Budget Committee Meeting ~ January 31, 2023

2023-01-31 · Budget Committee · 2:55:06 · watch on YouTube →

The budget committee met on 31 January 2023 to review the budget the select board had approved at its meeting the previous Tuesday, and to make its own recommendations article by article. The fire chief took questions for the first half of the meeting on a $522,470 operating budget and on four capital and ARPA requests, all of which the committee moved on. The second half turned to the administration budget, where staffing levels, the accuracy of the town's Trio accounting records and a proposed $15,000 contingency line were argued at length. The town manager said staff are overworked, that bank statements have not been reconciled since April 2021, and that the audit and Trio report different undesignated fund balances. The committee moved to recommend the administration budget less the contingency line, but the count was interrupted and no result was announced on the recording. A second meeting was set for the following Thursday to finish administration and take up public works.

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. 0:05
   Whether a remote member may vote

   One member, Jill, was taking part by video rather than in person, and the chair asked whether she could vote. The town manager said this had been raised with the select board and that Maine Municipal Association guidance allows it because the public has the same remote access, watching on YouTube, and offered to circulate the MMA link. No formal vote was taken.

2. 0:05
   Select board's action reported

   Chair Milt Simon said he attended the select board meeting the previous Tuesday and that the board approved the budget as presented, leaving the committee to decide whether it agrees or wants to recommend different figures.

3. 5:11
   Fire department operating budget increases

   The fire chief said he had tried to keep the budget below $500,000 but it came in at $522,470, and that he finished the prior year about $8,600 over. He gave electricity, propane and diesel up 32 percent, equipment maintenance up 27 percent, dispatch up about 20 percent with Androscoggin County dispatch rising to about $22,000, and turnout gear rising from about $2,000 to $3,300 a set under an NFPA requirement to replace gear every 10 years, with four sets bought and hoods at about $110 each.

4. 10:52
   Grants, dues and fuel

   A Wildland gear grant is $5,000 but on a 50/50 match, so the town's share is $2,500. The dues line rose from $800 to $3,000, including $1,000 for Cumberland County Fire Chiefs membership that gives access to their training and burn centre. The department is not in a fuel co-op but was put on the same contract pricing as the town; an automatic fuel delivery on 30 December (?) added about $1,200 and pushed the line over.

5. 15:52
   How labour and per diem lines are built

   The chief explained the labour figures come from average attendance at four Thursday trainings, now 12 to 17 of about 37 members, times an average pay rate. Per diem is $75,000 for daytime EMS coverage with night coverage stipends of about $35, and part-time salary of $28,000 covers the office manager, Diana, at 21 hours a week.

6. 21:33
   Trio accounting and posting errors

   Committee members found the dues line showed zero budgeted and $817.73 actual for 2022 when the chief said actual was about $2,600, and asked whether the records would be reliable next year. The chief said he tracks spending on his own computer and passes coding to staff who post it to Trio, and does not have Trio on his machine. The town manager said department heads have not been getting monthly expense reports and that this will start.

7. 32:13
   Chart of accounts and workers compensation

   The town manager said he wants a three-tier department, category and subcategory structure so individual fuels and utilities can be pulled out, and that this would be for 2024 rather than 2023. On workers compensation, the fire department accounts for 52 percent of a town bill of about $97,000; MMA charged about $16,000 too much last year for want of correct figures and later refunded about $31,000.

8. 37:19
   Chief's expense line and motion on the fire operating budget

   The chief said his $300 a month flat rate for use of his personal vehicle, about $3,600 a year, would end if the town buys the utility vehicle. Neil Berry (?) moved and Alan (?) seconded to appropriate $522,470 for the fire department operating budget.

9. 42:54
   Change in how the warrant presents revenue

   The town manager said revenues will be listed as a block on the warrant rather than assigned to individual articles, with the difference between revenues and expenditures raised in taxes, which he said is how other towns do it. Heather Roy (?) asked what happens if voters approve the spending articles but reject the transfer from undesignated funds, and was told the amount would then have to be raised in taxation. The plan is to keep wording that lets a resident move an amendment to change an amount from the floor.

10. 48:50
    Vote on the fire operating budget and unspent balances

    The committee discussed what happens to unspent money: operating balances return to undesignated, while unspent capital stays in the capital account. The vote on the $522,470 was then taken with the chair abstaining, and no tally is audible on the recording.

11. 54:06
    Fire chief and EMS rapid response vehicle

    The chief said the $60,000 request is for a utility vehicle rather than a command vehicle, with a crew cab and a pickup or utility body for contaminated gear, hose, first aid and lighting equipment, lettered and fitted with lights and siren. He would drive it predominantly and respond from home, subject to a use policy the town manager would write, and it is needed to tow the boat and to protect crash scenes; he counted 52 car accidents last year and 41 calls in the current month.

12. 59:12
    Alternatives to buying the vehicle

    Members asked about repurposing the road commissioner's 2015 truck; the chief said this was discussed extensively but the truck has rust, high mileage, a plow and is a heavier 2500 series than needed. Leasing was raised, and the chief said lessors object to drilling the roof for antennas and light bars; he had also looked at a business donation, state surplus and federal military surplus without finding a fit. He would prefer a used aluminium utility body, or a plain crew cab pickup if the budget will not stretch.

13. 1:05:07
    Motion on the response vehicle

    John Talbot (?) moved and the chair seconded to appropriate and transfer $60,000 from the fire department capital reserve for a fire chief and EMS rapid response vehicle. The fire department capital reserve balance was given as about $220,000, with the figure read out variously as $220,401 and $221,401.

14. 1:10:48
    Fire station generator replacement

    The select board recommended transferring $32,800 from the fire department capital reserve for a replacement generator. The chief said the existing unit dates from about 2001, has 726 engine hours, has had repeated failures to start and a computer module upgrade, and that the replacement would be about 48 kW against about 26 kW now because of electrical upgrades and the tie-in of heating, cooling, exhaust venting and garage doors.

15. 1:16:44
    Whether $32,800 is enough, and the ARPA question

    Members asked what happens if the eventual quote exceeds the approved figure and were told the town cannot go higher than the voted amount, so the work would have to wait. The town manager said quotes are now good for about 30 days and that a request for proposals will seek at least three bids. Asked why the generator moved off ARPA funding, the answer was that keeping it in reserves preserves the ability to apply for grant money, which cannot be mixed with ARPA dollars; a County EMA 50/50 generator grant round has already passed.

16. 1:27:14
    ARPA request for exhaust removal equipment

    The select board recommended $50,000 of ARPA funds for source-capture exhaust removal at the fire station. The chief handed out his summary of allowable ARPA uses and said fire department ambulance revenue fell through the pandemic, which is the basis for the request.

17. 1:32:28
    Discussion of the exhaust system

    The chief said NFPA 1500 requires capture of 100 percent of diesel exhaust at the source, that diesel exhaust is carcinogenic and settles on gear and medical equipment, and that the system attaches to each truck and releases automatically at the bay door. He said it is a one-off installation with a warranty and minimal maintenance beyond an air compressor, and that the equipment is also a prerequisite for pursuing grants tied to overnight accommodations.

18. 1:37:28
    ARPA request to refurbish the Quint

    Jill (?) moved and John Talbot (?) seconded appropriating $125,000 of ARPA funds to refurbish the Quint ladder truck. The chief said the standard service life for an aerial apparatus is 30 years, that this truck was previously scheduled for replacement, that mileage, engine hours and pump hours are low, and that three independent parties and a local vendor confirmed a refurbishment would add seven to ten years.

19. 1:43:13
    Cost and availability of a replacement ladder truck

    The chief said a replacement ladder truck starts at about $1 million and a comparable Quint would be $1.5 million, and that Lisbon has two pumpers on order more than two and a half years out. He said Lisbon's ladder truck is currently out of service and Durham is covering it, and that the Quint had been protecting the town that day while two trucks were at a structure fire in Pownal.

20. 1:43:13
    Meeting schedule

    The committee agreed to stop at 9.30 and to take the rest of the administration budget plus public works at a second meeting on Thursday, with the road commissioner heard first at 6.30.

21. 1:48:49
    Town office staffing

    Heather Roy (?) asked why the part-time deputy clerk would go to full-time rather than hiring a second part-time person, and why the deputy tax collector and treasurer post stays full-time if accounts payable and payroll are contracted out. Joe (?) presented a staffing analysis that counted window coverage across the hours the office is open, arriving at about four and a half full-time equivalents of work against roughly three and a half funded in this budget.

22. 1:54:33
    Debate over the number of staff

    Several members said the town operated for years with fewer people and questioned the jump. The town manager said the two remaining staff are stressed, have talked about leaving, and cannot get BMV, dog licence and Inland Fisheries reports done because they are at the window; he also said opening on Wednesdays would spread demand. Members asked how much of the problem is training, given one employee has 18 months and another about six months in post.

23. 2:05:45
    Distrust and the state of the books

    The town manager said he has experienced what he called a cultural distrust in Durham and does not feel trusted. Heather Roy (?) replied that the questioning follows a change in the form of government made during the pandemic, when residents felt they had little say, and is not directed at him personally. The town manager said he has two different figures for undesignated funds, $1.9 million from the audit and $2.4 million from Trio, and has spent nearly five months chasing numbers.

24. 2:16:35
    Whether to accept three and a half positions

    John Talbot framed the question as whether the committee accepts that there are serious problems and that three and a half positions, one of which may be a contracted accounting service, is the fix. The town manager said he inherited three full-time equivalents and is asking for another half a person. Members asked whether an outside contract could be a temporary measure until the books are stable and the work brought back in-house.

25. 2:22:12
    Objection to the $15,000 contingency line

    Chair Milt Simon argued the contingency is unnecessary, giving legal fee balances left unspent of about $7,000 in 2022, $7,745 in 2021, $5,636 in 2020 and $1,991 in 2019, and administration underspends of $31,208 in 2022, $30,743 in 2021, $7,916 in 2020 and $5,465 in 2019. Combined, he said, that made $38,217 available in 2022 and $38,488 in 2021, more than twice the contingency requested.

26. 2:28:07
    The town manager's case for a contingency line

    The town manager said a contingency line avoids taking money from unrelated lines, giving the example of an employee moving onto family health insurance mid-year, and said spending has to pass what he called the straight face test rather than simply staying under the bottom line. Members said the select board has repeatedly told them only the bottom line matters, and that the department has not reconciled bank statements since April 2021, work he had to fund out of the legal line for want of a contingency.

27. 2:33:21
    Padding, undesignated funds and the personnel line

    Milt Simon (?) said budgets here are built on the previous year's budgeted figure rather than actual spending, so they run high, and that raising money that ends up in undesignated funds amounts to over-taxing residents. Jill (?) asked about a $78,363 difference in the personnel line between the 2022 budget and the 2023 request; the town manager attributed it to a half position, a 5 percent cost of living increase, changes made by the previous board and manager, and the deputy treasurer's grade.

28. 2:44:05
    Motion on the administration budget

    Neil Berry (?) moved, seconded by Milt Simon, to appropriate $535,915 for the administration operating budget, being the select board's figure less the $15,000 contingency. In discussion one member said he opposes both the contingency and the extra counter position but would vote for the full amount anyway.

29. 2:49:37
    Vote on the administration budget

    A motion to call the question was put and the tally was announced first as seven to one and then as six to two. The vote on the main motion was then begun but the count was interrupted when it was noticed that Heather Roy had dropped off the remote connection, and no result is announced on the recording.

What was decided

• 0:05
  Whether the member attending remotely could vote; the town manager cited MMA guidance permitting it and the committee did not take a formal voteoutcome unclear
• 48:50
  Recommend appropriating $522,470 for the fire department operating budget; the chair abstained and no tally was announcedoutcome unclear
• 1:10:48
  Recommend appropriating and transferring $60,000 from the fire department capital reserve for a fire chief and EMS rapid response vehicle; recorded as 8 in favour, 0 opposed, 1 abstentionpassed
• 1:27:14
  Recommend appropriating and transferring $32,800 from the fire department capital reserve for a replacement generator at the fire station; unanimous, 9 to 0passed
• 1:32:28
  Recommend appropriating $50,000 of ARPA funds for exhaust removal equipment at the fire station; unanimous, 9 to 0passed
• 1:43:13
  Recommend appropriating $125,000 of ARPA funds to refurbish the Quint ladder truck; unanimous, 9 to 0passed
• 1:43:13
  Adjourn at 9.30 and continue with the remainder of the administration budget and public works at a second meeting on Thursdaypassed
• 2:49:37
  Motion to call the question on the administration budget; the tally was given first as seven to one and then as six to twopassed
• 2:49:37
  Recommend appropriating $535,915 for the administration operating budget, the select board's figure less the $15,000 contingency line; the count was interrupted and no result was announcedoutcome unclear

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

• 2:05:45
  The town manager said he has two different undesignated fund balances in front of him, $1.9 million from the audit and $2.4 million from Trio, and later said the town's bank statements have not been reconciled since April 2021.
• 1:48:49
  A staffing analysis presented by Joe put the work of the town office at about four and a half full-time equivalents; the budget funds about three and a half. The town manager said the two remaining staff have talked about leaving.
• 2:22:12
  The chair set out four years of administration underspends, $31,208 in 2022 and $30,743 in 2021, and argued that money already amounts to a contingency, so the requested $15,000 line is not needed.
• 1:43:13
  The fire chief put the cost of replacing the Quint at $1 million to $1.5 million with delivery delays of two and a half years or more, against $125,000 to refurbish it for another seven to ten years.

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: 2 passages of motion language, against 9 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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