Board of Finance

Approved by the Board of Finance August 20, 2024 MINUTES Vote: Unanimous Vol. 27, Page 430 BOARD OF FINANCE REGULAR MEETING LOCATION: CITY HALL AUDITORIUM Tuesday, July 16, 2024 A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Finance was held on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Attendance was in person and by Zoom. Present at City Hall were Mayor Elinor Carbone, Manager of Budgets and Planning Erika Johnson, and Board of Finance Members Laurene Pesce, Wendy Traub, and James Wright. Board of Finance Member Chris Beyus joined via Zoom. Board of Finance Members Christopher Anderson and Deborah Iannacito were absent. Mayor Carbone called the meeting to order at 5:06 p.m. beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance. Public Comment On a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mrs. Pesce, the Board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public. No one was present who wished to speak. Approve Meeting Minutes On an amended motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Regular Meeting Minutes from May 21, 2024, with the following correction from Mrs. Traub: “In private businesses, if you don’t pay your health insurance premiums, they will cancel”. On a motion by Mrs. Pesce, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Special Joint Budget Meeting Minutes with the City Council from May 28, 2024, and the Public Hearing Meeting Minutes from May 28, 2024. On a motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Special Budget Adoption Meeting Minutes from June 4, 2024, with corrections to reflect Mr. Beyus’ absence in the votes. On a motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Special Joint Meeting Minutes with the City Council from June 17, 2024. On a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mr. Beyus, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Special Joint Meeting Minutes with the City Council from June 21, 2024. FY 23-24 Budget Transfer Requests On a motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board voted unanimously to authorize the budget transfer requests for FY 23/24 as further described in the Manager of Budgets’ letter dated June 29, 2024, having been approved by City Council on July 15, 2024. Mrs. Traub asked for the account names to be listed in the future, she is not familiar with the first few accounts. Ms. Johnson said that the accounts would be labeled. Ms. Johnson explained the transfers to the Board in detail. Mayor Carbone had an inquiry from one of the co-chairs of the Board of Education (BOE) regarding the first transfer, the $2 million clarifying that the transfer was approved and adopted in June 2023, this is the paper trail for auditors that documents the transfer. City Performance Reports On a motion by Mrs. Pesce, seconded by Mrs. Traub, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Performance Reports for the City. Mrs. Traub asked about the encumbrances at year-end per gap, whether they must be closed out, if there is a timeline for closeouts, and for fiscal year services. Ms. Johns said they must be for that fiscal year; they will usually leave them open about a month past year's end for any invoices and then do a soft close process. Mrs. Traub wanted to clarify that the encumbered funds will get transferred to accounts payable. Mrs. Traub said the BOE had $50,000 encumbered for snow plowing in June. She also noticed that at the beginning of June, the BOE had a rather large surplus which is now gone, is this something that the auditors will address? Ms. Johnson said that it would be addressed in the audit, especially if it was a fiscal year 24 purchase that is now being purchased in fiscal year 25. Mayor Carbone added that there are some BOE line items that the Board needs to clarify. Mayor Carbone told the Board that she met with the superintendent and spoke briefly about not encumbering revenue or expenses budgeted for FY24 or FY25. She reminded him that there was a hard break on June 30th. She also asked about line item 5210, which had a transaction of $273,585.43, an expenditure, which was a check drawn on that account moved into a BOE non-lapsing insurance fund account. The BOE cannot have non-lapsing accounts. She contacted the State Department of Education for clarification on the amended section 10-248a which would allow the BOE to transfer their year-end surpluses into non-lapsing accounts for educational purposes only. Mayor Carbone is not sure if insurance would qualify as educational. Mrs. Traub wanted to ensure at the end of the fiscal year the City and BOE are not spending down surpluses instead of transferring them for future purchases. Board of Education On a motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mr. Beyus, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Board of Education Budget Performance Reports. MINUTES Vol. 27, Page 431 BOARD OF FINANCE REGULAR MEETING LOCATION: CITY HALL AUDITORIUM Tuesday, July 16, 2024 Business by Dept. Heads On a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mrs. Traub, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by Department Heads. Manager of Budgets and Planning Ms. Johnson told the Board that the FY25 budget has been adopted. Business by Mayor & Members On a motion by Mrs. Pesce, seconded by Mr. Beyus, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by the Mayor and Members of the Board of Finance. Mrs. Pesce asked if the auditors could come to the next meeting, Mayor Carbone said they would reach out to the auditors to get them lined up for the meeting. Mrs. Pesce asked if the items that were cited in the audit had been rectified, Mayor Carbone said that they had put policies and procedures in place to address items found in the FY22 audit, which weren’t noted until August of 2023, there were some overlap, but in the future, they shouldn’t be on the audits. Mrs. Pesce asked for an update on the ARPA funds because December is approaching. Mayor Carbone told the Board that John Monks the Comptroller resigned, and Oliva DeRosa the Deputy Comptroller took the Comptroller position. Erika Johnson will fill the Deputy Comptroller position and continue managing budgets. Also, they posted an Assistant Director of Finance position. Adjournment On a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mr. Beyus, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn at 5:41 p.m. Respectfully submitted by ATTEST: Heather Abraham, Asst. City Clerk CAROL L. ANDERSON, CITY CLERK CAROL L. ANDERSON, CITY CLERK