Budget Committee Meeting ~ February 2, 2023

2023-02-02 · Budget Committee · 3:45:34 · watch on YouTube →

Second night of budget committee deliberations on the 2023 town budget; the administration and fire department budgets had been voted on the Tuesday. The committee questioned Calvin, who runs public works, on cemetery mowing, tree cutting and a fuel line that had been revised upward from $40,000 to $56,000, then moved a public works operating budget of $1,338,920. It reopened Tuesday's administration vote after the town manager, Jerry, produced a corrected sheet, and recommended $538,624. It then worked through the remaining accounts (animal control, assessing, cemeteries, conservation and recreation, the Eureka Center, solid waste, bulky waste day, planning, telecommunications, general assistance and debt service) and the capital and funding articles. On two funding articles it departed from the select board: $50,000 rather than $100,000 for the public works reserve, and $230,000 rather than $200,000 from the undesignated fund balance. Several votes are announced only as a tally or in words the recogniser garbled, so their outcomes are recorded here as unclear.

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. 0:02
   Opening and introductions

   Milt Simon, chair of the committee, opened at 6:33 pm and said this was the second night of deliberating the 2023 town budget. Members gave their names and roads: Jane Rice, Bowie Hill Road; Heather Roy, Hallowell Road; Neil Berry, Stackpole Road; John Talbot, Stackpole Road; Rod Stimson, Emerson Road. Public works and all remaining items were left for this night.

2. 0:02
   Whether public works should take over cemetery mowing

   Animal control, assessing and cemeteries sit in their own tab, but there had been talk of the cemeteries moving to public works, which is contracted out at $4,500. A member said the list runs to 14 or 15 cemeteries, that one takes about four men two and a half hours four times a year, and that the crew would have to buy mowers and weed whackers. Calvin (?) said he had not yet located all of them and suggested trying it for one year.

3. 10:23
   Tree cutting line 4006

   A member said the note supporting the $4,000 request is word for word the same as last year's (both add $1,500 for a more aggressive vegetation management plan) and that no money has been spent. Calvin (?) said the contractor never got to the work; $2,500 was budgeted in 2022 and dead trees have since been added to the job.

4. 15:25
   Fuel line revised from $40,000 to $56,000

   Calvin (?) said he built the original request off the wrong spreadsheet and issued a revised proposal on January 27. Using 12,000 gallons of diesel and 1,750 gallons of gasoline at current prices he reached $57,116 and asked for $56,000, with no cushion built in. He said last year was cheap through April under a GPCOG contract and expensive after it ran out.

5. 21:22
   Select board approved the lower fuel figure; two corrections

   The select board approved the public works bottom line with fuel at about $40,000, so the revision has to go back to them. The uniform and clothing line still shows $2,000 rather than the $1,800 Calvin (?) said he would enter, and janitorial wages are requested at $1,500 against $1,044 spent, which Calvin attributed to time off by the previous cleaner.

6. 26:40
   Unexpended 2022 balance and motion on the operating budget

   Members asked about roughly $90,000 shown as unexpended in the 2022 public works budget. Calvin (?) said paving the contractor could not get to accounts for most of it and the figure would have been nearer $40,000 had the work been done. A motion followed to approve the public works operating budget at $1,338,920, seconded by Rod.

7. 31:49
   Debate over cutting the public works budget

   A member addressed as Bill (?) set out three years of underspending ($29,502 in 2020, $48,362 in 2021, $90,057 on paper in 2022) and said he would vote against and follow with a motion to reduce. Others said a one to four percent margin is good management, that unspent money returns to the taxpayers, and that most of the roughly $88,000 increase is wages, paving, salt up 21.85 percent and fuel up 55 percent.

8. 42:08
   Stream crossing and culvert replacements

   A motion to appropriate and transfer $50,000 from the public works capital reserve fund. The project is budgeted at $300,000: $101,000 raised last year, a $150,000 DEP grant that is not a match, and this $50,000. Calvin (?) said the Army Corps changed its permitting and design criteria after the first design, and both streams were reclassified as contributing to Atlantic salmon critical habitat; the new design has been permitted.

9. 47:54
   Public works capital reserve balance questioned

   A member said that after the transfers and the proposed $100,000 raise were filtered out, the capital reserve appeared to come to zero, and asked for clarity before voting money out of it. The answer was that the balances have only recently been settled with the auditor and that the one-ton truck is coming from ARPA, not the reserve.

10. 53:04
    One-ton plow truck from ARPA funds

    $105,000 of American Rescue Plan money for a one-ton plow truck, the price being a dealership quote. The 2008 truck is not being traded in and will be run to exhaustion; the CIP committee asked that it be made clear the new truck is not on a replacement schedule. Leasing was raised and set aside because a chassis still has to be outfitted with plow gear and a sander.

11. 58:08
    Public works reserve held over; Calvin excused

    The $100,000 the select board recommended for the public works reserve was held until the committee had discussed the undesignated fund, one member saying he would rather cover both that and the higher solid waste figure from undesignated funds. Calvin left at this point.

12. 58:08
    Revised administration budget sheet

    Jerry handed out a revised administration budget; the change was a code enforcement officer raise that had been left out, worth a little under $3,000. Because the committee had already voted the administration budget on Tuesday, it had to decide whether to reopen it.

13. 1:03:31
    Whether a line may be overspent if the article total holds

    Members pressed Jerry on whether savings in one line can pay for another, and specifically whether money left by a vacancy can raise the offer to a new hire. Jerry (?) said invoices are charged to the line they belong to, that the article total is the limit, and that hiring is not black and white. Members said the 2022 labor line was overspent by about $13,000 to pay staff and that this now carries forward; percentage increases of 12, 13 and 23 were quoted for the labor line and the administration budget.

14. 1:19:14
    Exchange over Tuesday's contingency handout

    Jerry (?) said he had been handed the chair's contingency paperwork only at Tuesday's meeting and called that unprofessional and disrespectful. John (?) said the discussion was moving into personal views and asked to get back to the purpose of the meeting; the chair said the paperwork was his argument to the committee and had not been aimed at the manager.

15. 1:24:54
    Administration budget reopened and re-voted

    Mark (?) moved and Jill (?) seconded to revisit the recommendation taken on Tuesday, because the revised budget changed the bottom line. Neil then moved and John (?) seconded $538,624, which keeps the committee's removal of the $15,000 contingency line. A member who had arrived after the earlier vote, Joe (?), abstained to avoid an even number.

16. 1:30:06
    Animal control

    $18,600 for animal control services. A member said the $50 fee to reclaim a pet from the shelter has risen in neighbouring towns and Durham may want to look at its own; the fee also helps cover emergency veterinary care, which a clinic must provide and bill to the town.

17. 1:35:21
    Assessing and cemeteries accounts

    $21,000 for assessing, including the assessor's tax map updating before the data goes to GIS; she asked to stay flat this year but said to expect more next year. $450 for the cemeteries account, which pays for the flags.

18. 1:41:05
    Conservation, parks and recreation

    The account was proposed at $7,880 with the historic preservation request moved to planning. A member found River Park needed a sign but had nothing budgeted, since Jerry had removed it on the basis that a recreation fund of about $20,000 to $23,000 could pay. The committee added $1,500 back, taking River Park maintenance to $1,700 and the account to $9,380, on the understanding it is to be transferred rather than raised.

19. 2:03:30
    Eureka Center

    $6,535. Members asked again about a door that appears to have been budgeted more than once and still has not been replaced; the cost was guessed at about $1,500 and no one could confirm it. Janitorial wages were raised to about $1,060 on the expectation of more use; the hall rents for $50.

20. 2:03:30
    Solid waste contract and Casella extension

    Jerry (?) said he found the Casella contract ends June 30, and rather than go out to bid in the middle of budget season the town took a one-year extension at the same price. Disposal is $90.99 a ton and recycling $177 a ton. Splitting the year gives $161,082.97 for January to June plus $198,712 for the extension, or $359,794.97.

21. 2:19:38
    Solid waste vote and the future of curbside collection

    The committee settled on $370,000 plus $2,540 for tags, a figure of $372,540. A member said the account is approaching the size of the administration and fire budgets, that many towns no longer offer curbside pickup, and asked what a transfer station arrangement would cost; several agreed the question needs a wider discussion at town level, not at the budget committee.

22. 2:25:05
    Bulky waste day

    Casella quoted $1,700 an hour with no stated minimum. Seven hours comes to $11,900 and eight hours to $13,600; the select board recommended $12,000. Members debated how long the day runs and kept it as a separate article so residents can vote it up or down.

23. 2:36:08
    Planning

    $46,420. The historic preservation commission asked for $3,200; Jerry cut it to $2,000 because the commission has money left, and Neil (?) proposed applying the $1,330 sitting in a historic district commission fund so only $670 is raised. Members asked why planning carries its own legal line separate from administration; the answer was that planning-related legal opinions are charged there.

24. 2:47:07
    Telecommunications

    $52,000, most of the 11.27 percent increase being secretarial pay moved in from planning. The IT staff, Devin and Kim, are budgeted at 20 hours a week each and will cover the town office counter and meetings. A member said she has asked for three years whether the town is contractually obliged to keep the public access channel and offered to make the call herself.

25. 2:52:10
    General assistance and debt service

    $600 for general assistance, described as a placeholder because the state reimburses approved claims; a separate Durham heating fund holds $11,245. The debt service motion was stated once as $980,862 and otherwise as $958,394.

26. 2:57:26
    Future assessing and market revaluation reserve

    $60,000 was recommended. A member traced the municipal capital account from $97,632 on January 1, 2022, through the $60,000 revaluation appropriation and $7,120 for a copier to a balance of $30,512, and asked where the $60,000 went since the revaluation was not done. Jerry (?) said it went back into undesignated funds and will have to be taken out and put back. The revaluation is estimated at $150,000 to $200,000 and is being aimed at 2025.

27. 3:13:17
    Public works reserve cut to $50,000

    Against the select board's recommended $100,000, members noted the reserve holds about $218,000 and that capital money can later be moved from the undesignated fund, and moved $50,000. The discussion covered the tax anticipation note, the roughly $800,000 a month the town spends, and a target of 16 to 17 percent of budget or two months of expenditure in undesignated funds, put at $1.36 to $1.5 million.

28. 3:24:46
    Undesignated fund balance

    The select board recommended appropriating $200,000 from undesignated to reduce the amount raised by taxes; the committee took it to $230,000 to cover the fuel revision and the higher solid waste figure. Members noted $137,280 of last year's unspent money returned to undesignated and that the $200,000 was not closely reasoned. Several warned that about $275,000 of ARPA money is holding this year's taxes down and will not be there next year.

29. 3:35:50
    Remaining funding articles

    Motions covered general and intergovernmental revenues not otherwise dedicated, transfers of up to $9,380 from the recreation assigned fund and up to $52,000 from the telecommunications assigned fund, $14,344.90 from undesignated to cover the 2022 solid waste overrun and $8,638.71 to cover the 2022 fire department overrun.

30. 3:41:01
    Proposal for a public question session on the budget

    A member said residents who cannot sit through four-hour meetings have no chance to ask questions about the budget, and proposed the committee hold a question and answer session before town meeting, as the planning board does for land use. Others said it was worth trying and would not need a full quorum.

What was decided

• 37:03
  Raise and appropriate $1,338,920 for the public works operating budget; the chair's count was given as six to onepassed
• 47:54
  Appropriate and transfer $50,000 from the public works capital reserve fund for stream crossing and culvert replacements, moved by Jill and seconded by Neil; the chair's words after 'all those in favor' are garbled in the recordingoutcome unclear
• 53:04
  Appropriate $105,000 of ARPA funds for the purchase of a one-ton plow truck for public works; no result is audible after the vote is calledoutcome unclear
• 1:24:54
  Revisit the administration budget recommendation voted on Tuesday, moved by Mark and seconded by Jillpassed
• 1:24:54
  Raise and appropriate $538,624 for the administration operating budget, moved by Neil and seconded by John; the chair announced four in favour, three opposed and one abstentionpassed
• 1:30:06
  Raise $18,600 for animal control servicespassed
• 1:35:21
  Raise $21,000 for assessing, moved by John and seconded by Heather; the chair's words after the vote is called are garbledoutcome unclear
• 1:35:21
  Raise $450 towards the cemetery account; the recording gives no result after the vote is calledoutcome unclear
• 1:58:05
  Appropriate $9,380 for the conservation, parks and recreation account, moved by Heather and seconded by Jillpassed
• 2:03:30
  Appropriate $6,535 for the Durham Eureka Center account, moved by John and seconded by Neil; announced as passing seven to onepassed
• 2:19:38
  Appropriate $372,540 for the solid waste account, moved by John and seconded by Neil; the chair's words after the vote is called are garbledoutcome unclear
• 2:30:30
  Appropriate $12,000 towards a bulky waste day, moved by Jill and seconded by Heather; the tally was given as seven to one and then corrected to six to two, without saying which side held the majorityoutcome unclear
• 2:36:08
  Appropriate $46,420 for the planning budget; seven hands were counted in favour and the planning board chair abstained because he receives a stipendpassed
• 2:52:10
  Appropriate $52,000 towards the telecommunications account; no result is clearly statedoutcome unclear
• 2:52:10
  Appropriate $600 for the general assistance account, moved by Jill and seconded by John; no result is clearly statedoutcome unclear
• 2:52:10
  Appropriate money towards the debt payment schedule, moved by Jill and seconded by Neil; the amount is given as $958,394 in the chair's restatements and once as $980,862, and no result is clearly statedoutcome unclear
• 3:08:15
  Raise and appropriate $60,000 for future assessing and market revaluation reserves, moved by John and seconded by Rodpassed
• 3:18:41
  Raise and appropriate $50,000 for the public works reserve account rather than the $100,000 the select board recommended, moved by Neil and seconded by John; announced as seven in favour and one againstpassed
• 3:30:37
  Allow the select board to appropriate $230,000 from the undesignated fund balance towards the 2023 budget, reducing the amount raised from property taxes, moved by John and seconded by Neil; the tally was given as six to twopassed
• 3:35:50
  Appropriate all general and intergovernmental revenues not dedicated or otherwise appropriated to reduce the tax commitment; no result is clearly statedoutcome unclear
• 3:35:50
  Allow the select board to transfer up to $9,380 from the recreation assigned fund and up to $52,000 from the telecommunications assigned fund towards the 2023 conservation, parks and recreation and telecommunications budgets; no result is clearly statedoutcome unclear
• 3:35:50
  Appropriate $14,344.90 from the undesignated fund balance to cover solid waste spending above the approved 2022 budget, moved by John and seconded by Jill; no result is clearly statedoutcome unclear
• 3:41:01
  Appropriate $8,638.71 from the undesignated fund balance to cover fire department spending above the approved 2022 budget, moved by Neil and seconded by Jill; no result is clearly statedoutcome 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

• 15:25
  The public works fuel request went from $40,000 to $56,000 after Calvin found he had built it off the wrong spreadsheet. He gave actual use as 12,000 gallons of diesel and 1,750 gallons of gasoline; diesel was quoted at $4.36 a gallon at one point in the discussion and $4.67 at another, and gasoline at $2.71. The select board approved the lower figure, so it goes back to them.
• 31:49
  Public works has come in under budget three years running: $29,502 in 2020, $48,362 in 2021 and $90,057 on paper in 2022. Calvin (?) said the 2022 figure would have been about $40,000 had the paving contractor done the work. One member used this to argue for cutting the budget; the motion carried anyway.
• 2:03:30
  Solid waste costs $90.99 a ton to dispose of and $177 a ton to recycle. A member put the extra cost of recycling at about $21,600 a year and said the account is approaching the size of the administration and fire department budgets. The Casella contract ends June 30 and has been extended one year at the same price rather than going out to bid.
• 2:57:26
  The $60,000 appropriated in 2022 for the market revaluation was never spent, and went back into the undesignated fund rather than staying in the municipal capital account, which now shows $30,512. The committee asked that it be put back before another $60,000 is raised. The revaluation is estimated at $150,000 to $200,000 and is being aimed at 2025.

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: 12 passages of motion language, against 23 decisions summarised.

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