City Council - Finance Committee

CITY OF EASTHAMPTON OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL Minutes Easthampton Municipal Building 50 Payson Ave., Ste. 100 City Council Easthampton, Massachusetts 01027-2260 Finance Telephone #: (413) 529-1460 Committee Fax #: (413) 529-1417 Meeting, 6/13/2022 Attendees: Finance Committee Members: Councilor Dan Rist, Chair Councilor Tom Peake, Clerk Councilor Koni Denham (clerk) Other Attendees: City Council President Homar Gomez Mayor Nicole LaChapelle City Treasurer Jessica Hebert City Auditor Hetal Patel (remote) Police Chief Robert Alberti Public Works Director Greg Nuttelman Meeting was called to order at 5:00 PM. 1. Approval of Minutes: 6/8/22. Motion made by Councilor Peake and seconded by Councilor Denham. Motion passed 3-0. 2. Mayor’s Communication: The Mayor asked if she could bring a school stabilization account to the Council in our next meeting Councilor Rist believed that could be possible in terms of rules. 3. Public Speak: Julie (no last name given) from Precinct 1 spoke, stating that she appreciated Councilor Gomez’s financial talk and Councilor Rist’s guidance during the budget hearings. She also spoke in favor of moving the $650,000 from free cash to reserves. 4. New Business Supplemental Appropriations: a) $287,769.80 for Cherry St. reconstruction project grant matching funds: This is matching funds, with a substantial amount of money being sent from the Commonwealth. These funds were coming from Enterprise Free Earnings. Motion made by Councilor Peake and seconded by Councilor Denham. Motion passed 3-0. b) $650,000.00 from Free Cash to General & Capital Stabilization Funds: Councilor Rist spoke to the importance of stabilizations, and recalled how it was used in the 2008 recession. City Auditor Hetal Patel stated that after these appropriations, our general stabilization would be $4.72 million, and capital stabilization would be $2.82 million. Mayor LaChapelle stated that the city’s bond rating is currently AA+, which is likely as well as a city the size of  Easthampton could do. Motion made by Councilor Peake and seconded by Councilor Denham. Motion passed 3-0. c) $10,873.19 for Injured on Duty claims from prior fiscal years: City Auditor Hetal Patel stated that an audit found unpaid medical bills from our insurer from 2017-2019. Motion made by Councilor Denham and seconded by Councilor Peake. Motion passed 3-0. d) $17,000.00 to cover Medicare tax for remainder of FY ’22: City Auditor Hetal Patel stated that there was an estimate amount budgeted at the start of each fiscal year, but that the amount changes as people get raises etc. It would be impractical to recalculate every time this occurred so the city usually waited until the end of the fiscal year. Councilor Gomez asked what would happen if the city did not pay this, and City Treasurer Jessica Hebert stated we would likely be fined by the IRS. Motion made by Councilor Peake and seconded by Councilor Denham. Motion passed 3-0. e) $51,828.48 for the PEG Access Account for cable related purposes: This is an regularly occurring pass-through to Easthampton Media. Motion made by Councilor Denham and seconded by Councilor Peake. Motion passed 3-0. f) City Auditor Patel stated the current balances of accounts. Free Cash $308,615.81 Retained Earnings $1,564,282.20 5. Continuing Business  Quarterly fiscal reports from the City Auditor: This was not discussed tonight.  Quarterly Report on Covid-19 grant funding and spending: This was not discussed tonight.  Review of elected officials/board & committee stipends. This was not discussed tonight. By motion made by Councilor Denham and seconded by Councilor Peake, the meeting was adjourned at 5:29 PM Next meeting: 5/22/22