City Council - Finance Committee

CITY OF EASTHAMPTON OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL Easthampton Municipal Building 50 Payson Ave., Ste. 100 Easthampton, Massachusetts 01027-2260 Telephone #: (413) 529-1460 Fax #: (413) 529-1417 Finance Committee meeting 4-22-2020 Chair – Dan Rist Members –Bill Lynch (Clerk) – Peg Conniff Councilor Rist called the meeting to order at 5:33 pm through Zoom application Minutes: A Motion was made by councilor Lynch, second by councilor Conniff to approve the Minutes for meeting on 4-8-2020 – Pass 3-0 Mayor Update – The Mayor and Treasurer are working on a report that will be a monthly report on the financial situation of the City. This should be started up in July or August. Public communications – None New Business – Supplemental Appropriation from Free Cash To Worker’s Comp for $15,000 – The City Personnel Director feels that there will be a spike in Worker’s Comp cases due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Councilor Lynch made a motion to approve, Councilor Conniff second the motion and it passed 3-0 Supplemental Appropriation from Free Cash to Medicare Tax for $30,000 – Val Bernier the City Auditor explained that it is an estimate when they budget and there are a lot of factors that would change it from Union contracts and payroll changes that change outside of the fiscal year. Councilor Conniff asked what the budget was to start – Val explained that the City has $124K and the School had $176K totaling $300K. So far $238K has been spent and with the remaining pay periods left and the Medicare cost around $11k per week this will bring us to the end of the year. Councilor Lynch made the motion to approve, Councilor Conniff second the motion and it passed 3-0 Supplemental Appropriation from Free Cash to City Legal for $15,000 – Councilor Rist went through the line items and the different Legal offices and asked for an explanation of what they are used for. It was explained that there are some added expenses around Union workers how to handle paying them properly for working from home and some of the policy changes that have needed attention due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The budget for this line was $65K, so far year to date we have spent $52,611.26. That This appropriation would give us a balance of $27K to continue to work on what is needed for the Pandemic, easements for the Union street project and pending bills that have not been submitted by the law firms. Councilor Lynch made a motion to approve, Councilor Conniff second the motion and it passed 3-0 Continuing Business – Salaries and Stipends – Continued Proposal of MGL Chapeter 44B - Continued Councilor Lynch made a motion to adjourn second by Councilor Conniff and it passed 3-0 Submitted by, Bill Lynch