Finance Committee, March 4, 2021

The town published an agenda for this meeting. No minutes have been published; the recording is the only record, and what follows is a guide to it.

budgetbudget fy27capitalchapter 70enrollmentesserfacilitiesfree cashgrantshealth insurancehiringmonty techpersonnelroads and dpwschool choicestaffingstate aidtown departmentstown meetingwarrant article

Present: Terry (chair); Peter (member); Chris (member); Evan (member); Dave (member); Jay (member); Heather Stroka (member); Heather Lemieux (town manager / finance director); Karen (town accountant); Tammy Crockett (presenter (Monty Tech business manager)); Dr. Hardy (presenter (Monty Tech superintendent)); Robert Oliva (presenter (DPW director)). Names are the caption model’s hearing and may be wrong.

Votes

No substantive votes heard. 2 procedural.

Transfers

The money

1. ▶ 3:08Monty Tech grants

   Monty Tech received a math skills capital grant and a career tech initiative grant for its programs.

   as heard:323 dollars125 000

2. ▶ 7:13Monty Tech foundation budget

   Foundation budget and per-pupil minimum spending were stated.

   as heard:25 million two 842 one ninety oneseventeen thousand six eighty eight per pupil

3. ▶ 7:54Chapter 70 minimum aid

   Monty Tech gets only minimum per-pupil Chapter 70 aid, while required net school spending rose, shifting cost to member communities.

   as heard:forty three thousand eight thirty556 thousand five hundred thirty dollarsfive hundred twelve thousand seven hundred dollars

4. ▶ 9:58ESSER II offset of assessments

   Monty Tech will use federal ESSER II money to offset community required minimum contribution increases, which creates a cliff in FY23.

   as heard:651 823forty thousand seven fifty eight40 0758

5. ▶ 15:35Monty Tech total budget and assessments

   The budget approved the previous night rose about one percent, using E&D to hold the assessment increase down.

   as heard:29 million 114 049299 000 1841.04 budget increase450 00011 million 278 6002.69 increase

6. ▶ 18:00Lunenburg Monty Tech assessment

   Lunenburg's proposed FY22 assessment and its increase were stated.

   as heard:897 44820 850ten thousand eight thirteen per pupil

7. ▶ 23:37Monty Tech E&D and stabilization

   Monty Tech proposes using E&D to reduce assessments and adds a small annual amount to its stabilization fund.

   as heard:450 0001.287 millionforty 226.40

8. ▶ 48:49School choice revenue

   Monty Tech takes in school choice tuition into a separate revolving fund that does not affect assessments.

   as heard:5 000 per pupil

9. ▶ 57:10DPW seasonal cemetery laborers

   Two seasonal cemetery laborers are proposed with clothing allowance and a new supplies line.

   as heard:550 per laborerten thousand dollarstwenty three thousand dollars

10. ▶ 58:12Highway overtime

    Highway overtime is raised to match a five-year average.

    as heard:sixty seven hundred dollars ninety centsten thousand dollars

11. ▶ 59:57Facilities technician

    The added facilities technician accounts for the increase in the facilities line.

    as heard:43 743 above target562 412 dollars in six cents518 25 and 61 cents

12. ▶ 1:02:46Snow and ice account

    FY21 snow spending is well over the level-funded appropriation, and deficit spending is allowed.

    as heard:seventy five thousand dollarsthree hundred and fifty one thousand275 720

13. ▶ 1:04:48General highway stormwater and pavement

    Stormwater management line rises for MS4 permit work, supplies split into supplies and engineering, and pavement management increases.

    as heard:25 00070 thousand35 thousand50 000625 000 500695 500

14. ▶ 1:06:52Pavement management funding sources

    Pavement program is funded from the budget, Chapter 90, and a dwindling debt exclusion.

    as heard:450 000416 000almost 280 000

15. ▶ 1:09:20DPW line items

    Highway labor, signs, vehicle maintenance, cemetery, tree removal, parks, utilities and facilities lines were presented, mostly level funded.

    as heard:501 one hundred and five dollars and forty five cents28 253182 48094 239 dollars and sixty two cents28 795235 000 553 and 10 cents

16. ▶ 1:20:13Chapter 90 used for equipment

    A member questioned using Chapter 90 money on equipment given past borrowing for road catch-up.

    as heard:160 000three million dollars

17. ▶ 1:34:50Snow budget level funding

    Snow budget stays level; overruns covered by year-end transfers or free cash, with members debating transparency.

    as heard:275300 000350a hundred thousand

18. ▶ 2:10:45Warrant stabilization and OPEB deposits

    Warrant articles include a stabilization deposit and the OPEB deposit under the free cash policy.

    as heard:a hundred thousand180 thousand four hundred and eighteen dollars

19. ▶ 2:12:07Cemetery lot sales article

    Cemetery commission asked to appropriate from the sale of lots account.

    as heard:15 000

20. ▶ 2:18:32Ambulance billing revolving limit

    The revolving limit covers collection fees, with revenue net of those fees going to the general fund.

    as heard:hundred thousand dollars

21. ▶ 2:37:08Health insurance premium holiday stabilization

    Town and school premium holiday savings are to go into a health insurance stabilization account; the town renewal rate fell slightly.

    as heard:minus 0.03 percent3 500128 076 dollars and thirty six cents241 two 257.67369 334308 thousand eight fifty seven

Settled without a vote

• ▶ 1:28:16Members asked that the parks and cemetery commissions review and vote on their DPW budget lines before they come to the committee.
• ▶ 2:02:58Warrant letter draft to be emailed to members for written comments; committee prefers to vote on it March 25.
• ▶ 2:40:56Town side personnel information to be provided at next week's meeting.
• ▶ 2:39:53Next week: public access, sewer and administration; the following: public schools information technology.

Documents and exhibits

State law asks minutes to list the documents and exhibits used at a meeting (M.G.L. c.30A §22(a)). Names from the recording are the caption model’s hearing; the two sides are matched by name, by script, so a document named two different ways can be missed. A place to look, not a finding.

Where the time went

Minutes of recording by subject, from the topic spans below. A topic with two subjects counts toward both.

• roads and dpw64 min · 39%
• monty tech53 min · 32%
• capital49 min · 30%
• town departments37 min · 23%
• budget fy2726 min · 16%
• staffing26 min · 16%
• warrant article26 min · 16%
• town meeting26 min · 16%
• chapter 7025 min · 15%
• esser25 min · 15%

The whole meeting, in order

1. ▶ 0:00Monty Tech superintendent: pandemic response and grantsinformational · 4:29 long · monty tech, grants, technology
2. ▶ 4:29Monty Tech FY22 budget, Chapter 70, ESSER II offset, assessmentinformational · 24:41 long · monty tech, chapter 70, esser
3. ▶ 29:30Questions to Monty Tech: insurance, E&D, cliff, enrollment, school choiceinformational · 23:49 long · monty tech, school choice, enrollment
4. ▶ 53:19DPW director budget presentationinformational · 26:11 long · roads and dpw, budget fy27, staffing
5. ▶ 1:19:30DPW questions: Chapter 90, vehicle maintenance, parks, snow budget, street lights, softwareinformational · 37:24 long · roads and dpw, capital, town departments
6. ▶ 1:57:17Finance Committee warrant letter draftreferred · 11:03 long · warrant article, town meeting
7. ▶ 2:08:13Draft warrant articles reviewinformational · 14:27 long · warrant article, town meeting, planning and zoning
8. ▶ 2:22:43Approval of minutesvoted · 1:04 long
9. ▶ 2:24:08Committee reports: parks, TC Passios, capital planning, school committeeinformational · 11:53 long · recreation, capital, primary school
10. ▶ 2:36:01Finance director health insurance stabilization worksheetinformational · 3:32 long · health insurance, free cash
11. ▶ 2:39:53Next meetings, public comment, adjournmentvoted · 4:37 long

What the captions could not carry

• Several roll-call tallies are only partly audible; outcomes inferred from spoken ayes are marked as heard.
• A stretch near 5939-5970 on the timing for year-end transfers is garbled.
• Some dollar amounts are unreliable, e.g. the math skills grant stated as 323 dollars.

Reports this meeting suggests

Our reading of the discussion: questions where numbers were in play and a page laying them out would have helped. Every meeting’s suggestions are merged into one register.

• ▶ 9:58ESSER II assessment offsetHow big is the FY23 funding cliff when Monty Tech's one-time ESSER II offset and E&D use end?already answered: topic:monty-tech-assessment
• ▶ 1:02:46Snow and ice budgetHow does level-funded snow and ice compare with actual spending and how are overruns covered?
• ▶ 2:37:08Health insurance stabilizationHow much premium holiday savings go into the new stabilization account from town and schools?
• ▶ 1:07:13Chapter 90 usesHow much Chapter 90 money goes to paving versus equipment?

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