Town Council - Ways & Means Committee

MEMBERS Braintree Town Council Thomas Bowes, Chairman Committee of Ways & Means Shannon Hume, Vice-Chair One JFK Memorial Drive Stephen C. O’Brien, Member Braintree, Massachusetts 02184 Timothy Carey, Member Thomas Whalen, Member MINUTES May 8, 2019 A meeting of the Committee of Ways & Means was held in the Cahill Auditorium, Braintree Town Hall, on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 6:30p.m. Councilor Bowes was in the Chair. The Clerk of the Council conducted the roll call. Present: Thomas Bowes, Chairman Shannon Hume, Vice-Chair Stephen C. O’Brien, Member Timothy Carey, Member Thomas Whalen, Member Also Present: Joseph Reynolds, Chief of Staff Edward Spellman, Finance Director Paul Shastany, Police Chief James O’Brien, Fire Chief Maryann Bosse, Financial Coordinator Fire Dept. Corey Chambers, Financial Coordinator BPD Steven Moore, Assistant Superintendent Blue Hills Regional Erik Erskine, Blue Hills Regional Town Representative Shawn McGoldrick, Town Auditor The meeting was opened with the pledge of allegiance to the flag followed by a moment of silence for all those serving in our armed services, past and present. Approval of Minutes • None May 8, 2019 Ways & Means Committee 1 of 5 New Business • 19 015 Mayor: FY2020 Operating Budget or take up any action relative thereto Motion made by Councilor Hume to TAKE OFF the TABLE Order 19 015 Motion: by Councilor Hume Second: by Councilor O’Brien Vote: For (5– Bowes, Carey, Hume, O’Brien, Whalen), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) The following Departments were in attendance to present their proposed FY2020 Budget: APPENDIX F Pages Police 34-43 Fire 44-52 Blue Hills Regional High School 58 (see additional documents) Committee members asked each department many questions about increase/decrease line items. Department 210 Police Paul Shastany, Chief of Police, noted the FY2020 department budget request is $10,405,868. We have taken every means available to reduce our expenditures. Many expenditure increases are due to collective bargaining and present staffing levels. Councilor Hume asked about Accreditation. Chief Shastany stated that is complete review of all of our policies and operational methods. All of our policies are written and some are in bargaining right now. We hope by the fall we will be a fully accredited department. Councilor O’Brien stated your Investigation Funds trend up and it is good you looked at this line and requested enough in this fund. Councilor Carey asked why the amount for Annual Physicals decreased. Corey Chambers stated we have found charges for annual physicals are small and infrequent. Medical Payments is a more appropriate and broader line item to place that money. There was a shift in line items. Councilor Bowes asked about the Cell Phone increase. Corey Chambers stated he broke this into two categories one being the actual Cell Phones and the other being Data Process Costs. Councilor O’Brien asked if your organization would be supportive or standard maintenance to the in- house maintenance with the DPW. Chief Shastany stated absolutely. Corey Chambers stated the Sworn Personnel decrease is due to a function of the head count transfers. Councilor Hume stated in my opinion your overtime is significantly underfunded. Chief Shastany stated the directive from the Mayors was he felt we could manage our overtime as best we could. The decision comes from the Mayor and the executive staff. Joe Reynolds, Chief of Staff stated this is a philosophy. Some of this is not anticipated. We understand this will be allocated either today or through the year. Chief Shastany stated we do keep track of why we needed overtime. Councilor O’Brien stated we should not try to balance out the budget with low-balling the overtime. I think it is wrong. Joe Reynolds, Chief of Staff stated I agree this is a difference of opinion. May 8, 2019 Ways & Means Committee 2 of 5 Department 220 Fire James O’Brien, Fire Chief noted the FY2020 department budget request is $8,736,445. The Braintree Fire Department consists of 89 members. There are 84 firefighters on the suppression side and 5 admin. We have 4 engines, 2 ladders, 1 spare and 1 heavy rescue. The Braintree Fire Department does about 7,000 runs per year. Medical calls are up and fires are down. Councilor Hume asked about overtime. Chief O’Brien stated we maintain a contractually obligated 17 man minimum per shift. FMLA has crushed us this year along with long-term sick and administrative leave. We are at an all-time high for usage this year. FMLA is federally mandated and there is nothing we can do about that. Councilor Carey asked for an update on the Fire Headquarters. Chief O’Brien stated the outside of the building will get some updating and repairs. Joe Reynolds, Chief of Staff stated the fire HVAC will be getting updated and repaired. Councilor Hume asked about the Uniform amounts budgeted. Is it too low? Maryanne Bosse, Fire Department Financial Analyst stated with new hires and promotions the individuals need to be fully outfitted. Councilor Hume asked about overtime on the fire boat. Chief O’Brien stated it is minimum manning of 3. Depending on the incident we may send up to 6 and that is why we budget for this number. Councilor Bowes stated I see you are requesting $375,000 in overtime. We know this overtime request will probably exceed the $375,000. Councilor O’Brien stated how can fire overtime take such a large reduction. It is just another Supplemental waiting to happen – that’s the way I look at it. Chairman Bowes called a 5 minute recess from 7:40pm to 7:45pm. Department 350 Blue Hills Regional High School Steven Moore, Blue Hills Regional Assistant Superintendent for Business and Personnel noted the FY2020 department budget request is $2,697,242. Steven Moore mentioned construction on the building renovations began last summer 2018. There were many unforeseen conditions. A lot of underground worked needed to happen with pipes not being where they were supposed to be. We were told we are 60% complete. This will run about 2 months over and could cost approximately $1 million additional dollars. We invite you to come by anytime. The Committee of Ways & Means members asked about increase/decrease line items. We have taken a lot of steps in previous year’s budgets to get ready for the building renovations. This year we negotiated a 1% increase for salaries across the board. We have obtained some net metering solar credits to reduce electricity costs. We froze a lot of lines in the budget which only increased by 2.1% this year. We did not spend a lot of money last year. There were some lines we had money left over. We did that purposely. Steven Moore explained looking at the Blue Hills Worksheet page 5 how this May 8, 2019 Ways & Means Committee 3 of 5  budget was funded and how it will be funded in the future. Number of Braintree students enrolled is 138 for the upcoming year. The $90,000 drop in the Student Services line is tied to a reduction in the number of buses the district will use to transport students to and from school in 2020. This will increase travel time by 5 to 10 minutes. Insurance Programs increased by 4% for active employees health insurance costs. Councilor Hume asked if there is any OPEB funding started yet. Steven Moore stated no funding has been set up yet. Ed Spellman stated currently there is no funding date requirement. Councilor Hume asked if we should be concerned. Ed Spellman stated it is a liability to the 9 member towns. Councilor O’Brien stated great job with the “belt-tightening” of the budget. Motion made by Councilor Hume to TABLE Order 19 015 to the Committee of Ways & Means meeting on May 13, 2019. Motion: by Councilor Hume Second: by Councilor O’Brien Vote: For (5– Bowes, Carey, Hume, O’Brien, Whalen), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) • 19 016 Mayor: FY2020 Budget – Community Preservation Committee or take up any action relative thereto (Presented by Christine Stickney on May 13) This item will be discussed at the Budget meeting on May 13, 2018. Motion made by Councilor Hume to TABLE Order 19 016 to the Committee of Ways & Means meeting on May 13, 2019. Motion: by Councilor Hume Second: by Councilor O’Brien Vote: For (5– Bowes, Carey, Hume, O’Brien, Whalen), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) • 19 017 Mayor: FY2020 Revolving Accounts or take up any action relative thereto (Revolving Accounts to be presented on the date Department Head presents Budget) 5/6 Library® (R3, R4) 5/7 Department of Public Works (Recycling) (R5, R6) 5/7 Golf (R8) 5/13 Dept. of Elder Affairs (R1) 5/13 Municipal Licenses & Inspections (R2) 5/13 Education (R7) Motion made by Councilor Hume to TAKE OFF the TABLE Order 19 017 Motion: by Councilor Hume Second: by Councilor O’Brien Vote: For (5– Bowes, Carey, Hume, O’Brien, Whalen), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) May 8, 2019 Ways & Means Committee 4 of 5  Motion made by Councilor Hume to TABLE Order 19 017 to the Committee of Ways & Means meeting on May 13, 2019. Motion: by Councilor Hume Second: by Councilor O’Brien Vote: For (5– Bowes, Carey, Hume, O’Brien, Whalen), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (0) Old Business • None It was unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting at 8:26p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan M. Cimino Clerk of the Council Documents provided for Meeting • 19 015 Mayor: FY2020 Operating Budget or take up any action relative thereto • 19 016 Mayor: FY2020 Budget – Community Preservation Committee or take up any action relative thereto • 19 017 Mayor: FY2020 Revolving Accounts or take up any action relative thereto May 8, 2019 Ways & Means Committee 5 of 5