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 MINUTES FINANCE Meeting 10/13/2021 Attendees: FINANCE Committee Members: Councilor Dan Rist, Chair Councilor Peg Conniff Councilor Homar Gomez Other Attendees: Hetal Patel, Auditor Jen Gallant, City Treasurer Christopher Norris, Fire Chief Jeff Bagg, City Planner Randy Austin, Assessor Meeting called to order at 5:00pm. The meeting was held remotely due to the COVID-19 pan- demic and was videotaped. Approval of Minutes from 9/29/21. Motion Councilor Gomez, Second Councilor Conniff. Ap- proved 2-0. (Councilor Rist abstained) Mayor Communication: None Public Speak: None New Business 1. Request from Assessor: A. Re: annual tax classification hearing Discussion around the scheduling of the Classi- fication Hearing for November 3. Assessor Austin asked about other communities that he can use for comparisons. Conniff suggested he touch base with City Clerk to identi- fy any communities she uses for other comparisons. 2. Supplemental Appropriations A. $298,872 from Cannabis Stabilization for a New Ambulance. This ambulance will be purchased as part of 2 new ambulances which will give the EFD a discount. This will replace a 2013 ambulance with 101,000 miles on it. The remaining ambu- lance is a 2018 with 79,000 miles. Additional mileage happens because we now support Westhampton. Motion (Conniff), Second (Gomez) passed 3-0 B. $97,000 from Cannabis Stabilization to the City Planner’s budget. This additional funding will be used to fund about 40% of the City Planners salary for FY21. Funds will remain in the department. Also to fund general planning activities in- cluding hiring consultants for cannabis impacts, and due diligence and creation of design plans. Lastly, it will be used for City’s annual PVPC membership assess- ment levied to all communities in the region. Jeff Bagg explained how these rev- enue sources can be used to pay his salary which will allow the other parts of the budget to fund a full time Conservation Agent. The plan is to eventually increase the Planning budget and not need to use this funding source. Motion (Gomez), Second (Conniff) passed 3-0 3. Interdepartmental Transfer A. $6,000 to supplement Building Department Budget - to correct a shortfall resulting from a payroll obligation that was missed on original budget creation. Motion (Conniff), Second (Gomez) passed 3-0 Meeting Adjourned at 5:50PM Next Meeting TBD