198 Main Street Town Administrator
3 A N = Brewster, MA 026314898
° _ co Phone , (508) 896-3701
Fax : ( 508) 896 -8089
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Lombardi stated that it may well be that next year this could drop off significantly . Part of the reason of the
FTE ( full time equivalent ) count at elementary schools, which is what is driving the pension number .
Mr . Lombardi reviewed the set up of the budget book, the Finance Committee will receive a link to the book
tomorrow for the budget meetings . Once this link is live, it will include real -time information for our
residents to access . The Town Planner position was reviewed , the position is still open , and we have hired a
part-time, interim Town Planner for the next three months, Charleen Greenhalgh .
Follow- up Discussion on Approach to FY23 Nauset School Budgets ( Select Board FY22-23 Strategic Plan
Goal G4
Del Borah was given the opportunity to make comments about his view of school choice by the Nauset
Regional School Committee . Mr . Borah has presented at the Regional School Committee meetings three
different times regarding school choice, at his October appearance he requested the school choice figures .
And just last week Mr . Borah requested an open discussion about school choice, this has not yet been placed
on their agenda . He believes communication has only been one way and at only three minutes at a time .
Mr . Borah commented that over the past 10 years or so the budget is up 30% while the enrollment in the
four towns in the region is down 20% . Adding that while it is true that each choice student brings in a small
tuition , Mr . Borah thinks that in order to create the necessary open seats, the school committee had to have
spent several dollars of the money that we provide, for every dollar of school choice tuition it receives .
Adding that he thinks the key here is that the school choice tuition doesn 't reduce our assessment, it adds to
the dollars the school committee has to spend , all of this leads him to ask why should the Towns continue to
approve an increasing Nauset School Budget ? In closing, Mr . Borah stated that he absolutely wants Nauset to
have a budget that can provide a top- notch education to our kids, but also wants the money we provide to
be spent on our kids . His suggestion is that Brewster think about using whatever leverage the annual Nauset
budget process gives us, to hold the line on the budget until we get to a school that uses school choice at a
level that is consistent with the state average .
Vice Chair Bridges referenced the Finance Committee questions included in the packet regarding the Nauset
Region School Operating budget, these questions are designed to help understand the budget presentation
that has been prepared . Noting that it is important for the Select Board and the Finance Committee to be on
the same page . Stating that based on the Select Board ' s plan and goals and certainly the objectives of the
Finance Committee, we would like a clearer presentation than what has been received . Mr . Bridges is looking
for exactly where the numbers are coming from and how to explain these increases to the citizens at Town
Meeting . Selectperson Hoffmann requested to include a question regarding a cafeteria revolving fund that
was in the description of the High School budget, but no where else . Mr . Bridges added that he noticed the
lack of break down of any revolving funding in the package . Selectperson Hoffmann will draft her question
and submit to Chair Bingham who will communicate directly with Chair Dahl and formalize and submit the 3
questions .
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For Your Information : No Discussion
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' own of BrewsterOffice ofs
O� oa ��uea °e 9, '� Select Board
_ F 3 2198 Main Street Town Administrator
3 a n = Brewster, MA 02631 - 1898
° Phone : (508) 896-3701
Fax : (508) 896-8089
Asaonpoo 010C
Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair : None
Questions from the Media : None
Next Meetings February 9 (Joint with Finance Committee - FY23 Town Budget Details ) , February 14,
February 16 (Joint with Finance Committee and Capital Planning Committee - 5 Year Capital Improvement
Plan ) , February 28 (Joint with Finance Committee - FY23 School Budgets ) , March 7, and March 21 , 2022
Adjournment
Finance Committee Member William Meehan moved to adjourn at 8 : 07pm . Member Andrew Evans second .
A roll call vote was taken by the Finance Committee . Robert Tobias -yes, Robert Young-yes, Honey Pivirotto -
yes, William Henchy-yes, William Meehan -yes, Andrew Evans-yes, Chair Frank Bridges-yes . The Finance
Committee vote was 7 -Yes, 0- No .
Selectperson Chatelain moved to adjourn at 8 : 07pm . Selectperson Hoffmann second . A roll call vote was
taken . Selectperson Hoffmann -yes, Selectperson Chatelain - yes, Chair Bingham -yes . The Board vote was 3 -
Yes, 0- No .
Respectfully submitted by Erika Mawn , Executive Assistant
Approved : 03 / 01 / 2022 Signed : iFdwa-rd CJ 6AOseCawn
Date Selectperson Chatelain , Clerk of the Select Board
Accompanying Documents in Packet : Agenda, Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Overview presentation, Brewster Finance Committee Budget Questions,
Nauset Regional School Operating Budget,
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