Board of Finance

MINUTES OF WEST HAVEN BOARD OF FINANCE 16-DECEMBER-2014 Meeting Held on TUESDAY, 16-DECEMBER-2014 MEETING HELD IN THE CITY OF WEST HAVEN 3RD FLOOR CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT 5:30 P.M. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: KATHY HENDRICKS, MICHELE GREGORIO, SERGIO HRUSZKO, JACK LAWLER, MICHAEL BETZ, MAYOR ED O’BRIEN MEMBERS ABSENT: HAYDEN WORRELL Meeting was called to order by Vice Chairman Hendricks at 5:33 pm. The liaison from the City Council, Mrs. Rossi, was not present during the meeting. Council Member at Large David Riccio was present for the meeting. The minutes from the meeting of November 18th were reviewed and approved with a motion by Jack Lawler and seconded by Sergio Hruszko. Secretary Michele Gregorio told the Board that State Statute and the City Charter required the Board to establish next year’s meetings by the end of December. After discussion of schedules by the various members, the Board decided that the 2015 meetings will be held on the third Thursday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Notification of the 2015 meetings would be send to the City Clerk as required. A discussion was held about the 2015 budget calendar. Finance Director Kevin McNabola would send a schedule to the board to review. Finance Director McNabola distributed the current year to date income and expenses which were discussed and reviewed by the board as follows: Director McNabola stated that currently the City is $1.1m ahead on property tax collections compared to last year. Overall, the city is ahead $600k in revenues. Building permits are down $225k versus last year. It was discussed that the City would have revenue from the Attwood project. The City would not have similar permit income from UNH as it did last year. Investment income is parallel to the economy. There could be closing transactions on the sale of the Water St property. Also, Stiles/Thompson schools could generate sales revenue. Yale contributions to the City in December were + $410k and to the West Shore Fire Dept +$116k. There are many development projects going on in Allingtown, The Haven and UNH. Also, the State owes the City a $2m reimbursement on the Streetscape projects. The state had misplaced the folder and the monies are needed to pay the contractors. There are project managers in various City departments who are in charge of following grants related to projects in their departments. It was requested that an overtime report be run to compare this year’s data to last year’s. Also, the audit is ongoing and they auditors are working on the Board of Education’s data. The auditors were given an extension Allingtown sold vehicles and the remaining vehicles are on lease. It was previously discussed that it is becoming cost effective to lease rather than buy city vehicles. Other income is police manpower that is reimbursed to the City budget by the Board of Education. It was discussed that the Board of Education adopted a spending freeze at their last meeting. Also, the teachers will receive a 4% increase in next year’s budget. There has to be a line item adjustment to move Building overtime to the Savin Rock Conference Center expenses. Revenue for the Savin Rock Conference Center is approx. $150k with expenses approx.. $125 to $150 for this year. The Mayor discussed other methods to manage the Savin Rock Conference Center. On the expense side, health insurance premiums appear overstated on the city side and there is possibly a reimbursement due from the Board of Education. A discussion was held about actuaries looking at the billing coding of submitted bills to review for errors. Also, it was discussed to see who is covered on the policies. A discussion was held about the upcoming budget and budget packages are being handed out to the departments in January. The departments are being asked to hold their budgets flat with no increases except for contractural agreements. A suggestion was held to offer an incentive/awards program to employees for suggesting ways to save money. The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m. with motion made by Member Gregorio and seconded by Member Lawler Respectfully Submitted, Michele Gregorio Secretary, West Haven Board of Finance