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HomeMy Public PortalAboutRev Comm 2017-01-03 ORLEANS TOWN CLERK Ka7u� JAN 17 b;54gil Town of Orleans Tel os o s ss s 240-3700 - aSSAC WPBS. ti�s� 19 School Road, Orleans MA 02653 w Revenue Committee Minutes—January 3, 2017 John Laurino-Chairman Robert Renn-Vice Chairman Paul Kelleher Frank Lucibella Kenneth Rowell The January 3rd meeting of the Revenue Committee was called to order at 11 :39 AM by chairman John Laurino in accordance with the precise advance notice guidance from the Town Clerk. Present and constituting a quorum were: Mr. Laurino, Mr. Paul Kelleher, Mr. Ken Rowell, Mr. Frank Lucibella, and Mr. Robert Renn. There was no public comment. The minutes of the December 20, 2016 meeting, as revised, were approved - motion by Mr. Rowell, seconded by Mr. Lucibella, approved unanimously. At 11:45 AM Town Attorney Michael Ford entered the meeting accompanied by Selectmen Sims McGrath and Alan McClennen, Town Administrator, John Kelly, and Town Finance Director, Cathy Doane. Atty. Ford proceeded to address the five questions that were previously submitted by the committee (copy attached): • Question 1 - If the Revenue Committee were to recommend a new, uniform, and overarching policy for how User Fees were established...and maintained...what are the steps in terms of form, presentation,public notice,agendas, votes and Warrant Article for the Town Meeting would be required? • Atty. Ford advised the committee that: • User Fees are set by various entities - the State of MA, the BOS, and various town boards. Mr. Kelly agreed to provide the committee a list of town fees indicating which are set by state statute and which are set locally by town boards or commissions. • Chapter 94-8 of the Town of Orleans By-laws describe the creation and imposition of User Fees; this By-law limits annual increases to 5%; • This proposed policy may require amendment of this By-law in which case the following process must be followed: Revenue Committee Minutes —January 3, 2017 • A Town Meeting Warrant Article in the form of a petition, signed by a minimum of ten town residents, must be submitted to the Town Administrator. • The BOS and Finance Committee will review the petition and vote whether or not to recommend approval of the Article at the next Town Meeting. The BOS may also call for public hearing(s) on the proposed By-law change. • A majority of the voters at the Town Meeting must vote in favor of the Article (and By-law amendment, if necessary) to advance it. • If the town's By-laws must be amended, such amendment must be submitted to the MA Attorney General's office for review/approval. • If approved by the MA AG, the Article is returned to the next annual Town Meeting and a simple majority of the voters must be in favor in order to enact the Article. • Part two of Question 1 - How could this policy be enacted to include a requirement that the Finance Committee review and approve all User Fees annually as part of their duties? • Atty. Ford advised the committee that this would require an amendment to the town charter; however, the Finance Committee could review and recommend User Fee changes. • Question 2 - If the Revenue Committee were to recommend that an Enterprise Zone be established for the operation of the Town's Beaches, what steps in terms of form, presentation, public notice, agendas, votes and Warrant Article for the Town Meeting would be required? • Atty. Ford advised the committee that this will require an amendment to the town's charter because Section 2-5-1 states that "all proposed operating expenditures shall be included in a single, omnibus-type article in the Town Meeting Warrant". An Enterprise Fund requires a separate budget article. Hence, Section 2-5-1 as well as Chapter 8 would have to be amended. The same process as outlined in response to Part one of Question 1 above would have to be followed. • Mr. Kelly interjected that this had already been addressed at the 2/3/16 BOS meeting. (The minutes of that meeting indicate that Mr. Kelly presented the advantages and disadvantages of such an enterprise fund; he did not comment on the process that must be followed. Mr. Kelly did express his recommendation that the town not go forward with establishing an enterprise fund; he favored increasing the daily non-resident parking fee. The BOS moved to conduct a public hearing on increasing the non-resident fee by $5). • Part two of Question 2 - How could a 'Beach Management Board' (similar to the Water Commission) be created to manage this activity and over see the fund? • Atty. Ford advised the committee that this would require an amendment to the town's charter because the beaches are currently under the management/oversight of the Parks Commission. 2 ■ • Question 3 - If the Revenue Committee were to recommend that an Enterprise Zone be established for the operation of the Town's Transfer Station, what steps in terms of form, presentation, public notice, agendas, votes and Warrant Article for the Town Meeting would be required? • Atty. Ford advised the committee that this may require an amendment to the town's charter. He also advised that the Transfer Station is currently under the management/oversight of the Board of Health. • Question 4 - If the Revenue Committee were to recommend that a 'Rental License' be established for anyone renting a room or a house, what steps in terms of form, presentation, public notice, agendas, votes and Warrant Article for the Town Meeting would be required? Could it be tied to 'sunset' if/when the State enacts a rental tax as previously proposed? • Atty. Ford advised the committee that such a Permit could be established via a new town By-law. He further commented that the costs associated with this permit must be covered but can't be exceeded - if so, it becomes a tax (which is restricted by MA statute). • He also commented that Rental Permits are established to protect public health and safety - not to generate revenue. The permit cost must be limited to the cost of the program. In other Cape towns the Board of Health oversees these permits. • Question 5 - How could the Revenue Committee best recommend a policy that would require all capital improvement items to undergo a professional review for qualifying grants as part of any design/planning stage/process? • Atty. Ford advised the committee that this could be included as part of the CIP preparation process. I for grants until the project • Ms. Doane commented that the town couldn't apply any 9 had been approved and funded by the Town Meeting. • In a follow-up email message Alan McClennen advised that at the 2015 Town Meeting the town charter was revised at Section 8-5-2 as follows: "In addition, the CIP shall include regional, county, state and federal grants that may be used to .support and finance capital improvements, facilities and equipment through grants,loans or inter-municipal agreements." The CIP presented this year on January 15th will be the first time where this requirement is in effect. Atty. Ford was thanked for his presentation to the committee. He and the other town officials departed the meeting at 12:50 PM. Note: Mr. Kelleher had departed the meeting at 12:45 PM. The committee discussed the information it had just received and decided to proceed to draft Town Meeting Warrant Articles for Questions 1. thru 3. and submit them for review by Atty. Ford. 3 Revenue Committee Minutes —January 3, 2017 Next, the committee heard a report from Mr. Rowell and Mr. Renn regarding their 12/30/16 meeting with DPW Director, Tom Daley regarding potential enterprise zones for the beaches and the Transfer Station. Mr. Daley has extensive experience in establishing and operating EZ's for transfer stations in other towns and was very supportive of this proposal because of its economic and environmental benefits (less trash processing, more recycling). Next, the committee reviewed the results of the survey responses from the Chamber of Commerce and the Orleans Taxpayers Association. • Ms. O'Brien was commended for her work in expeditiously compiling and transmitting the results to the committee. • She was asked to combine the results for each question from both entities in bar graph fashion, similar to the format used for the OTA responses. • She also advised the committee that only two towns (Eastham and Brewster) had responded to the Inter-town survey. She is directing her efforts to compile the User Fee data for Chatham, Dennis and P-town. • She shared the text of P-town's Article 10. Room Occupancy Tax: A Home Rule Petition with the committee. Next, the committee discussed the draft outline of the Revenue Committee's BOS/FinCom presentation. Mr. Laurino will update the charts and distribute them to the other committee members. The committee then discussed the date and time of the next meeting. It is scheduled for Friday, January 13, 2017 at 2:00 PM at the Town Hall. There being no further business to discuss, a motion was made by Mr. Rowell, seconded by Mr. Lucibella, and approved 4-0-0, to adjourn at 1:55 PM. Respectfully submitted, Robert D. Renn • 4