Minutes
Finance Commission · from the Town's website · 3 pages · 123 KB
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Winthrop Finance Commission Minutes Date: Thursday, May 29, 2025, at 6:00pm - Attendees: TOW=-SteveGaHa (SC), Robbie Powers (RP), SARA tf Teh son FC: Karin Chavis (KC), William Gault (WG), Matt Gorzkowicz (MG), Hannah Belcher (HB), John DaRos (JD), Shannon Poulos (SP), Joe Hanton (JH, Max Tassinari (MT), John Macero JM) Absent: Shannon Poulos, Brent Farrell Other: Jim Letterie JL), Suzanne Swope (SS), Sarah Johnson (SJ), Erin Barcellos (EM) Meeting called to order at 6:014 pm by MG. Roll call vote completed by KC. All present except individuals noted above. Motion to approve the minutes of the 5/22 meeting by MT 2" by JD All in favor except one abstention by JH MG: Agenda for tonight is open to discuss recommendations to make to the Council; sent out draft memo based on last year's memo with relevant updates/new deliberations etc. KC: need to update in memo that Cheryl McCormick here 2x, Council on Aging, Vets; Override vote was April (not March) MG: Memo reviews maintenance level budgets/level service funding in depts.; - _ includes information on 2 V2 override and how those funds are allocated to school — cures structural deficit left by ARPA funds - Points out that insurance (GIC) increases are still an issue (9% last year, 15% this year} ~ Solid Waste fund — structurally better due to anticipated fee increase (allows lower general fund contribution/less reliance on retained earnings) - Harbormaster reorganization into WPD KC: Question regarding Pauline St. Revolving fund (for gym) — how do we pay for electrics, etc. with lost revenue while gym is out of commission due to old middle schoo! construction? SJ: Will look into it MG: requests table of revolving funds & balances from SJ MG: recommendation for GIC commission to be established to look into upcoming renewal, contribution ratios, etc. SJ: Public Employee commission deals with rates, reps from labor unions; largest unions have weighted votes KC: HR did study on comp in other municipalities, many are 75/25 split; would only apply to NEW employees MG: School budget - More detailed than prior FYs - Should include vocational schools amounts to show total cost of education JH: Can we get more detail on “OTHER” expenses? MT: Does TC vote on trash fee increase? HB: No, TM has authority MG: General notes for memo - Aim for more multiyear forecasting; will help explain education stabilization fund o JM: that money can be REQUESTED by schools, but needs to be approved by TC o JL: hoping for financial policy update to put 3% of free cash to Ed. Stabilization o JM: if $1.4M in stabilization isn't touched, it doubles +3% over time o JL Override $ HAS to go to school for 1* year, stabilization fund amount HAS to go every year MG: Should took at projections for stabilization to see when drawdown should happen MT: Do projections show the double-digit increases in expenses? MG: yes MG: Will highlight that school override lifts some pressure from the town budget SJ: investment earnings stay with relevant funds MG: Update on fire house as it relates to finance? JL: may start to borrow but won't hit until 2027; OPM paid in stages ($1M), demo & asbestos mitigation ($1.5-$1.8M) MT: Senator Edwards put in earmark for $2M for demo; only $1M is tied to housing JM: Tony can touch base with Lydia to check on this MG: Dept. of Public Health — large dollar amount to identify if grants were not successful KC: Meredith said she is hopeful but won’t know for sure until July SP: State is prioritizing DPH HB: even if we can't identify the full amount, should find what could be used to close gaps; should include percentage of grant funding for relevant departments MG: focus on IT needs ~ Should be more centralized/coordinated approach to IT across departments - Al for service delivery? - JD: seems that depts are at different stages of digitization; would have potential cost savings KC: IT committees have been started in the past but are not fruitful HB: Could make push from the administrative side JM: Agree, should come from both town and school SP: Many issues with receiving school budget in preferred format are IT shortfalls — system should be able to ‘tag’ teachers by subject, rather than steps & lanes; need to look holistically JD: need metrics to determine point at which IT investment ‘pays off’ KC: TC should direct TM to take action JM: tech committee should drive initiatives MG: have we looked regionally for tech needs? BG: need hard data to identify forecasted cost savings JD: Can look at ROI year-over-year MG: Departments seem adequately funded, no large holes/gaps JD: Should identify potential gaps in grant fundings and potential need to look into stabilization/reserve funds MG: will highlight uncertainty in economic landscape MT: highlight that schools are still at level service KC: was good to see newer dept. heads; no one asked for additional money for their dept. MG: Next steps are to finish memo by weekend and present to TC on Tuesday JD: Motion to adjourn, 2"4 by BG Adjourned at 7:54