Budget Committee Meeting ~ January 29, 2024

2024-01-29 · Budget Committee · 2:49:44 · watch on YouTube →

This was the first meeting of the newly elected Budget Committee for the 2024 budget. The committee elected Milt Simon chair and Jill Gastongue vice chair, then heard Joe present the select board's budget, which shows a 6.2 percent increase and proposes drawing about half a million dollars from the town's fund balance so the mill rate stays flat at $21.35. Much of the discussion turned on whether that is prudent, on how the $3.7 million fund balance came to be so much larger than previously reported, and on the change that moves individual equipment purchases from a town meeting vote to level-funded capital reserves the select board draws on. The committee then began voting department by department, approving the fire department at $603,570, animal control at $18,650 after rejecting a higher figure, administration at $471,156 after a tie vote defeated a $5,000 cut, municipal buildings at $22,235, assessing at $22,800, information technology at $47,000 and planning and code enforcement at $123,600. Public works was held over to the following evening so Calvin, who was plowing, could attend.

No written minutes could be matched to this meeting. The transcript records that the speaker changed but never who was speaking, so any name attached to a statement below is inferred from context and is marked (?).

What was discussed

1. 0:00
   Convening

   The first meeting of Durham's elected budget committee for the 2024 budget was called to order. The opening minutes of the recording are largely unintelligible.

2. 9:36
   Introductions and election of officers

   Members introduced themselves: Milt Simon of Stackpole Road, a resident since 1982 and on the committee since 1999; Jill Gastongue of Stackpole Road; Phyllis Brannan of Brookside Drive, in Durham since 1989 and in her first year; John Talbot of 636 Stackpole, at his second meeting; Neil Berry of Stackpole Road, six years on the committee; Jane Rice of Bowie Hill; and a member of Day Road with more than thirty years on the committee. Milt Simon was elected chair, abstaining on his own vote, and Jill Gastongue vice chair. Donna Church was running late, so the committee agreed to open with discussion rather than votes.

3. 14:44
   Select board's presentation of the budget

   Joe (?) said the budget was submitted the previous Thursday after two meetings with the town manager and the town's financial advisor in December and January, and has been reorganised into fewer, broader categories. The select board added $5,000 to the administration building maintenance and repairs line and $50,000 to the Eureka reserve for foundation and door replacements after an issue came up at their meeting.

4. 14:44
   Flat mill rate and the fund balance

   The budget shows a 6.2 percent increase with school and county figures still estimated. The recommendation is to use about $518,000 of the fund balance, stated elsewhere in the meeting as $500,000, so the mill rate stays at $21.35 with no increase to taxpayers. Joe (?) said the town holds $3.7 million where two to three months of expenditure, about $2 million, is the usual amount to keep.

5. 19:48
   Capital reserves and level funding

   The CIP recommendations cover public works, fire department and municipal reserves at $10,000, assessing at $60,000 and Union Church at $9,543. The Union Church committee has recommended transferring the church to the Historical Society along with money raised for it in previous years and on the town meeting floor last year; the figures were given as $31,000 raised, plus $10,000, and then as $31,000 in total. The select board's approach is to fund the reserves level over the ten-year plan so purchases can be timed to need rather than to a warrant article.

6. 24:55
   ARPA allocations and a 2022 overspend

   The select board voted to allocate $44,630 of unappropriated ARPA funds to three projects: $25,000 for computer-aided dispatch computers in emergency vehicles, $10,500 for land use codification and $9,130 for a new heating system at the Eureka Community Center. A further $3,235 of fire department overspending in the 2022 budget will be a separate warrant article.

7. 24:55
   Percentages measured against budget or actual

   Neil Berry (?) said the percentages in Joe's letter compare to last year's budget rather than actual spending, and that measured against actual, spending is up about 9 percent rather than 6.2 percent. He also questioned how the town can keep taxes level in future years without repeating the draw on the fund balance, and Joe agreed taxes may have to rise.

8. 30:23
   Where equipment purchases appear

   Members could not find individual equipment items such as the mower, trailer and pickup in the budget. They were shown that these sit in transfers out on the town-wide page rather than as separate lines, with the detail on the CIP addendum. Jerry Douglass (?) confirmed the select board, not town meeting, would decide the purchases, and said that does not require a town vote.

9. 35:35
   Assessing reserve and the revaluation

   Neil Berry (?) said he wants the assessing reserve increased to whatever the revaluation is estimated to cost, putting the money aside now while it is available so the work can be done next year if needed.

10. 35:35
    Taking the equipment vote away from town meeting

    A member said the ten-year plan is a good thing but that this arrangement takes the question of a specific piece of equipment away from the public. Joe (?) said the plan itself would still be presented to the town, and Jerry Douglass gave the example of public works equipment worth about $2 million to replace over ten years, or $200,000 a year, and said a department head asking once a year at town meeting will ask whether or not the need is real.

11. 40:51
    Meeting locations and streaming

    A member asked about live broadcasting; the meeting was being streamed from the fire station, which is now the main meeting room. The select board had discussed moving to the Eureka Center but it needs upgrades and its layout does not suit meetings, and the town office is out of space, with plans from around 2007 being dusted off as a starting point.

12. 45:52
    Why hold the rate flat rather than raise it slightly

    Milt Simon (?) asked why the board is set on a flat rate when a 1 or 2 percent increase would draw little objection and would make the fund balance last longer. Joe (?) said the balance is taxpayers' money already collected, that roughly $1.7 million of it is above what the town should hold, and that about $150,000 is expected to come back at year end.

13. 50:53
    Debt coming off and a request for a forecast

    Members noted the town saved $160,000 when the road bond was paid off and will save $132,754 next year when the equipment bond ends, and asked whether anyone has modelled the fund balance and debt savings over several years. Jerry Douglass (?) said such a forecast is difficult because future revenue is unknown, and the mechanics of how revenue and unspent appropriations flow into fund balance were explained at length.

14. 56:18
    Whether taxpayers were overtaxed

    Phyllis Brannan (?) asked whether the town had overtaxed residents. Members explained that the reported balance went from about $1.9 million to $3.7 million after an auditor was brought in to establish the real figure, and that for years the town used prior-year actual revenues rather than projecting new revenue, which meant raising the difference in taxes. Josh (?) said the term overtaxed is not fair, since it reflects more revenue coming in or less being spent.

15. 1:01:22
    How much should be kept in reserve

    A member recalled being told never to deplete the balance because of the town's credit rating; others said the concern is having enough on hand to avoid a tax anticipation note. Members discussed the two common tests, two to three months of expenditure or about 16 percent of the budget, giving roughly $1.7 to $2 million against the $3.7 million held.

16. 1:01:22
    Tax stabilization programme shortfall

    A committee member asked what the town will do if the state does not reimburse the tax stabilization programme in full. Jerry Douglass (?) said Durham has received nothing yet and there is no plan because it only came up the week before, and the member noted that reimbursement checks elsewhere have ranged from 43 to 57 percent. Neil Berry (?) said it is not the committee's concern because the committee budgets spending, not revenue, and it was confirmed no stabilization money is assumed in this budget.

17. 1:06:29
    Fire department taken first

    Out of courtesy to the fire chief, who was present, the committee took the fire department budget first. It now sits under a category called public safety, which also contains animal control.

18. 1:11:46
    Night EMS coverage

    The fire chief said the town staffs one member 7am to 7pm every day, that 35 percent of call volume is at night, amounting to exactly 100 medical calls last year, and that the EMTs who used to respond from home have moved out of town. The request works out at 12 hours a day for the 275 days from April at an average of about $20.50, roughly $66,000, less about $9,000 for the $35 stipend no longer needed, leaving about $57,000.

19. 1:16:47
    What happens without it

    Asked by Phyllis Brannan what would happen if the request were not funded, the fire chief said there are about nine ambulances in the whole county and no backup, that the current 14-minute night response would roughly double to half an hour, that the town would lose ambulance revenue projected in six figures, and that no chief can sustain 50 to 60 hour weeks.

20. 1:16:47
    Fuel line

    A committee member questioned an increase of about 91.5 percent in gas and diesel to $10,700. The fire chief said the FY23 actuals shown are not final and have since risen past $6,000, that $2,700 of the figure is the vehicle allowance previously paid to the chief as a benefit and now shown as fuel, and that call volume rose 7.4 percent.

21. 1:21:58
    Miscellaneous line and mid-year cuts

    Asked about a large increase in the miscellaneous line, the fire chief said that in July, with call volume up 20 percent by midsummer, he cut every line he could to stay within the labour budget, including not renewing his own International Association of Fire Chiefs membership at $495 and not buying meals for crews working overnight storms. He noted workers compensation is down 34 percent, saving over $16,000.

22. 1:21:58
    Mutual aid figures

    Mutual aid received was 62 in 2022 and 63 in 2023, while mutual aid given rose from 65 to 82. The chief said a three-alarm fire on July 15 brought about ten towns in, that the department fought four structure fires and saved every house, and that a structure fire needs about 17 firefighters on scene.

23. 1:27:23
    Fire department budget vote

    Members noted better propane pricing obtained by the town manager and a grant that will buy four portable radios so the town is asked to fund only two. John Talbot (?) moved $603,570 for the fire department.

24. 1:32:28
    Animal control

    Jill Gastongue (?) asked whether the line covers emergency veterinary stabilisation when an animal control officer brings in an injured animal whose owner cannot be found, since the town is then liable for the bill. Jerry Douglass (?) said the figure is Lisbon's quote for the officer plus $6,400 for Coastal Humane Society, with no separate allowance. Jill Gastongue (?) moved $19,000 to include such bills, which failed, and Neil Berry then moved $18,650, seconded by Alan.

25. 1:37:42
    Administration, now general government

    The request is $471,156. The code enforcement officer's cost has moved out to planning and codes, and a 5 percent cost of living increase is proposed across staff with discretion for the manager to vary it.

26. 1:37:42
    The town manager's raise

    Members questioned a 10 percent raise for Jerry Douglass. Joe (?) said the select board voted it unanimously in the summer following his review to match what the industry pays, that it was not a contracted rate, and that the review carries a guaranteed minimum but no maximum. Members could not reconcile the arithmetic from $95,500 to the roughly $110,000 shown.

27. 1:42:54
    Part-time hours and office space

    The two part-time staff go from 10 hours each to 20 hours each, 40 hours in total, to cover the window, accounts payable, elections, vacations and training. Jerry Douglass (?) said he abandoned the plan to build a wall for more office space and will instead move his desk and use cubicle walls from state surplus.

28. 1:48:13
    Accounting brought back in house

    The business services line drops from about $74,000 to $30,000 because Mark Royer will act as a consultant rather than doing accounts payable and payroll, his firm having closed. Accounts payable comes back in house with staff learning it as they go, and payroll is being outsourced on a quote just north of $7,000, budgeted at $10,000 to allow for transaction fees.

29. 1:53:15
    Where the increase sits

    Neil Berry pressed on how administration can be flat overall when about $60,500 for the code officer has moved out, saying that implies roughly $84,000 of increases elsewhere. The largest identified were about $30,000 more in part-time wages and IT staff moved into the department they work for.

30. 1:58:44
    Motion to cut $5,000 from administration

    Neil Berry (?) moved $466,156, $5,000 less than requested, saying a 5 percent raise was generous. Alan (?) said the committee should rely on the select board, which did the manager's evaluation, and Heather (?) said the raise is already in place so cutting the line only moves the reduction to another line.

31. 2:03:46
    Tie vote and the approved figure

    The motion to cut tied four to four and therefore failed. John Talbot then moved $471,156, seconded by Jill Gastongue. Members discussed whether the office can keep the accounting on track without going back to the state it was in before, and a member said the reason two million dollars turned up is that the town's accounting process had been in disarray.

32. 2:09:11
    Municipal buildings and grounds

    The category covers everything except the town office, public works and the fire station, including the Eureka Center, the gazebo, the Runaround Pond building and River Park. Members clarified the distinction between operating maintenance lines and the reserve accounts, which are for larger capital work, and that the recreation reserve of $23,742 sits in committed fund balance and is not being drawn on this year.

33. 2:19:48
    Eureka Center heat

    John Talbot (?) moved $22,235 for municipal buildings, seconded by Jill Gastongue. The heat line is zero because there is no working heat source; Calvin obtained an estimate to replace the two failed heaters with two Rinnai propane heaters, funded from ARPA and not expected to be installed until summer. The heat pumps are supplemental, were never meant to heat the building, and pipes froze last year when they could not keep up.

34. 2:24:56
    Assessing

    John Talbot (?) moved $22,800 for assessing, seconded by Neil Berry, described as a 6.7 percent increase for the assessor, about another $100 a month.

35. 2:24:56
    Time and a break

    With the hour approaching nine, the committee agreed to finish general government rather than stop, and took a short break.

36. 2:34:12
    The emergency spending fund

    Members discussed budgeting more closely and the need for an emergency spending fund. One said the select board cannot legally reach the roughly $16,000 that exists because the article enabling it was a one-time warrant article about three years ago, and suggested moving the money to the general fund and creating an ordinance or an annual article, extended to solid waste overruns as well.

37. 2:34:12
    Information technology

    The category was previously called telecommunications. Software licences rose about $24,000 because they were moved out of administration, the hardware line covers replacing a computer that fails, and the contracted IT service supplies Office 365 licences and email. Alan (?) moved $47,000, seconded by Jill Gastongue.

38. 2:39:14
    Planning and code enforcement

    Two members recused themselves. The code enforcement officer's wages, workers compensation and retirement move into this department, and George the planner goes from 20 to 24 hours a week at the same rate to act as liaison on the land use codification. Heather (?) explained the postage increase, which covers notifying every affected property owner of a land use ordinance change, as happened with resource protection. Neil Berry (?) moved $123,600, seconded by Jill Gastongue.

39. 2:39:14
    Adjournment

    Calvin will be taken first the following evening so he does not have to wait, and the committee expects to get through the rest of the budget then.

What was decided

• 9:36
  Elect Milt Simon chair of the budget committee, with Milt Simon abstainingpassed
• 9:36
  Elect Jill Gastongue vice chairpassed
• 9:36
  Open with general discussion rather than votes until the eighth member arrivesoutcome unclear
• 1:06:29
  Take the fire department budget first out of courtesy to the fire chiefoutcome unclear
• 1:27:23
  Approve $603,570 for the fire department, moved by John Talbot; recorded as unanimous with one abstentionpassed
• 1:32:28
  Set animal control at $19,000 flat to cover the officer's salary, the Coastal Humane Society contract and any emergency veterinary bill, moved by Jill Gastonguefailed
• 1:32:28
  Recommend $18,650 for animal control, moved by Neil Berry and seconded by Alan; recorded as unanimouspassed
• 1:58:44
  Recommend $466,156 for administration, $5,000 less than requested, moved by Neil Berry; the vote tied four to fourfailed
• 2:03:46
  Recommend $471,156 for the administration budget, moved by John Talbot and seconded by Jill Gastongue; five in favour and three opposedpassed
• 2:19:48
  Recommend $22,235 for municipal buildings, moved by John Talbot and seconded by Jill Gastongue; seven to onepassed
• 2:24:56
  Recommend $22,800 for assessing, moved by John Talbot and seconded by Neil Berry; recorded as unanimouspassed
• 2:24:56
  Continue past nine o'clock to finish general government rather than adjournoutcome unclear
• 2:34:12
  Appropriate $47,000 for information technology, moved by Alan and seconded by Jill Gastongue; seven to onepassed
• 2:39:14
  Appropriate $123,600 for planning and code enforcement, moved by Neil Berry and seconded by Jill Gastongue, with two members recusedpassed
• 2:39:14
  Adjourn and resume the following evening, starting with public workspassed

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.

Worth knowing

• 14:44
  The budget is up 6.2 percent, and the select board proposes drawing on the fund balance so the mill rate stays at $21.35 with no increase. The draw was given as about $518,000 in one place and $500,000 in another. The fund balance is $3.7 million against the roughly $2 million a town would normally hold.
• 24:55
  Neil Berry (?) said the percentages presented compare to last year's budget rather than actual spending, and that measured against actual, spending is rising about 9 percent, not 6.2 percent.
• 35:35
  Under the level-funded capital reserves, town meeting would no longer vote on individual equipment purchases; the select board would draw on the reserve following the ten-year plan. A member objected that this takes the question away from the public, and was told the plan itself would still be presented to the town.
• 1:11:46
  The fire chief said 35 percent of calls are at night, exactly 100 medical calls last year, and that the EMTs who used to respond from home have moved out of town. Night response now averages 14 minutes and he said it would roughly double to half an hour without the requested per diem EMT, with about nine ambulances in the whole county.

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: 10 passages of motion language, against 15 decisions summarised.

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