City Council

METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM Chair Beauregard call the Budget Special Meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Members present: Councilor Finocchiaro (Via Zoom), Councilor McCarty, Councilor Saba, Councilor Saffie, Councilor Simard, Councilor Zeigler, Councilor DiZoglio, Councilor Faretra, and Chair Beauregard. Acceptance of Agenda MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra seconded by Councilor Zeigler to accept the agenda. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Chair Beauregard announced the purpose of this meeting is to conduct a second read, deliberation, and vote regarding the FY’23 Municipal Budget as updated. City Council Total Personnel Services $187,121 MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to accept. MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to reduce the Assistant Council Clerk position in the amount of $23,244, leaving that line item with a number of $30,000. Councilor Faretra said the assistant clerk that was hired has given her resignation and is no longer with the Council. This month it is kind of a quiet season for us. Councilor Saba has mentioned a number of times about us as a group having a discussion about a fiscal analyst vs. the clerk. That is a discussion Council needs to have in the Fall. Leaving some money in there allows Council the flexibility of moving money back and forth. If we decide, if there is somebody in city hall willing to help out for a stipend or overtime. Then it depends on if Council decides to go with a fiscal analyst over the assistant council clerk. That is his reasoning for making the cut but leaving money in there to give us the flexibility as a body to help cover the office as needed. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes City Council Personnel Services as amended: $163,877 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. Councilor McCarty said the motion to cut the remainder of the funding for that position – he doesn’t know if it is completely necessary. He understands there are probably some Councilors who disagree with him on that statement. He is not sure there was enough to keep her busy. Council should not just tax for the sake of taxing. MOTION BY: Councilor McCarty to reduce the assistant clerk line down to $1. Motion failed due to lack of second. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: (amount $163,877) 7 yes, 2 no (Clr. Finocchiaro, Clr. McCarty) Total Other Expenses: $ 12,700 MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Total City Council Budget: $176,577 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) 1 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM Mayor’s office, page 19: Personnel Services: $311,350 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Mayor’s Budget Other Expenses: $55,500 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Total Bottom Line for Mayor $366,850 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Page 20, Legal Personnel Services: $309,269 MOTION BY: Councilor Saba, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra, seconded by Councilor Zeigler for reconsideration for the previous cut to Personnel Services made during first read in the amount of $19,024. Councilor Faretra explained he made that motion during first read. Solicitor Rossetti explained that he had been working on the reclassification of the salary. At this point, he is confident that he will have that done before the fiscal year. To make it cleaner, lets have that done in this budget. Councilor DiZoglio commented Council can cut but cannot add. Because Council made a cut last meeting by reallocating this money for reconsideration, will the Mayor be obligated to take that vote because Council cut it already that money is missing. Attorney McQuillan explained that under Roberts’ Rules of Order there is the opportunity to reconsider. It is an appropriate motion. When the matter was first introduced, the reconsideration could have been made at that time or the subsequent meeting. This is the subsequent meeting. The timing is appropriate. Councilor Faretra did vote with the prevailing side which gives him the standing to make the motion. Any action the Council would take would have to be recognized and acknowledged by the Mayor. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 2 no (Clr. Finocchiaro, Clr. McCarty) MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to restore funding in the Solicitor’s Personnel Services line item in the amount of $19,024. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 2 no (Clr. Finocchiaro, Clr. McCarty) Total Legal Personnel Services: $328,293 UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 2 no (Clr. Finocchiaro, Clr. McCarty) Legal Other Expenses in the amount of $286,000. MOTION BY: Councilor Saba, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra to cut Damages and Incidentals by $20,000 resulting in the amount of $135,000 2 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM Councilor Faretra noted it balances this page. Councilor Zeigler asked the Assistant City Solicitor for his input on the funding proposed for damages and incidentals. Attorney McQuillan said this line to pay any claims against the city. It is used as a source of funding for damage claims, roadway defect damages, water pipe mains where the resulting flow of water damages real property of the residents. It is mostly for motor vehicle accidents where we can reasonably negotiate a settlement for the purposes of disposing of the matter. It is for claims that are modest, probably the most experienced here was maybe a $10,000 claim on a sewer pipe that burst that damaged some real property. Councilor Zeigler asked the Assistant Solicitor if he foresees any upcoming obligations relative to this line that may pose an issue. Attorney McQuillan said there are some modest claims that are presently pending in the city whether it be a roadway defect or a minor vehicle accident or a DPW issue. But nothing that would have a significant impact on the account. Councilor Finocchiaro said this isn’t necessarily the best place where a cut makes sense. However, she knows on funds from year-to-year with regard to this because this is something that we can’t actually change what the city solicitor’s office representing the city gives to us is the final bottom line. If we end up in a situation where we need additional funds, then we go searching and make some additional cuts, but given that it is tough to get a consensus on something to cut, she is going to have to be in favor of this because she would like to get the number down as well. Councilor Saba asked if the city has a $25,000 deductible. Attorney McQuillan said that would be our general liability policy, but it would not cover the nature of the claims he described earlier. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 out of the room (Clr. DiZoglio) Legal Other Expenses adjusted: $266,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 out of the room (Clr DiZoglio) Total Legal Services budget: $594,293 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 6 yes, 2 no (Clr. Finocchiaro, Clr. McCarty), 1 out of the room (Clr. DiZoglio) Page 21, City Clerk Budget Personnel Services: $350,939 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 out of the room (Clr. DiZoglio) City Clerk Other Expenses: $83,715 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Simard to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 out of the room (Clr. DiZoglio) City Clerk Total Budget: $434,654 MOTIN BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. 3 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 out of the room (Clr. DiZoglio) Page 22, Reserve Fund: $ 50,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. Councilor Faretra said in 2020 and 2021 there was no money put into the Reserve Fund and asked if it rolls into Free Cash or if it is a separate fund in the city. The CAFO explained that it will roll into Free Cash. We budget that for – as Councilor Saba said earlier – our deductible is $25,000. Councilor Faretra said if we have a couple of losses, this covers that. The CAFO agreed. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Total Administrative and Executive $1,622,374 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Page 23, CAFO Budget Personnel Services: $272,640 MOTION BY: Councilor Saffie, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. Councilor Faretra noted this amount includes the contract the City Council approved on June 6, 2022. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) CAFO Other Expenses: $14,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes CAFO Total Budget: $286,640 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Accounting Personnel Services: $598,604 MOTION BY: Councilor Simard, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes. Accounting Other Expenses: $ 161,500 MOTION BY: Councilor Saffie, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Accounting Total budget: $760,104 MOITON BY: Councilor Saffie, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Assessing Personnel Services: $286,532 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CAL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes 4 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM Assessing Other Expenses: $110,580 MOTION BY: Councilor Saffie, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Total Bottom Line for Assessing: $397,112 MOTION BY: Councilor Saffie, seconded by Councilor Zeigler. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes. Treasurer/Tax Collector Personnel Services: $438,764 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Treasurer/Tax Collector Other Expenses: $158,880 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve MOTION BY: Councilor Finocchiaro, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to reduce Other Expenses by $10,000. Councilor Faretra said if Council cuts this by $10,000 the department head has to figure it out. Normally Council would pick a line item, but this gives them cart blanc to decide where they want to take $10,000 from. Councilor Zeigler suggested a line under foreclosure rights redemption is where most of the cut could come from. During the hearings Council was informed that there was only one foreclosure that was going to be a big deal but it seemed like there was going to be some room and the full amount of this budget line was not going to be needed. That is her reason for supporting this cut. Councilor McCarty said he would prefer if the Councilor could identify a line item. If Council could at least have some intention here that’s what he requests. He believes on first read Council identified the foreclosure rights of redemption for $10,000. It failed five to four. He is assuming that the Councilor is making another attempt at the identical cut and he just wanted that to be on the record so that if this vote does pass at least we can look back to first read and give some type of guidance for the Executive. He likes to make sure all the bottom lines add up. It is a personal preference and the way it should be done. Councilor Saba agreed and noted that if Council starts cutting across the board just on the bottomline item, lets at least identify it when we look at this budget and aside from postage, whose going to mess with postage? It’s going up again but really there is not a lot of room in there. He is not going to support just a general cut of the bottom line of anything without getting the rationale behind it. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 5 no, 4 yes (Clr. Finocchiaro, Clr. McCarty, Clr. Zeigler, Clr. DiZoglio) Motion failed UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: ($158,880 Other Expenses) 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Treasurer/Tax Collector bottom line $597,644 MOTION BY: Councilor Simard, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes 5 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM Human Resources Personnel Services: $347,190 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Human Resources Other Expenses: $160,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra, seconded by Councilor Saffie to cut $10,000 out of Professional Services line item down to $45,000 Councilor DiZoglio made a friendly amendment to add another $15,000 to bring it down to $30,000. The reason is because there’s been a large increase over the last two years and seeing it go from $8,000 to $45,000 and then additionally to go up another $10,000, we’re adding things on. Councilor Faretra asked if the cut could be in the middle. Councilor DiZoglio agreed. Councilor Faretra said the cut would be $17,500. Councilor Saba asked the CAFO for the balance of the budgeted item of $45,000 for this year. The CAFO responded there is $7,000 remaining. Councilor Saba asked what the funds were spent on. The CAFO explained that line provides for our EAP, our employee support program and in addition to that some of the added costs for next year that we were looking to do, which includes policy tracking system, a training tracking system and then an increase to our EAPs. With that cut the city would have to back off some of the tracking positions. Councilor Saba said by cutting 17,500 would put us at 37,500 which is what we have spent. Councilor DiZoglio wanted to add that these trackings are after an RFP, correct? That is still something that could occurred. The CAFO said they would have to find funding elsewhere. Chair Beauregard noted that the Assistant City Solicitor is recommending that you withdrawn your motion and make a new motion to cut $17,500. Councilor Faretra withdrew his original motion to reduce $10,000. MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to reduce $17,500 from professional services. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Saba) Human Resource Other Expenses adjusted: $142,500 MOTION BY: Councilor Saffie, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Faretra to reduce $10,000 from Other Expenses based off of the training line item bringing that line item down to $40,000. Councilor Faretra asked the CAFO for a current balance and what the training line item would be used for this fiscal year and what did we see the increase needed for FY’23. The CAFO explained there is $13,000 left in training but there is a training planned in June. We are doing a discrimination training. She does see that number going down. What they are trying to do in this line is bulk up the training. Historically, the city has not provided employee training, definitely not to the level, a minimum of what we should be doing but also there’s many other trainings. What was included here for FY’23 is safety training that we aren’t currently doing consistently, diversity training. We have our new ADA diversity employee. We were trying to give her some space to provide some training, leadership and customer service training, MCAD training. All of those things are included. 6 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM There is a bigger jump this year because we are actually trying to get more training, which is not something we have really prioritized before. Councilor Zeigler said she understands the intention of this cut. She cannot be in favor of it. It is important for us to support our City Council employees with more training. It is a good investment of tax dollars to ensure that our employees are up-to-date on the latest, best practices for whatever role they may be encountering, especially know that we are trying to level up our customer service as well. A lot of these trainings have to do with that and that is important. She hears stories about people coming to city hall and sometimes the experience is not what they anticipated. With these trainings, we can ensure that, in any situation, our employees are prepared to provide the most top notch service to our citizens. She is a “no” on this cut. Councilor Simard reminded Councilors that if we look back several years ago, our Human Resource department, he thought was a joke. It garnered a lot of lawsuits, a lot of scrutiny and that was part of our mismanagement within the police department. We have an HR department that most municipalities should have and now we want to cut the training. It is very important and if we want to do things right, we are going to have to pay for it and training is like Ms. Duprey said is going to help us in the long run. It is going to prevent exposure to liability down the road. If we avoid one lawsuit because of training, it is going to pay for itself. He is a “no” vote on this. Councilor DiZoglio noted that there is $13,000 still in the line item. The reduction is $10,000, which at this point in time if our departments are being proactive, they’re spending that money before the end of the year to make sure they are capable of getting those trainings early on. The reason for this cut too is we’ve gone from a no line item to $27,000 to originally $62,000, which then the Mayor cut himself. He is just rolling it down another $10,000 and should done $13,000 to make it a $25,000 cut but he only proposed a $10,000 because of what is left. Coming from the industry a lot of this training is module. It is not like we have anyone coming in front and training these people per se. There may be some individual programs, such as the police department, fire department, DPW but the training that was brought to our attention by the Director was all modular and all online. A lot of these things are package deals which again if we are going to do a true LMS training program, we should probably invest in that and not these smaller things. He mentioned that during the presentation from the Director. Its not saying that we’re not investing in our employees. Its investing correctly and use the money that is in that for the rest of the year to get a head start. Councilor Saba commented that as the CAFO said there is still training left for this month. He is surprised that the Mayor cut $12,000 because of everything we are doing and have gone through in some departments and some lawsuits we are dealing with. We need to fortify training and the fact that we’ve had no Human Resources related training for years is nothing to do be proud of. It is pretty horrible. The worst thing Council can do is cut that line item. The more actual training we do so we can measure and make sure that we are getting the right results from it, that’s the way we should be running the city. But he supports keeping as much in there as possible. Councilor McCarty said he hasn’t yet received the June 1st monthly report. The last report he has is reflective of May 1st, which isn’t helpful with part of this exercise. He asked the CAFO if the numbers she is ready is May 1st, June 1st or June 7th. The CAFO responded the numbers are June 7th. Councilor McCarty said there is $27,500 budgeted this year, half of that remains, which means over the course of eleven months the city has spent $13,000/$14,000 on trainings. He thinks with this cut, leaving it at $40,000, that is moving forward in the right direction. It is basically doubled. The cut 7 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM makes sense. It probably could have been cut down a little more and obviously we have to make incremental gains in our budget. We can’t get it all done in one year. We are moving in the right direction with $40,000. We are spending just over $1,000 per month in this past year. Councilor Finocchiaro said she has listened to both sides and doesn’t see any other cuts that would be approved. She does not want to cut in this particular line item, but the way Council has been instructed to make our cuts does give the Mayor and the CAFO the ability to come to Council later for either an interdepartmental transfer to move funds around vs. line item if there are other line items that they would like to cut to make that happen. If that does come forward, then she is inclined to support that. She will support this cut. We are not there yet to spend this sharp increase, but she could see this coming up to be even greater. She hopes that the city also invests in making these trainings permanent, purchasing and keeping them updated inhouse vs. having them to be one-time things online because having it presented to you by the HR Director, a lot of these things are going to sink in better and you’ll get better questions. It’s a back and forth learning from other people. She hopes that the in-person element or even Zoom being internal in the City of Methuen would give us a better result. We have some major obstacles with discrimination and other things that have happened in the city that are very inappropriate. We need to find smarter ways to do this. She has a hard time with doing everything online. She is open to increasing that line item if the city has the capacity moving forward throughout the budget. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE (reducing training line item from $50,000 to $40,000): 6 no, 3 yes (Clr. Finocchiaro, Clr. McCarty, Clr. DiZoglio) Motion failed Human Resources Other Expenses: $142,500 UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Human Resource Total Budget: $489,690 MOTION BY: Councilor Saba, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Information Technology Personnel Services: $347,910 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. MOTION BY: Councilor Finocchiaro, seconded by Councilor McCarty to cut $74,261 in the additional administrator line item. We’ve increased our budget significantly throughout but also in this department sharply. Chair Beauregard explained this would completely eliminate the second administrator position. Councilor Finocchiaro said the way that the cuts are made, they are able to be implemented in a different way, which we’ve seen and that is why she referred to her general thought behind it. But, why that makes sense is because that sharp increase is something we need to catch up with. We are seeing a very unusual situation. This budget has increased so much expeditiously in two years. She is trying to cut as many of these new positions as possible. It should be a priority because there’s so many that can’t be cut or there isn’t the interest to cut because there is somebody in a position. The CAFO explained that the purpose behind this additional position is in order to bring IT back inhouse. You will see the offset there in professional services. There is less there because we’ve had to remove our external vendor from having it outsourced and in return, we are bringing someone inhouse 8 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM in order to support the city. She would caution less than those four positions, she is not sure if the city would be able to sustain internally. Councilor Faretra said for years this Council has fought to bring this department inhouse and now we are trying to cut 25% of the manpower of that staff while we are in the midst of finally having an IT Director that is applauded throughout this whole building. He has impressed him as a Councilor. He thinks back to where we were two years ago at this time when we were all scrambling with our Windows 7 computers and no infrastructure. We finally made progress. There’s no way he could see himself supporting this cut. Councilor Zeigler said agreed with many of Councilor Faretra’s points. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done in order to improve our IT infrastructure inhouse. This is the plan that we talked about for years we were made aware ahead of this budget that there were going to be new positions. This position is nothing new and was talked about. There wasn’t concerns raised about the positions at the time. She understands the intent behind this, but we need to invest in the infrastructure so that our employees are well supported so that our residents can reach our departments without any issues so that systems and services are not harbored in any way because of lack of adequate infrastructure. She is against this particular cut because it would be a detriment to the city. We need to ensure that we are providing the most up-to-date tools for our city. This cut goes against that Councilor Simard said this is what we wanted and if you look back to 2020 and 2021 there was one person, Network Administrator. Now we have an IT Director and that comes at a cost because they need helpers. He recalled several budget transfers from Free Cash for subcontracting IT that we needed because we didn’t have these positions. The city has probably spent a lot more than we are asking now. The CAFO referred to the Professional services line from 2022 to 2023, we’re cutting that. That is because we have our vendor through the end of October which is going to give us time to transition over. Next year, FY’24’s budget, that line will be much smaller because we won’t have those months with our vendor as well. We are going to see that progressively go down even more. Councilor Simard said he is a “no” vote. Councilor McCarty said to put this into perspective, when Council got sworn in 2020, the budget for this department was less than $600,000. There were some issues. They were resolved. As we sit today, this budget is being proposed at over 1.2 million dollars. He cannot think of many other departments that have doubled since Council has been in office. Like he said with the prior department, we’ve made significant strides here. He doesn’t see this as cutting 25% of existing manpower. He sees this as not adding 25% manpower to the existing personnel. We’ve got to be responsible here. We’ve gone from basically a $600,000 department and added $600,000 to it over the course of three short years. For those reasons this cut makes sense. We have to be responsible to the taxpayers as well. Councilor Saba disagreed with that. When Council came in, they had half the budget size. We were understaffed, under protected as a city and paid dearly for it with the cyberattack. He asked the CAFO how much the city spent as a result of that cyberattack, trying to recover from that. The CAFO estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars. Councilor Saba said the city is where we need to be and have to keep going that way to protect the taxpayers, we have to have a solid IT department here to prevent attacks like that from happening again. He does not support any of these cuts. We need to continue to fortify this department. Councilor Finocchiaro – Point of Information – when the position started. Just for reference, the only position that we’ve had going back FY’2020, FY’2021, FY’2022 is the Network Administrator 9 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM position. Last year two positions were added, one that is included for $133,000 and the Network Administrator. Then we have an additional position. This system administrator would make the fourth employee. It is holding the line on a significant increase, not cutting what we already have. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 no, 2 yes (Clr. Finocchiaro, Clr. McCarty) Motion failed IT Personnel Services: $347,910 UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 2 no (Clr. Finocchiaro, Clr. McCarty) IT Other Expenses: $837,233 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. McCarty) IT Total Equipment Outlay: $ 80,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Saffie, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. McCarty) IT Total Budget: $1,265,143 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 2 no (Clr. Finocchiaro, Clr. McCarty) Total Administration and Finance: $3,396,313 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 2 no (Clr. Finocchiaro, Clr. McCarty) Councilor McCarty – Point of Inquiry – asked if Council every got, based on the proposed budget, a projected tax rate for the projected increase as a result of this budget. Chair Beauregard said nothing was received from the CAFO. That is very much influx due to questions about assessments and the like. The CAFO said she has an estimate that she could share based off of the original that was posted but she cautioned using that only because the assessments have not been updated. The growth hasn’t been validated. There are so many things that haven’t happened yet, she wants to make sure that is clear that all of those things go into the tax rate as well come the Fall. Councilor McCarty said the point really is every time Council does this budget exercise, Councilors always ask that question and always get told we don’t really know a lot of information and variables, nothing solid. Then we pass the budget, tax bills go out in late Fall, early Winter, there’s an angry mob here because of their increase. Then Sean Cronin and says, “if you want lower tax bills, cut your budget”. It is a vicious cycle that takes place here. It is very frustrating. This the second last budget that he is going to be responsible for. The CAFO must have some idea. He understands it might be a rough estimate. The CAFO said based on the original, prior to any of the cuts first read or second read, the residential assuming the same shift has been in place, it would be up $.28 or 2%. The average taxes would be up approximately $111 annually. Councilor McCarty said there is always a chance we come back and get told something about home evaluations or the economy or inflation. Then all of a sudden, this number could get really out of 10 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM whack quickly. He wants to be cognizant of that. He hopes the $111 stands. This is for an average single household. The CAFO noted a single family, $400,000 home. Councilor McCarty said that is a whole other conversation. He doesn’t think we have $400,000 homes anymore. Economic and Community Development: Personnel Services: $630,667 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes C/D Other Expenses: $141,906 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes. C/D Total Budget: $ 772,573. MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS Health/Inspection Services: Personnel Services: $965,477 Councilor McCarty recused himself and left the room. MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 out of room (Clr. McCarty) Health/Inspection Other Expenses: $75,875 MOTION BY: Councilor Saba, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 out of room (Clr. McCarty) Health/Inspectional Total FY’23 Budget: $1,041,352 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 out of room (Clr. McCarty) Methuen Police Personnel Services: $11,588,912 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Methuen Police Department Other Expenses: $ 868,125 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Methuen Police Equipment Outlay: $ 106,500 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes 11 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM Methuen Police Budget Total: $12,563,537 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes. Methuen Fire Department Personnel Services: $11,608,113 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Methuen Fire Department Other Expenses: $ 445,500 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Methuen Fire Department Total Budget: $12,053,613 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Grand Total for Public Safety: $24,617,150 MOTION BY: Councilor Saba, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Methuen Schools Total Budget: $91,500,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 present (Clr. Faretra) Greater Lawrence Technical School: $ 3,930,067 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 present (Clr. Simard) Essex Northshore Agricultural and Technical School: $ 510,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. DiZoglio) Total Education: $95,940,067 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 no (Clr. DiZoglio) 1present (Clr. Faretra) Public Works Personnel Services: $ 5,163,362 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Simard to approve. Councilor Saba disclosed he has a son that works in the water department and left the room. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 6 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro), 1 present (Clr. McCarty), 1 out of the room (Clr. Saba) 12 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM DPW Other Expenses: $1,129,645 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 6 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) 1 present (Clr. McCarty) 1 abstention (Clr. Saba) DPW Equipment Outlay: $ 24,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 present (Clr. McCarty) 1 abstention (Clr. Saba) DPW Fuel Expenses: $710,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. Councilor Finocchiaro expressed concern regarding the increase cost of fuel and the need to conserve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 6 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) 1 present (Clr. McCarty) 1 abstention (Clr. Saba) DPW Snow and Ice: $600,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 6 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) 1 present (Clr. McCarty) 1 abstention (Clr. Saba) DPW Grand Total: $7,627,007 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Simard to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 6 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) 1 present (Clr. McCarty) 1 abstention (Clr. Saba) Solid Waste Disposal: $4,807,500 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie. Councilor Faretra asked if the trash contract would be ready for the June 14th meeting. The CAFO said they hope to have by tomorrow morning and be able to share that. She can’t guarantee that, but that is what they are being told. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Total DPW Budget: $12,434,507 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 6 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro), 2 present (Clr. McCarty, Clr. Saba) Elder Services Personnel Services: $ 273,509 MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Elder Services Other Expenses: $ 71,344 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes. 13 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM Total Elder Services Budget: $ 344,853 MOTION BY: Councilor Saba, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Veterans Benefits Personnel Services: $ 131,210 MOTION by: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Veterans Benefits Other Expenses: $ 417,100 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie. Total Veterans Budget: $548,310 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Human Services Total: $893,163 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded By Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Nevins Memorial Library Total: $1,541,187 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Simard to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Total Culture and Recreation: $1,541,187 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Bonds and Interest: $3,052,893 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. The CAFO noted that the debt service schedules just came in finalized and the interest amount could actually be reduced by $25,000. MOTION BY: Councilor McCarty, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to cut by $25,000 from principle. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Bonds and Interest: $3,027,893 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve as adjusted. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Interest: $1,581,692 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes 14 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM Deficit: $ 403,660 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes 1 no (Clr. McCarty) Total Bonds: $5,013,245 MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Total Debt Services: $5,013,245 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Risk Management Insurance Premiums Property: $ 790,125 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Transfer to Unemployment: $ 10,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Faretra, seconded by Councilor Simard to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes. Transfer to 111F: $ 50,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Simard, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes. Transfer to Workers’ Comp: $ 325,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Total Risk Management: $1,175,125 MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Risk Management bottom line: $1,175,125 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Employee Benefits Group Health Insurance: $14,969,254 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Simard to approve. Councilor Faretra said during the workshop they discussed different health insurance plans and how we were trying to get employees to switch over. The open enrollment is close to being done. He asked if the city has an idea of where we are and if this is going to be a savings on this line item. The CAFO explained we have sixty-six people that have moved over from the PPO to the HMO. She is not positive what that is going to look like. It is better than she thought it was going to be. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes 15 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM Life Insurance: $ 39,168 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Medicare Tax: $1,682,534 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Transfer to Comp Fund: $ 300,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Other Expenses: $ 175,000 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Total Employee Benefits: $17,165,956 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Contributory Pensions: $14,249,108 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Total Contributory Pensions: $14,249,108 MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Grand Total Employee Benefits: $31,415,064 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Simard to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes State Assessment: $ 3,873,990 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Simard to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes. Total State Assessment: $ 3,873,990 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Saffie to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Overlay: $ 939,874 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) 16 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM Offsets: $ 93,270 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: UNANIMOUS yes Total Other Amounts to be Raised: $1,033,144 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Grand Total Other Amounts to be Raised: $1,033,144 MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) General Fund Grand Total: $185,169,274 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. Councilor McCarty questioned the amount. The CAFO explained the detail is on page 14. She distributed a new page 14 today. Councilor Finocchiaro said typically Council speaks of the budget as a whole. Our values are based on the budget as a whole. She is looking at this and seeing the budget grow over the past three or four years. She is holding the line for a total including our enterprise funds from about 163 million when she first started to over 200 million. During this time, the city has increased property taxes for homeowners and business owners to the maximum or barely below the maximum allowable by law for each year. Most years the maximum of the shift of the burden has occurred as well. That increase in the property tax levy, no formalized tax increase from the CAFO. Every other community does this and knows the exact amount that it is going to increase and gives that in writing. If we are going to say our financials are a city on the hill, maybe we should do that. For her this is completely unacceptable to be proceeding through this manner, the lack of budget support of the DPW and allocation for a new building for them to her is truly a disgrace. A budget should not only be kept in check for security and prosperity for the residents. She also believes in a budget reflecting our values. Some departments like the police, schools, and IT made meaningful investments and others are left behind like we have every single year. Some people got huge increases and some people stayed almost exactly the same. We have an increase in reliance of state aid and an increase in reliance of additional receipts, a decrease in capital to zero, which is not best practices nor is it what was recommended by our fiscal stability officer because we are in state oversight. Our risk management has decreased. We have a decrease in economic development investment, a shortfall in enterprising. Those are not self-sustaining. The City Council is supposed to discuss. Passing both reads in one day is completely inappropriate. Chair Beauregard clarified Council is not passing two reads in one day. This is the second read. First read votes took place last week. Councilor Finocchiaro one day per read. Chair Beauregard declared Councilor Finocchiaro out of order. Chair Councilor Finocchiaro urged Council to do their job, all nine together. Chair Beauregard declared Councilor Finocchiaro out of order. This is the second read for this budget. The first read was last week. Council has had discussion on each section of this budget, gone through in a lot of detail, have had opportunity for discussion before each and every vote. We need to 17 METHUEN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 7th, 2022 @ 6:30 P.M. VIA ZOOM simply move forward here. He appreciates her point and is thankful for the perspective that you are adding here but we have to move forward. Council has had time to discuss. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE (total general fund): 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) Water and Sewer Personnel Services: $ 3,334,025 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. Councilor Saffie left the room and did not participate. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro), 1 out of the room (Clr. Saffie) Water and Sewer Other Expenses: $2,437,500 MOTON BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) 1 out of the room (Clr. Saffie) Greater Lawrence Sanitary District: $4,292,497 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 out of the room (Clr. Saffie) Total Debt: $2,519,672 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes,1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) 1 out of room (Clr. Saffie) Pension: $ 843,644 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Faretra to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 out of the room (Clr. Saffie) Transfer out Indirect Costs $2,417,681 MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Simard to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) 1 out of the room (Clr. Saffie) Total Enterprise: $15,845,019 MOTON BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor DiZoglio to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) 1 out of the room (Clr. Saffie) Grant Total for Enterprise Funds: $15,845,019 MOTION BY: Councilor DiZoglio, seconded by Councilor Zeigler to approve. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 7 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) 1 out of the room (Clr. Saffie) ADJOURN MOTION BY: Councilor Zeigler, seconded by Councilor Simard to adjourn. UPON ROLL CALL VOTE: 8 yes, 1 no (Clr. Finocchiaro) I do hereby certify that at a meeting on which a quorum was present, the foregoing minutes were approved by the Methuen City Council by and 8 to 1 vote on August 1, 2022. Linda Gagnon COUNCIL CLERK 18