Budget Committee Meeting ~ February 12, 2024

2024-02-12 · Budget Committee · 1:48:48 · watch on YouTube →

Third and probably final Budget Committee meeting on the 2024 town budget, held February 12, 2024. The select board had made five changes to its proposed budget the previous Tuesday, and the committee met to review those lines and revote its recommendations. It accepted the select board's higher figures for administration, municipal buildings, planning and code enforcement, and the fire department, but recommended $375,000 rather than $380,000 for solid waste hauling. The committee then voted, item by item, on seven transfers out of the fund balance into reserve accounts, raising the assessing reserve to $160,000 after a single bid of $220,000 came in that day for a town-wide revaluation. It closed by recommending that $628,475 of the fund balance be used to hold the municipal tax rate flat, and agreed it does not need to meet again.

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. 0:21
   Opening and purpose of the meeting

   The chair convened at 6:30 on Monday February 12 and said this was the committee's third and probably final meeting on the budget. The select board had made five changes the previous Tuesday, all cases where the actual spending came in higher than the figure originally given: administration dues and subscriptions, municipal buildings security, planning and code dues and subscriptions, fire department health insurance, and solid waste hauling. Milton (?) asked for the Pledge of Allegiance before the review began.

2. 0:21
   General concern about the size of the increase

   A member said that with the select board's changes entered, spending is up sharply on last year and the total could easily be 10 percent once the school and county numbers arrive. Another member said the printed spreadsheet still carries the select board's capital reserve transfer figure rather than the committee's, because the sheet no longer has separate budget committee and select board columns.

3. 5:23
   Administration budget

   The change was to dues and subscriptions, where the 2023 actual came in higher than shown; the largest components are dues to GPCOG and MMA, with GPCOG alone around $8,000. Members noted the committee had voted $471,156 and that adding $2,500 to the dues line brings the total to $473,656, and asked why the line is a guess rather than the known 2024 rates.

4. 11:17
   Vote on the administration budget

   The motion was to appropriate $473,656 for administration. A member said that because the increase is being covered by a transfer rather than raised in taxes it was not worth fighting over.

5. 16:54
   Municipal buildings and the security line

   The security line was raised from $1,600 to $1,800 on a 2023 actual of $1,728, covering alarm monitoring at the fire station, the church and the town office. Members asked why it had risen and were told that figures entered into the Trio system a couple of years ago were entered incorrectly, so the older actuals are unreliable. Members also noted the town is likely to stop paying about $240 a year to monitor the Union Church, but that nothing has changed yet.

6. 22:38
   Vote on municipal buildings

   The committee stuck with its previous figure of $22,235 rather than the select board's revised number. In discussion a member pointed out that any Union Church saving will be part-year only, since the handover is unlikely to close until several months after town meeting.

7. 22:38
   Planning and code enforcement dues and subscriptions

   The select board proposed $1,500 for the dues line against a 2023 actual of $1,280. The town manager explained that the code enforcement officer's dues moved from administration into this department, and that a $550 ESRI subscription for putting the tax maps online was only discovered and paid at the end of December. A member asked why $1,500 was chosen rather than a figure closer to the actual.

8. 27:58
   Vote on planning and code enforcement

   Neil (?) moved and Allen (?) seconded $124,300 in total, which sets the dues line at $1,300 rather than $1,500, $20 above last year's actual. The vote itself was confused on the recording, with members recounting abstentions and no votes before the chair said it passes.

9. 33:15
   Fire department health insurance

   The health insurance line was moved from $2,225 to $2,500 against an actual read out as about $2,449, with no change in the actual figure since the last meeting; the motion by Neil, seconded by Phyllis, was for a fire department total of $603,845. A member repeated that health insurance runs on a January to December year so the 2024 rates are already known and should be used, and said her own business had seen a large increase. The town manager said he did not have the 2024 figure and goes on actuals, and that the fire chief's arrangement is handled separately.

10. 38:51
    Solid waste hauling

    The committee had previously voted $350,000 for hauling and the select board raised it to $380,000; the 2023 actual was about $361,340 and the contract price is fixed for the first half of 2024 then rises by 5 percent or CPI, whichever is higher. Members worked through the arithmetic on the recording and a motion was made for $375,000 for hauling, then restated as $389,000 in total, being $375,000 hauling, $2,000 for tags and $12,000 for bulky waste. Members noted the figure is an estimate driven by tonnage, that the five-year contract's first-year estimate of about $372,000 assumes a tonnage level, and that in a past year the town went over and had to fund the shortfall by a separate article.

11. 49:33
    Revaluation bid and the fund balance

    The town manager reported that bids for a town-wide revaluation came in that day: one bid, at $220,000, with the work to be completed in 2027, and about 30 days to award it. The committee had already recommended putting $140,000 into assessing on top of $60,000 already held; members said they would rather move the whole amount now, out of one savings account into another, so it does not have to be raised before 2027. A member noted that under statute the select board, not the committee, controls capital reserve funds and suggested the money could sit in a CD.

12. 1:00:05
    How the transfers will appear on the warrant

    Members went round the question of whether the capital reserve transfers will be one warrant article or separate articles, and how the Union Church money fits, since the grants matching reserve and the church account are committed rather than capital reserve accounts. The town manager said it looks like they would have to be separate articles. The committee agreed to vote each item separately, so that if the select board rolls them into one the total is already blessed.

13. 1:05:20
    Capital reserve transfers voted one by one

    The committee voted separately on transfers out of the fund balance: $25,000 to public works, $180,000 to the fire department, $10,000 to administration and municipal buildings, and $160,000 to assessing for the revaluation, the last being $20,000 more than the committee had recommended before the bid arrived. Donna had left the meeting sick, leaving seven voting.

14. 1:10:53
    Grants matching reserve

    The committee voted $2,293 to bring the grants matching reserve to about $30,000. The town manager explained it works as a revolving fund: the fire chief needs roughly $20,000 up front for radios and pays it back when the grant money arrives, and the chief and Calvin are pursuing a $5,000 matching safety grant split $2,500 each way.

15. 1:16:05
    Union Church and Eureka transfers

    The committee voted $9,543 into the Union Church restoration reserve, bringing it to $31,000, and $50,000 into the Durham Eureka capital reserve. The $31,000 figure comes from $21,000 already held plus $10,000 raised from the floor at last year's town meeting that went back into the general fund; the stated intent is to give the $31,000 to the Historical Society as a donation if the church transfer goes through.

16. 1:21:09
    Total of the transfers and the flat mill rate

    The chair read back the list of transfers and a total, which the recording renders inconsistently. Members then worked through what would have to come out of the fund balance to hold the municipal rate flat, starting from the town manager's $500,000, adding $28,475 of increases voted that night and $100,000 more for the revaluation, and noted that the flat rate is still a projection until the county and school numbers are known.

17. 1:32:22
    Vote on the fund balance transfer

    The motion was to recommend using $628,475 from the fund balance to offset taxes. In discussion members disputed how much the budget is really growing and whether transfers to reserves count as spending; one member said there is no restraint on spending, another said the money is only being moved from one savings account to another and that without the cushion the town would be raising it in taxes.

18. 1:38:00
    Assigned and unassigned funds, and whether to meet again

    A member asked why assigned and unassigned funds no longer appear separately and was told they are now grouped as the general fund, with restricted and committed shown below; he was advised to email the question to the town manager to put to Mark. The chair asked whether the committee needed another meeting once the select board settles its numbers and members said no, on the understanding that if the select board picks different figures both sets go on the warrant as usual. The meeting then adjourned.

What was decided

• 11:17
  Recommend $473,656 for the administration budgetpassed
• 22:38
  Recommend $22,235 for municipal buildings, keeping the committee's previous figurepassed
• 27:58
  Recommend $124,300 for planning and code enforcement, setting dues and subscriptions at $1,300 rather than the select board's $1,500passed
• 33:15
  Recommend $603,845 for the fire department, raising the health insurance line to $2,500passed
• 38:51
  Recommend $389,000 for solid waste, being $375,000 for hauling, $2,000 for tags and $12,000 for bulky waste, rather than the select board's higher hauling figureoutcome unclear
• 1:05:20
  Transfer $25,000 from the fund balance to the public works capital reservepassed
• 1:05:20
  Transfer $180,000 from the fund balance to the fire department capital reservepassed
• 1:05:20
  Transfer $10,000 from the fund balance to the administration and municipal buildings capital reservepassed
• 1:05:20
  Transfer $160,000 from the fund balance to the assessing reserve for the revaluation, $20,000 above the committee's earlier $140,000passed
• 1:10:53
  Transfer $2,293 from the fund balance to the grants matching reservepassed
• 1:16:05
  Transfer $9,543 from the general fund to the Union Church restoration reserve, bringing it to $31,000passed
• 1:16:05
  Transfer $50,000 from the general fund to the Durham Eureka capital reservepassed
• 1:32:22
  Recommend using $628,475 from the fund balance to offset taxes and hold the municipal rate flatpassed

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

• 49:33
  One bid came in on the day of the meeting for a town-wide revaluation: $220,000, with the work to be completed in 2027, and roughly 30 days to award it. The committee responded by raising its recommended transfer to the assessing reserve from $140,000 to $160,000, on top of $60,000 already held.
• 1:32:22
  Members could not agree how much the budget is growing. Figures used in the meeting included 10.4 percent including the school, 4.29 percent for the municipal budget on the summary sheet, and about 6.5 percent. One member said the only thing keeping the tax rate down is the transfer out of the fund balance.
• 16:54
  A recurring complaint: lines are budgeted on last year's actual plus inflation rather than on 2024 contract prices and insurance rates that are already known. The town manager said figures entered into the Trio system a couple of years ago went in incorrectly, so the older actuals cannot be relied on.
• 1:21:09
  The chair read a total for the seven transfers, but the recording garbles it, giving it as 616,836, 66,836 and 16,836 in the space of a few seconds. The individual amounts voted are the reliable record.

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: 8 passages of motion language, against 13 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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