Select Board /Budget Committee Meeting ~ January 10, 2023

2023-01-10 · Select Board · 2:25:45 · watch on YouTube →

A short select board meeting on January 10, 2023 followed by the first of two joint budget workshops with the budget committee, held at the Eureka Center. John Talbot presented the planning board's three proposed warrant articles for the April town meeting, on affordable housing, resource protection and requiring town meeting approval for the acceptance of private roads, each with two options. Town manager Jerry Douglass, four months into the job, then took the two boards through the 2023 budget apart from fire, public works and capital, describing a budget with no raises and no raise pool, a proposed move of the part-time counter position to full-time, and a good deal of work to correct how items had been coded in the town's accounting system. He told the meeting the town's bank statements have not been reconciled since April 2021 and that the audit carries the worst rating available, and added a new professional services contingency line. Fire chief Rob Tripp presented a fire and rescue budget he had tried to level fund, coming in about a quarter of a percent higher despite responses up 7.6 percent, and set out the case for raising ambulance rates. The workshop adjourned to reconvene on the Thursday for public works and capital.

What was discussed

1. 0:07
   Call to order

   Kevin Nadeau opened the select board meeting, noted Todd Beaulieu was excused, and explained the plan to run a short regular meeting before rolling into the joint budget workshop. No one came forward for public comment.

2. 0:07
   Planning board's three warrant articles

   John Talbot of the planning board introduced three issues the board has been working on: affordable housing, in response to a state law taking effect on July 1; resource protection, which was voted down at last year's town meeting; and a change of language in the land use ordinance to require that the acceptance of all private roads be approved at town meeting. An information packet explaining the board's reasoning was handed to select board members and would go on the town website within a day or two.

3. 0:07
   Two options on each of the first two articles

   On resource protection, option A follows the comprehensive plan and the Conservation Commission's recommendations, removing land that has no reason to be in the district and adding land that meets one of six criteria; a fallback article covers only the land that should come out. On housing, option A implements the state law in the way the planning board thinks best fits the comprehensive plan and option B follows the state law more or less verbatim. Talbot said the term affordable housing gives the wrong impression, and that what is at issue is additional dwelling units on existing property.

4. 0:07
   How the articles were developed

   The planning board held a public meeting on housing in October and the Conservation Commission one on resource protection in December, with a survey and outreach at the town election. Talbot said the articles would go to the town meeting on April 1.

5. 5:58
   Public hearings on the articles

   Each article requires an official public hearing held no more than 30 days before town meeting. Talbot said these would be scheduled at the board's meeting in early February to take place in early March.

6. 5:58
   Town manager's report: computers

   Jerry Douglass reported that eight computers bought with ARPA money had been installed at the town office, public works and the fire department, with a five hour outage afterwards when registrations could not be printed. Older machines are being passed down, and the town planner George, who has been using his own computer, will be given a town laptop capable of running the GIS software.

7. 11:34
   Deputy Treasurer vacancy

   The Deputy Treasurer position is vacant and Douglass is reviewing the job description, which he sees as an accounting role, and considering contracting the work out. He noted the town's audit report is not a shining example of accounting.

8. 11:34
   Solid waste contract and the RFP

   Douglass was meeting the current hauler the following day at its request and had the RFP ready to issue immediately afterwards, to be mailed to several haulers and posted on the town and MMA websites with a late January deadline. He noted the existing contract predates the pandemic and expected the company to push for a five-year term and automated side-loading collection.

9. 11:34
   Upcoming meetings

   The second part of the budget presentation was set for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Eureka Center, and the next regular select board meeting for January 24 at 6:30 p.m. at the town office.

10. 11:34
    Nomination papers and open seats

    The chair noted about 20 days remained to take out nomination papers, with a school board seat open where the incumbent is not running, two select board seats open with neither incumbent running, and four budget committee seats, three of them full three-year terms and one to finish a resigned member's term. Twenty-five signatures are needed and papers are due back at the town office by close of business on Monday, January 30; he said a ballot full of write-ins is a heavy burden on office staff.

11. 11:34
    Budget workshop opens

    After a short recess for the budget committee to convene at 6:30, the joint workshop began. Douglass said he would present everything except fire, which the chief would take himself, and public works and capital, which come on Thursday. He noted he started on August 22 and could not answer for anything before that date, and that he is still working out why parts of the budget are labelled as they are.

12. 16:50
    No raises in the draft budget

    Douglass said there are no raises anywhere in the budget and no raise pool, because he is still working out how raises have been set and believes the town needs wage tables first. He said a pot of money for raises could be discussed later.

13. 16:50
    How the budget is structured

    The meeting secretary's pay had been scattered across several places and was consolidated into the telecommunications line. Douglass said he is used to budgeting by department, whereas Durham budgets by facility and administration, with lines such as office expenses that in fact serve every department.

14. 16:50
    Funding positions rather than people

    The town clerk's salary reflects her current rate at 32 hours a week over 52 weeks. Her benefit line carries the $1,200 paid to an employee who declines insurance, and Douglass argued that the town should fund what the position would cost, because if the holder leaves and a successor wants coverage there would be no money to offer. Unspent money returns to undesignated funds, though it can be moved between lines within the same article.

15. 22:26
    Code enforcement and fee schedules

    The code enforcement line is the officer's hourly rate plus $1,000 added for mileage. Asked whether the fee schedule had been revised to reflect costs, Douglass said he and the code officer have been working on it, looking at what other towns charge for permits, but have not yet brought it to the select board; members confirmed fees can be set by the board without a town vote.

16. 22:26
    Re-establishing a baseline in the accounting system

    Members described how items had been coded in Trio as the biggest black hole in the process, and said this year is about re-establishing a baseline so that accounts are set up correctly and everyone understands what each line means going forward.

17. 27:54
    Health insurance costs

    The town pays 80 percent of premiums, with a family plan running about $24,500. Members said coverage was last shopped around two or three years ago, that MMA has always come back cheapest, and that the town has benchmarked its share against comparable towns and sits in the middle.

18. 27:54
    Moving the counter position to full-time

    Douglass proposed taking staffing from two and a half to three full-time people, not adding a fourth. He cited a survey of the ten Maine towns above and below Durham in population showing what counter staffing they carry, the need to cover lunches, breaks, vacations and training, and the pressure at election time when half the town voted absentee. He also noted the fire department has a 21-hour administrative assistant while public works, with six employees and twice the budget, has none, and that better staffing is part of getting off the worst rating in the audit report.

19. 33:25
    Miscoded lines

    Douglass pointed to workers compensation appearing in the office expenses line and to insurance lines nobody present could identify, one of which turned out to be social security. He described copier overage charges being coded to supplies until that line went over budget and then being coded to the equipment lease, and said he had corrected it.

20. 38:46
    Utilities and telephone

    A budget committee member questioned forecasting an increase in one electricity line while a related line went down, and Douglass said he had gone by the actuals and was willing to raise it. Members asked for clarification on whether the office telephone line reflects the new phone system paid for with ARPA money; Douglass said the phones are billed monthly and that the internet and technology costs sit under the same contract, with a separate line for the security and fire phone lines.

21. 44:04
    Elections, audit and training lines

    Election expenses were trimmed slightly after discussion with the election clerk, though a margin was left for equipment such as another booth. The audit line was increased to the figure the auditor quoted based on the hours actually spent on the last audit, work she carried out knowing the money was not there. Training was increased because new staff need extensive training, which Douglass said is another argument for a third person to cover the counter.

22. 44:04
    A new contingency line

    Douglass added a professional services contingency line, saying Durham has no discretionary line for small emergencies, which is unusual. His immediate example was having to hire someone to reconcile the town's bank statements, which had not been done since April 2021 and which he said is why the audit received the worst rating available under government auditing standards.

23. 49:09
    Questions on controls and staffing

    A member asked what the plan is so that the town is not, as she put it, a perfect storm for embezzlement given the state of reconciliation. Douglass answered that a third full-time person and his own oversight are the answer, and members clarified that this is not a fourth hire but making an existing part-time post full-time. He noted $10,000 adds about three cents to the mill rate.

24. 49:09
    Filling the Deputy Treasurer post at a higher level

    Members explained the intention is to fill the vacancy with someone with a stronger accounting and finance background than in the past, so the skill level of the three rises as well as the headcount. Because the post became vacant only the previous Friday, the budgeted figure may need adjusting upward once benchmarking is done.

25. 54:12
    A moving target

    Douglass said that ten minutes after telling members the budget books were ready, an employee brought in about $30,000 of invoices, which changes the figures for what was left unspent last year. He described municipal budgeting as forecasting rather than quoting and said he is still receiving 2022 invoices while building the 2023 budget.

26. 59:36
    Segregation of duties and the audit

    Members discussed assigning duties so that the same person does not write cheques, reconcile the books and take the cash to the bank, following the auditor's recommendations. Douglass said that would not happen under his watch. The auditor comes in on February 6 and members noted her report usually follows two to four months later; Douglass said his goal is eventually to have the books in good enough shape that the audit can be done in January and printed in the annual report.

27. 1:05:39
    Animal control and assessing

    Animal control is broadly flat, with the Coastal Humane Society contract up about $300 and the animal control officer's contract at the figure quoted by Lisbon. Assessing is unchanged.

28. 1:05:39
    Cemetery mowing moved to public works

    Douglass removed the $4,500 cemetery mowing contract on the basis that public works can absorb the work, saying he would not have done so had it been a $15,000 or $20,000 contract.

29. 1:05:39
    Conservation, parks and recreation

    This group had never been loaded into the accounting system, which Douglass said is why it was confusing. He increased the line for a new sign at the River Park because the existing one is about to fall over, kept conservation dues and War Memorial Park flat, restored money for flags, which had not been available during the pandemic, and left the historic Memorial Day parade figure in place for members to cut if they choose.

30. 1:10:39
    Recreation requests

    Recreation is set at $5,000. Durham Youth Baseball has asked for $2,500 and the snowmobile club has been in touch; members noted several groups stopped coming forward during the pandemic and that one organisation appears to have disbanded. A request from Lois for the historic preservation commission was added at the bottom of the sheet, and members agreed it belongs in the planning article where historic district work has sat in the past.

31. 1:10:39
    Eureka Center and planning

    The Eureka Center budget is up about $1,500, mostly electricity, and Douglass said he has quotes for internet at the building and wants a wider discussion about how much the town intends to use it. Planning is unchanged apart from moving the meeting secretary to telecommunications.

32. 1:15:44
    Solid waste placeholder and bulky waste day

    The solid waste figure is a placeholder pending the outcome of the RFP, and members agreed they need the contract numbers about a month before town meeting so they can be printed in the warrant. On bulky waste day, the chair said that because the town voted last year not to have one, it would not be right to bury it in the contract, so the RFP asks for it as a separate line item and it will go before voters as a separate article.

33. 1:15:44
    Meeting space and missing budget tabs

    A member asked where the money sits for converting the Eureka Center hall into a regular meeting space; members said that is a capital rather than an operating question and is tied to the outstanding discussion about ARPA funds. Douglass acknowledged the telecommunications and debt tabs were in the electronic spreadsheet but had not been printed in the books, and undertook to send them.

34. 1:21:44
    Revenue oddities and the workers compensation refund

    Asked about a large increase in miscellaneous revenue, Douglass explained part came from a settlement and part from a workers compensation audit: when MMA got no response to its requests for information it carried out its own audit, increased the town's wages by 20 percent and billed about $16,000, which was paid. After the numbers were supplied the town received about $31,000 back, which was posted as miscellaneous revenue rather than credited against workers compensation. He noted ARPA money had likewise been posted to revenue rather than the general account and will have to be journalled back, and that the revenue line labelled fire department hydrants and insurance should be labelled ambulance reimbursement.

35. 1:27:17
    Spreadsheet against the accounting system

    A member spotted that the solid waste actual on the spreadsheet summed two lines and gave a figure higher than the accounting system's, and Douglass confirmed the system's figure governs. He said he had declined to give the meeting figures for capital reserves because they had been tracked in a personal spreadsheet that was hard to follow, and that with the auditor's updated report he can now verify the designated funds against the warrants.

36. 1:32:20
    Fire department call volume and the 75th anniversary

    Rob Tripp reported 911 calls up 3.5 percent and overall responses up 7.6 percent to 521 responses across fire and rescue. He also marked the department's 75th anniversary, handing 75-year pins to the select board before the members had received theirs.

37. 1:32:20
    What is driving the fire budget

    Tripp said he set out to level fund and came in about a quarter of a percent up. The increases are fuel and propane, Androscoggin County dispatch up 5 percent for about $1,000, a new Maine EMS requirement to contract with a doctor for medical control at about $1,000, and the January 1 minimum wage rise of $1.05 an hour, which affects 17 members and adds about $2,625. Workers compensation, FICA, Medicare and insurance come to about $75,570, up from $66,000, which he described as 13 percent of his budget that he neither sets nor controls.

38. 1:38:15
    Last year's fire spending and staffing lines

    Tripp said the 2022 budget of $496,193 was spent almost exactly, about $1,100 under before truck bills still to be encumbered. His salary is contractual at $73,500; the part-time administrator works 21 hours and takes no vacation or sick pay, so unused time stays in the budget. He does not take health insurance, so his benefit line carries only the $1,200 in lieu, which a member later pointed out is inconsistent with funding the town clerk's position at the cost of coverage.

39. 1:38:15
    Maintenance and a separate ambulance line

    A 2004 pumper needed springs and shackles at a $6,000 cost that surfaced at inspection. Tripp moved $10,000 out of equipment maintenance into a new ambulance line so that the cost of running the ambulance, including maintenance, licensing, upgrades, oxygen and equipment, can be reported as a single figure rather than being hidden across the budget.

40. 1:38:15
    Training and the grant it produced

    Tripp explained the training line is separate from training paid under labour and is what lets him send active members to specific courses. He gave the example of $500 to send a member to a two-day grant writing class, who is now writing a quarter of a million dollar FEMA application for new radios, and another $500 seminar for his captain, who is also now the town safety officer.

41. 1:38:15
    Apparatus no longer sent out of town

    Diesel costs are up, and Tripp has introduced a policy, discussed with the town manager, of not sending apparatus out of town for rallies and events, while continuing public education within Durham where the trucks remain in service. Asked whether trucks are still driven, he said all six are checked daily and taken out for driver training and area familiarisation.

42. 1:43:58
    Dues, gear and the station door

    Of $3,000 in dues, $1,000 goes to the county fire chiefs' training association for use of the burn building, with the rest professional memberships; the line looks like a large increase only because last year's $2,700 was never loaded into the accounting system. Structural gear has risen from $2,000 to $3,000 a set and four sets were ordered, though a $5,000 grant for wildland fire gear had just come through. A steel side door on the twenty year old station addition had rusted out and cost $3,500 to replace.

43. 1:49:31
    Grants and consistency questions

    A budget committee member congratulated the chief on how often the town hears of a new grant and suggested a written summary so residents see the scale of it. Another (?) asked why health insurance is funded for a possible successor in the town office but not in the fire budget; members acknowledged the inconsistency and accepted the risk on the basis that the chief is not expected to leave.

44. 1:55:19
    Equipment maintenance against actuals

    Heather Roy noted the equipment maintenance line has been below actual spending for several years and is again. Tripp replied that the department's significant asks this year are on the capital side, and that investment in the Quint would reduce what he needs for maintenance in the following years.

45. 1:55:19
    A unified number at town meeting

    Douglass urged the select board and budget committee to go to town meeting with the same recommended figures rather than competing budgets, saying that is common in other towns he has worked with and that differences should be settled in the room. Members replied that the schedule, with each body meeting once or twice before the budget is finalised, leaves no time for that, and that the difference is usually about whether money is raised or appropriated rather than the total.

46. 2:00:27
    Whether the forecasts are high enough

    A budget committee member warned that fuel and electricity have started rising again and that some lines will not cover the year, citing a projected 25 percent increase from CMP. Members also noted Durham has almost no business tax base to offset what homeowners pay, and that the town office is too small for a third person, which ties back to the plan to convert the current meeting space to offices.

47. 2:05:55
    IT support in house

    The town paid about $20,000 to its IT contractor this year, billed per call. Douglass pointed out that the part-time employee Cindy, who worked for a computer firm in Bath, resolved the registration printing failure in ten minutes after the contractor had been on it for hours, and that using in-house skill will save money.

48. 2:05:55
    Ambulance billing and collection

    The department's third-party billing company collects about 85 percent of what is billed, which came to about $74,000 for the year to July 2022 against roughly $44,000 previously, the increase coming mostly from moving to a professional billing company rather than from higher call volume. The company's fee comes off the top under contract. Tripp said the town's ambulance rates are well below average and that he will bring the select board a proposal to raise them.

49. 2:11:27
    What can and cannot be billed

    Tripp explained charges arise only on transport, covering mileage, EMT or paramedic level and treatments such as oxygen or an EKG, with no charge for a refusal or an evaluation without transport. Medicare and Medicaid set what they will pay regardless of what is billed, and the balance cannot be charged to the patient, so a substantial part of the cost is not recoverable. Members noted the town cannot legally charge non-residents while exempting residents, which is why they want the fees to reflect actual cost.

50. 2:16:58
    Transfers, wellness checks and United Ambulance

    Tripp said the department does not provide rides to appointments and does not do inter-facility transfers, because taking the town's only ambulance and EMTs out of the area for hours is a risk he will not accept. Members noted United Ambulance is no longer coming to Durham, so all transports now fall to the department.

51. 2:16:58
    Warming centre

    Asked whether the fire station, which serves as a cooling centre, is also a warming centre, Tripp said he is working toward that with the town manager but that warming centres are organised regionally through county emergency management and not every storm requires one. He said opening a building is not simply a matter of unlocking it, because it needs supervision, cots, separate space and someone to take responsibility, which he can control at the fire station, and accepted that communication about it needs to improve.

52. 2:22:14
    Close of part one

    Douglass closed with his expectation that anyone walking into the town office gets timely and friendly service, which he tied back to the staffing request. The workshop was set to reconvene on Thursday at 6 p.m.

What was decided

• 11:34
  Approve the consent agenda as presented. Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George, carried 3-0 with one abstention because the member had not been at the meeting covered.passed
• 1:15:44
  Put bulky waste day before voters as a separate warrant article and require it to be quoted as a separate line item in the solid waste RFP, rather than including it in the contract, because the town voted last year not to have one. Agreed in discussion, without a recorded vote.passed
• 2:22:14
  Adjourn part one of the budget review. Moved by Joe Tomm, seconded by Josh Klein-Golden, carried 4-0.passed

An outcome reads "unclear" where the recording does not state it plainly. The recogniser drops short words, and "the motion does not carry" is one missing word from its opposite.

Motions the minutes record

The town's own written account of what was decided, taken from sb_01_10_23_minutes.txt. It owes nothing to the recording or to a model: the clerk typed it, with the vote. Where the summary above claims a decision this list does not carry, the summary is the part to doubt.

• consent the agenda as presentedcarried 3-0-1

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George

• adjourn Part 1 of the Budget reviewcarried 4-0

  Moved by Joe Tomm, seconded by Josh Klein-Golden

Worth knowing

• 44:04
  The town's bank statements had not been reconciled since April 2021, and the town manager said that is why the audit carries the worst rating available under government auditing standards. He has hired help to catch up, added a professional services contingency line to pay for such work, and faced a direct question from a budget committee member about what protects the town from embezzlement.
• 11:34
  Nomination papers were due back at the town office by close of business on January 30, with two select board seats open and neither incumbent standing for re-election, a school board seat whose incumbent is not running, and four budget committee seats. Twenty-five signatures are needed to get on the ballot.
• 1:32:20
  The fire and rescue budget came in about a quarter of a percent higher despite responses rising 7.6 percent to 521 calls. About $75,570 of it is workers compensation, FICA, Medicare and insurance, which the chief said is 13 percent of his budget that he has no control over, up from $66,000 the year before.
• 2:05:55
  The town's ambulance billing recovers about 85 percent of what is billed, some $74,000 in the year to July 2022, but the chief said the rates themselves are well below average and he will bring the select board a proposal to raise them. Medicare and Medicaid pay a fixed amount regardless of the bill and the difference cannot be charged to the patient.

Motion language found in the transcript

Located by pattern matching, with no model involved: "I move that", "I'll second", "all those in favour". This is an independent check on the summary above: 1 passage of motion language, against 3 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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