City Council - Finance Committee

Finance Committee Minutes May 20, 2025 Members present: Chair Tom Peake, Councilor Koni Denham, Councilor Peg Conni Members absent: None Also in Attendance: Hetal Patel, City Auditor; Mayor LaChapelle; Lindsi Sekula, Salem Derby; Tamara Smith, Michael Owens Meeting called to order by Councilor Peake at 5:30 pm 1. Public Speak Time: No one from the public chose to speak 2. Approval of the Prior Meeting Minutes: Minutes from April 9, 2025. Councilor Conni made motion to approve. Councilor Denham seconded. Motion passes 3-0 3. Mayor’s Communications: None 4. New Business: FY 2026 Budget review and discussion: 4.1 GENERAL GOVERNMENT A. City Council Salaries are unchanged. Legal is up slightly so funding will be tracked by this line item B. Mayor i. Salaries - Mayor by Ordinance; Clerical according to Pay Plan; Training is up 2% for MMA Conferences; Dues are up 1% for MMA Dues and Mileage has been adjusted up to align to Fed mileage rate. ii. City Attorney - Flat funded iii. Licensing - Some funding in case something comes up but very little is spent on this line item. iv. Assessor: Salary and Steps and collective bargaining dictate this salary. Education and Travel - Travel has been removed from this line item. v. Auditor: Salary went down. Reduction in hours from 40 to 35. vi. Treasurer: Median range although there is no current Treasurer. vii. Treas. Admin: works with the school processing. City and Schools will have a new vendor - ADP. C. Procurement - Up 8%. Postage has increased. Everything else is at. D. Technology - Salary - some small increases from step changes. Not a change to the overall budget. ff ff fl  E. Collector - Salary - step increase but hours reduced by 1. Assistant is a new employee F. Human Resources - both are step increases and an increase in responsibility. Mayor used ARPA funds for expansion in services. G. Professional Services - Drug testing for DPW. H. ACT Study - Employee Engagement. OPEB every other year. I. City Clerk - Salary are lower due to new employees in these positions. J. MISC. - Shredding, O ce Supplies, Printing and Dog Licenses, Safe Deposit Boxes K. Planning - Lots of turnover. Professional Services in 2025 were spent because lack of employees and it needed to be outsourced to PVPA. L. Councilor Denham expressed dismay that some employees have had their hours cut and that it is unfair. That there should be other areas in the budget that can close the reduction in hours for some employees. 4.2 CPA A. 3% surcharge in Easthampton taxes i. 10% of CPA Budget ii. 10% Open Spaces iii. 10% Historic Preservation iv. 10% A ordable Housing B. CPA state funding has been decreasing year over year. Discussion about other communities that have reduced CPA surcharge to reduce the burden on the taxpayer. However, those communities have also never done an a ordable project in a decade or more. We use the money all the time for these kinds of projects. 4.3. GENERAL GOVERNMENT A. Local Aid - $14.1 M. (Charter Reimbursements, Chapter 70, School Choice Tuition, Unrestricted local aid, Veterans Bene ts, Staeowned Lands, Elderly/blind exemptions and public libraries. B. Spent $1.8 M from stabilization to fund parts of the budget. $4.0 M from General Stabilization. With in ation next year and other unknowns, there may have to be cuts. C. Councilor Denham again questioned why some sta were getting increases and others were getting cuts and that did not seem fair. 5. Next Meeting: TBD fi ff fl ffi ff ff No additional business to discuss. Councilor Conni made motion to adjourn, Councilor Denham seconded. Vote: 3-0. Meeting adjourned at 6:30 PM Respectfully submitted, Councilor Peg Conni ff ff