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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20110119 - Appropriations Committee - Meeting MinutesTown of Hopkinton Appropriation Committee (AC) Minutes of Meeting on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 Room #107, Town Hall, Hopkinton, Massachusetts In attendance: Ron Eldridge Norman Kumalo Mary Lou Haroian Heidi Krieger Joe Karner Mike Manning Chairman Eldridge called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. The AC welcomed Mike Mansir, Hopkinton Highway Manager, and Brendan O’Regan from the DPW department. Mike presented the Committee with a summary of expenditures from the snow and ice accounts so far this winter. The budget for the year was $200K and $233K has already been expended this winter. In addition, due to a very recent storm, Mike is aware of approximately $128K of bills that have not been received yet. Thus, the original $200K budget has already been overspent by about $161K. Mike requested an increase in the snow and ice budget of $400,000. Joe moved and Mike seconded a motion to incur $400,000 in additional liabilities for the purpose of snow and ice removal, as provided in M.G.L. Chapter 44, Sec 31 D. The motion passed by a vote of 4 – 0. Norman reviewed the status of the fiscal year 2012 budget preparation. He has been reviewing all of the town department budgets with the department managers, and is awaiting the School Committee budget. As has recently been the case, the primary challenge with the budget is to control fixed costs and to estimate state aid. Norman recently received the latest pension assessment numbers from the state, which are $170K higher than last year and $30 above what he had originally estimated for this year. The current budget projects a 5% reduction in state aid for schools and a 10% reduction in non-school receipts. At this point in the budget process, Norman is assuming that increases in fixed costs will consume a huge percentage of the 2 ½ % allowable tax increase this year, which amounts to approximately $1.1 million. Should the Town choose to do so, there is an additional $900K that can be spent this year without an override, because Town Meeting chose to appropriate less in the two prior years than was allowed by Proposition 2 ½. Norman noted that he is trying to identify additional opportunities for cost savings, and that he has not taken further reorganization off the table as a means to that end. He further noted that he is in the process of laying the foundation for future savings in the area of health insurance. Adoption of the state GIC plan is a possibility. Norman has used a different approach in the competitive bid process this year, whereby both insurance brokers and providers are competing for the town’s business. The timeframe and a rough fiscal assessment for the elementary school building project were reviewed. Current estimates are that the new school will cost $38 million, with a reimbursement rate of 43.37% of eligible costs (@275 per square foot). The $38 million figure results in a cost of $310 per square foot, thus if current cost estimates prevail, our reimbursement rate would be less than the 43.37% figure. Firm costs, reimbursement rates and time frames should be finalized by March 9. Norman informed the AC that the Milford sewer connection work had been completed, and that ground will be broken for the Legacy Farms project in 2011. At 8:05 Norman departed. Ron informed the Committee that he would not be able to attend some of the upcoming budget meetings of department heads because he would be out of state. Joe volunteered to fill in for him while he was away. Joe, AC representative to the Elementary School Building Committee, gave a brief update on what has been happening during its meetings. He stated that the cost of upgrading Elmwood and Hopkins Schools to be on a par with the potential new school currently ranged from $5 – 8 million. Joe moved and Mary Lou seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the November 7, 2010 meeting of the AC. The motion passed by a vote of 3 – 0 – 1 (Mike, present not voting). Joe moved and Ron seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the June 1, 2010 meeting of the AC. The motion passed by a vote of 3 – 0 – 1 (Mike, present not voting). Joe moved and Ron seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the June 16, 2010 meeting of the AC. The motion passed by a vote of 2 – 0 – 2 (Mike and Mary Lou, present not voting). Joe moved and Ron seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the November 11, 2010 meeting of the AC. The motion passed by a vote of 2 – 0 – 2 (Mike and Mary Lou, present not voting). Joe moved and Mike seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:25. The motion passed unanimously.