Warner Budget Committee

Meeting Minutes

Monday, October 15, 2009

Meeting opened at 7:05 p.m.

In attendance:   Marc Violette - Chairman

                        Mike Cutting

                        Kimberley Edelmann

                        Alfred Hanson

                        Martha Bodnarik

                        Peter Newman – Warner Village Water District Representative

                        Clyde Carson – Selectman’s Representative

Absent:             None      

Others present: Selectman David Karrick, Jr., Laura Buono – Town Administrator, Jeanne Hand, Marianne Howlett, Martha Mical, Judith Rogers, Ed Mical, Jim Hand  

1. Resignation

Chairman Violette read into the record a letter of resignation submitted by John Warner on October 3, 2009 .  

Chairman Violette noted for the record that Mr. Warner had a lot of great ideas during his 2.5 year tenure.  

Mr. Warner was the Vice Chair on the Committee and Martha Bodnarik moved to appoint Kimberley Edelmann as Vice Chair.  Motion was seconded.  

Selectman Carson moved to appoint Mike Cutting as Vice Chairman.  Motion was seconded.   

Alfred Hanson feels the vacant position should be filled before nominating a Vice Chair.  

By a show of hands, Mike Cutting was nominated as Vice Chair.   

2. Meeting Minutes

Motion was made and seconded to approve meeting minutes dated September 21, 2009 .  

3. Vacancy Discussion

The members decided to fill the position.  Mike Cutting moved to have the Selectmen’s office advertise for the vacancy.  Motion was seconded.  A member recommended contacting the individuals who were interested when Selectman Carson’s position became vacant.  All were in favor, the motion passed.  

4. Draft Budget

The Town Administrator explained that the draft budget before them does not have all the changes because earlier this evening she was contacted with the new health insurance rate.  She would first like discussion on the Selectmen level.  The difference is, the operating budget is lower than last year.  

Selectman Carson reported that the tax rate was set at $23.60 (town, school & county), Precinct rate is $2.50.  The Selectmen applied $35,000 to offset the tax rate which made up for the shared revenue the Town did not receive which was anticipated on receiving.  

The Budget Committee scheduled a meeting for October 28 beginning at 7:00 p.m. to review the updated draft budget.  The Committee asked that Department Heads be informed of the meeting so that they may attend.   

Alfred Hanson asked the Selectmen in attendance if they are satisfied with their budget.  Selectman Carson said he feels the Department Heads have done a good job; there are one time items that are not happening next year which is helping the budget, if anything, his concern is the budget has been cut to lean.  One example is heating, he feels the original draft was to lean and the Selectmen increased the heating fuel in case the prices increase next fall.  

Alfred Hanson said the majority of savings in the draft budget is heating fuel, he said the majority of the departments show an increase in their budget.  Alfred asked the Town Clerk if the $10K for record preservation is necessary in 2010.  Town Clerk Judy Rogers said by law the Town is required to preserve records and she agreed that the amount of $10K could be lowered.   

The Town Administrator feels that it is important not to cut too much out of the budget to a point where the Town is playing catch-up for years later.  The Town Administrator said the budgets have been lean leaving no room for surprises.  One area the Town Administrator is trying to save in is purchasing a new copier; the cost is a little over $5K.  The current copier is costing the Town $2K per year for the service contract because it is an old unit, plus the cost of ink cartridges for three desk top copiers which would be able to network to a new copier.     

Martha Bodnarik commented on the cost of uniforms that totals $15K for three departments.  She asked why the Town provides this service, the cost is rising every year and she feels the Town does not have extra money to buy and clean uniforms.   

Mike Cutting asked if there are any wage increases for 2010.  The Town Administrator said the draft budget includes those employees that did not receive a 4% increase last year, it is a rotation process.  She said the scale increase is based on what the State does and 2010 is the first year for an adjustment but the State is not increasing by any percentage.  Based on the new process, there are 7 employees eligible for wage increases in 2010.  Martha Bodnarik suggested putting a hold on any wage increases for one year, she said people on average that live in town are not getting raises and she feels it is unreasonable to ask the residents to pay salary increases to people who are feeling secure in their jobs.  The Committee would like to know the total cost for wage increases.  Martha Bodnarik said it’s not about the actual dollars, it’s the message the residents get, is a line being held. Selectman Carson said the total wages for 2010 have decreased by $20K, this reflects a reduction of hours in some cases and vacancies.  Selectman Carson would like to look at the total cost including benefits.  The Committee would also like to see the total dollar amount for wages and any impacts to the decreased budget; the Town Administrator said there is no impact to services and the Selectmen made the Sunday hours at the Transfer Station permanent.  

Jim Hand who is Warner’s representative to the school’s budget committee said negotiations are on going for the paraprofessionals.  He asked the members what they feel would be appropriate for wage increases.  The Committee asked what the comparisons in like positions are.  Mr. Hand feels the compensation is comparable to other communities.  The Committee said there are two aspects to look at, what the Social Security increase is, which is 0%, and what is the wage increase norm out in the communities right now, they are flat.    

5. Adjournment

Motion was made and seconded to adjourn at 8:00 p.m.  

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Whalen

Recording Secretary