Board of Finance

Approved by the Board of Finance September 17, 2024 MINUTES Vol. 27, Page 432 Vote: Unanimous BOARD OF FINANCE REGULAR MEETING LOCATION: CITY HALL AUDITORIUM Tuesday, August 20, 2024 A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Finance was held on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. Attendance was in person and by Zoom. Present at City Hall were Mayor Elinor Carbone, Comptroller Olivia DeRosa, Manager of Budgets and Planning Erika Johnson, Treasurer Dan Farley, and Board of Finance Members Laurene Pesce, Wendy Traub, and James Wright. Board of Finance Member Christopher Anderson joined via Zoom. Board of Finance Members Chris Beyus and Deborah Iannacito were absent. Mayor Carbone called the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m. beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance. Public Comment On a motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board voted unanimously to open the meeting to the public. No one was present who wished to speak. Approve Meeting Minutes On a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mrs. Pesce, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Regular Meeting Minutes from July 16, 2024. FY 24-25 Budget Amendments and Transfer Requests On a motion by Mr. Anderson, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board voted unanimously to approve the budget transfer requests for FY 24/25 as further described in the Manager of Budgets’ letter dated July 29, 2024, having been previously approved by the City Council on August 5, 2024. Mrs. Pesce asked why there was zero to the Capital Project Streets, Ms. Johnson said that it comes from the Public Works Director, at this time funds are not being moved there. City Performance Reports On a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mr. Anderson, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Performance Reports for the City. Board of Education On a motion by Mrs. Pesce, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board voted to open discussion on the Board of Education Budget Performance Reports. Mayor Carbone informed the Board that they have not received any reports from the BOE. She read the BOE’s Director of Finance & Operations Scott Petruzzelli’s email sent to the Assistant City Clerk, to the Board, ‘I didn't post any financials for July because it is the first month of the year and we are working on encumbrances, etc. If the BOE directs me to run one for August for the September meetings I will forward on to you/City.’ She reminded the Board that this is not optional, and their financials must be shared with the Board of Finance. Business by Dept. Heads On a motion by Mrs. Traub, seconded by Mr. Anderson, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by Department Heads. Treasure Dan Farley presented the Board with the Short-Term Investment Fund (STIF), established in 1972 and managed by the Treasurer of the State of Connecticut. He told the Board that this would provide the greatest possible return, high-quality liquid, and secure. There is currently $19.1 billion in the account, with $109 million set aside for any issues that might occur. These funds are internally managed, safe, and liquid. The current interest rate, set daily, is 5.41%, the rate at Bank of America today is 2%. For example, if you were to invest $40 million at Bank of America you would earn $800,000 interest annually, and $2,460,000 interest annually in the STIF account. Mayor Carbone said this was shared with the Council at last night's meeting. This is a higher interest investment, since the Board adopted the budget with the BOE’s full health insurance and cost shares, the City will see a significant impact on the revenue line item. Mrs. Traub said there are no external management fees because the State is like an investment bank. She said this is a great idea, the City needs to look out for the taxpayers. Mr. Farley said 97% of State municipalities participate in the STIF. Business by Mayor & Members On a motion by Mr. Traub, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board voted unanimously to consider business by the Mayor and Members of the Board of Finance. Mr. Wright asked if there would be a committee handling the Pedlar, Mayor Carbone said the Torrington Development Corporation (TDC) was appointed as the receiver. The TDC will evaluate the Pedlar to prepare a report of the conditions and work that needs to be done to eliminate the conditions that lead to the building being put into receivership. The next court date is mid-October where that recommendations on the logical next steps will be presented. Once the court accepts the recommendations, they could form an ad-hoc committee. Mr. Wright asked if the court would be involved indefinitely, Mayor Carbone said yes, the court would share all reports with the property owners, and they could petition the court to end receivership if they can obtain funding. The TDC is not moving towards the development phase, they will remediate the issues, and then the Pedlar can be put on the market at Fair Market value, for a developer to come in. Mrs. Pesce suggested reaching out to the businesses and developers that came together after the flood of `55 for suggestions on the work that needs to get done. Mayor Carbone said that right now they must determine the structural integrity. The City has MINUTES Vol. 27, Page 433 BOARD OF FINANCE REGULAR MEETING LOCATION: CITY HALL AUDITORIUM Tuesday, August 20, 2024 a grant for condition assessment and will use the City’s on-call engineers for services. Silver Petrucelli will be looking at everything, there are $20,000 in grant funds and $60,000 in blight funds should get what is needed to file for court. Mayor Carbone said the first call after being appointed was to call a roofer to stop the leak quickly. Mr. Anderson asked about the First Amendment audit video posted about City Hall, he wanted to know if there were any areas where video and audio recordings are not allowed, especially in the Finance office. Mayor Carbone said this person had gone from office to office, spending most of his time in the Finance office. She said since the video has been posted there have been rude comments, emails, and phone calls to staff members. Mayor Carbone added that the Corporation Counsel is researching public buildings vs. public forums. For example, if they were to walk into HR there could be HIPAA violations. They are working on a policy to address violations and secure those offices. Mr. Anderson said to buy the privacy screens for the computers, he added that he was very impressed with the staff and the Police Department for how they interacted with this individual. Mrs. Pesce asked if there was any information for the BOE and insurance coverage for their staff. Mayor Carbone said that employees should not be left uninsured, the deadline is September 30th for the BOE to procure their insurance, and no information is forthcoming. Mayor Carbone has spoken with the Superintendent today, and he said nothing about securing an insurance plan. She added that they talked about the fact there was no bid process for an insurance consultant, and the answer was that nothing had been paid out. Mayor Carbone told the Board that there will be a presentation from Brown and Brown Insurance at their August 21, 2024, meeting. Mrs. Pesce asked what was left to spend from the ARPA funds, Mayor Carbone said the funds must be under contract by December 31, 2024, so the ARPA Committee is reviewing the unexpended grants, to reallocate them. Mrs. Pesce asked if there was anything the ARPA funds could help with for the budgets, Mayor Carbone said no decisions had been made yet, however, the City Council is the decision maker for the ARPA Funds. Mayor Carbone told the Board that she received a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, for all expended funds from the general fund, it was 160 pages, and that was only the City side. The FOIA request included a link to the San Antonio website, which has a link that you can hit to see how the taxpayer's monies are being spent. She said there is a fine balance on how much information to share, for example, account numbers, and employee identifiers. Mr. Wright asked if this was a legitimate request, and Mayor Carbone said the Corporation Counsel researched it. Mrs. Pesce asked how it was delivered on paper or electronically, Mayor Carbone said the request was sent as a PDF electronically, with any employee identifier redacted. Adjournment On a motion by Mr. Anderson, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Board voted unanimously to adjourn at 5:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted by ATTEST: Heather Abraham, Asst. City Clerk CAROL L. ANDERSON, CITY CLERK CAROL L. ANDERSON, CITY CLERK