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Warner Budget Committee Meeting Minutes Meeting
opened at In
attendance: Marc Violette – Chair
John Warner – Vice Chair
Harold Whittemore
Peter Newman – Warner Village Water District Representative
David Karrick Jr. – Selectman’s Representative Absent:
Mike Cutting, Brenda O’Brien
Selectman
Richard A. Cook
Laura Buono – Town Administrator Selectman
David Jim
Hand
Barbara Annis
Ed
Mical Martha Mical 1. Resignation Chairman
Violette read into the record a letter of resignation submitted by
Brenda O’Brien. Brenda’s
residency has changed to the Town of 2. Meeting
Minutes Motion was made and
seconded to approve meeting minutes dated 3. 2009 Budget Town
Administrator, Laura Buono explained there were some minor changes such
as a recent change in the unemployment extended benefits figure as well
as the cap rate for unleaded gasoline ($3.00).
These changes did not increase the bottom line (.60% increase),
they were a wash. Chairman
Violette called for questions from the Committee, none were received.
Chairman Violette then callED for questions from the public. Jeanne
Hand asked why salaries were increased more than the cost of living.
Ms. Buono explained the average wage increase is 4%.
A new wage grid was also developed which will need approval by
the Board of Selectmen. Chairman
Violette explained to Ms. Hand that the Budget Committee decided years
ago that the Budget Committee is not the appropriate vehicle to dispute
wage increases. John Warner
also added that if the Budget Committee did not agree with the
percentage of the wage increases discussion would have taken place
earlier in the budget process. Jim
Hand asked about the new wage grid.
Ms. Buono explained there are new grade and step levels.
This year employees will be placed on the closest step to their
current wage in 2008, eligibility to the next step is every other year.
John Warner explained the previous system gave no preferential
treatment in the sense of a management tool for people who were doing
well and for people who were not doing as well, so another tool was
created. Jeanne Hand
confirmed that the new tool covers people whether they do well or not.
John Warner said no, he explained the opposite. Ms.
Buono said another part is employee evaluations; you can’t not show up
for work, abuse policies and expect a pay increase.
Selectman Cook also added the direction that has come from Town
Meeting is the voters do not want to see employees on the floor at Town
Meeting asking for pay raises. Ms.
Buono has worked with the Department Heads and has created a system that
is fair and equitable to the employees.
Jeanne Hand asked if it is ever considered fair to the taxpayers
when salaries are increased, especially during these tough economic
times. John Warner asked
Jeanne what evidence is there that the Budget Committee is not concerned
about that; the proposal is for a minus .6% increase in the taxes for
next year. Jeanne said, why
not go lower. Chairman
Violette explained that Laura Buono and the Board of Selectmen have
presented a fiscally responsible budget exceeding the Budget Committees
request of a flat budget. Selectman
Karrick suggested to Ms. Hand that perhaps her efforts should be more
focused on the county and school budget. John
Warner explained that he has completed research on the history of tax
rates and learned that a homeowner who has not completed any renovations
experienced about a 3% per year increase in their tax rate which is
similar to the cost of living from year to year.
Another factor is the surplus (amount in reserve for cash flow
purposes); there are no longer large amounts of surplus available to off
set the tax rate because budgets are tighter and revenues are estimated
closer. The Town experienced
a spike this year in the tax rate because of the lack of surplus.
The Department of Revenue Administration explained that if the
Town does a good job in budgeting the recommended amount of surplus will
only be maintained, there will not be any surplus available to apply to
the tax rate. Jeanne
Hand asked if the proposed 2009 budget is the best that can be done.
Chairman Violette said that he feels the budget is fiscally
responsible without impacting services to the Town. 4. Revenues Revenues
show an approximate $50K decrease for 2009.
Jeanne
Hand said her bottom line worry is there are parts of the budget that
can still be lowered. Martha
Mical explained that the revenues are looked at twice a year, if it
shows that revenues are lower than expected the Selectmen have the
ability to freeze budget. Ms.
Buono added that freezing the budget does not lower the tax rate because
the money has been raised and appropriated.
John
Warner explained to Ms. Hand that in the beginning of the process there
was discussion on what budget items the Town has control over.
This year the budget presented showed little change from last
year without impacting infrastructure projects and services.
Selectman
Cook explained that the Board of Selectmen does not receive much feed
back from the taxpayers on the budget.
The Selectmen have not heard from people to cut services and make
drastic changes, he feels the budget presented to the Budget Committee
is a fiscally responsible one. 5. Public Hearing The
Budget Committee Public Hearing is scheduled for 6. Adjournment Motion
to adjourn was made and seconded. All
were in favor, the motion passed. Respectfully
submitted, Mary
Whalen Recording
Secretary
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