Town of Aquinnah

Finance Committee Meeting
Minutes of Meeting 5-1-18

Aquinnah Town Hall Selectmen’s Meeting Room

Members present: Chairman Allen Rugg, Mark Foster and Tom Murphy*
* via phone

Also present: Town Administrator Jeffrey Madison, Town Accountant Emily Day, Select Chairman Jim Newman, ACE MV Executive Director Sam Hart, Chief Belain, and Board Administration Assistant Sophia Welch

- The meeting began at 9:20am

- First on the agenda was the review of minutes. Mark made a motion to approve the 4/20/2018 minutes as presented. Allen seconded. The Committee voted 3-0, the motion passed.

- Next, the Committee discussed the Tri-Town FY’19 budget. Since the last meeting, where the Committee voted to not recommended the Tri-Town FY’19 budget, Allen informed the Committee that he had spoken with Chief Retmier. Allen reported that the present Tri-Town staff consists of 5 paramedics, 1 administrative assistant, 10 per diem paramedics and 35 EMTs, of which only the paramedics and administrate assistant are eligible for retirement. It was discovered that Chilmark had been paying solely for the retirement and now will be divided between the Towns (one of the reasons behind the substantial increase). The significant change to the budget is the upgrade in State Retirement classification group: changing from group 1 retirement (base retirement level for state employees, retirement eligibility age is 65) to group 4 retirement (higher risk individuals, retirement eligibility age is 55 and required to retire at age 65). The rationale behind this change being that the paramedics positions are stressful, similar to the jobs of officers and firemen. In addition, the FY’19 budget includes hiring an additional paramedic (from 5 to 6) and an OPEB increase. There was discussion on the breakdown of the $150,000.00 increase in the budget. Allen entertained a motion to reverse prior action and to endorse the Tri-Town requested assessment. Motion was moved by Tom and seconded by Mark. The Committee voted 3-0, the motion passed.

- Under Other Business, the Committee met with Sam Hart, ACE MV Director, to discuss a warrant article request. Jeff informed the Committee that the requested warrant article from ACE had been left off the warrant, due to an oversight on his end. Sam presented the request for $3,650.00. There was discussion on the history of the request. Jeff and Emily agreed that the $3,650.00 request could be added to the Community Program budget (currently $1,500.00 in the budget for Town Christmas party and insurance for Summer Sailing and Swimming program). However, the request would have to be presented at Town Meeting and the budget amended on the floor. Jeffrey left the meeting to confirm with Town Counsel that this procedure was allowable. There was further discussion on the proposed procedure for the ACE MV request. Sam informed the Committee that this request is up to their discretion on how much they want to recommend to the Town and he noted that Oak Bluffs Fin Comm did not recommend the full amount requested. He didn’t want to see the amount decrease, but, if that was what needed to be done to ensure that funding from West Tisbury still happens (funding for ACE MV from West Tisbury only if all the other Towns approve funding), he would understand. Jeffrey returned to the meeting confirming that the proposed procedure was allowable. Allen made a motion to accept the procedure that has been described to increase the Community Program line item in the budget by the amount of $3,650.00 to account for the ACE assessment and this procedure is being done because the Town inadvertently failed to create a warrant item. Motion was seconded by Mark. The Committee voted 3-0, the motion passed. There was brief discussion regarding ACE MV’s funding.

- Next, under Other Business, the Committee discussed the Police Department budget. Subsequently, when the Committee endorsed the original Police budget at the last meeting (without an additional Officer) the Town budget increased by $30,000, thus increasing the override amount. Emily further explained the impact on the budget. After further review of both the 1st budget and the budget with the additional officer, the Committee came to the realization that there was no $30,000.00 increase (an oversight between the multiple budgets sent around). The correct amount of the original budget without adding an officer is $648,197.37, which would impact the budget by less than $1,000.00. Chief Belain noted that the proposed budget with an additional officer would be $655,385.27, which would increase the total budget by $7,000.00. The Committee emphasized that they were looking at this budget from a financial view and not from an operational view and the case was not made for an additional officer.
While this proposed budget would not immediately increase the total budget in the case of insurance coverage, it would affect the budget later down the road (OPEB and retirement coverage). There was further discussion regarding both proposed budgets. The Committee reaffirmed their endorsement of the original proposed budget of $648,197.37 (no additional officer) and agreed to revisit the proposed budget with the additional officer over the course of the year.

- The Committee briefly reflected on the budget season. Emily informed everyone that by the end of the day she will have the completed budget. Jim asked for a sheet identifying the fixed costs and assessments. Jeffrey requested that that information be provided by the end of the week.

- With no other business to discuss, a motion was made and seconded to adjourn.
The Committee voted 3-0 in favor. The motion passed.

- The meeting ended at 10:11am.

Respectfully submitted, Sophia Welch, Board Administrative Assistant