Finance Commission

9/14/2021 - Minutes I. Call to Order FC Members Present: Jean Szilva, Matthew Francis, Jason Burds Dillon Lovell, Maurice Matte SHCP Members Present: Mary Hussmann, Courtney Blasius, Thomas Renner, Yam Basnet, Meredith Bushey, Andy Siri City Staff Present: Angela Aldieri, Mary H, Phoebe Townshend, Ray Coffey Guests Present: Call to Order by: Jean Szilva Meeting Start Time: 6:04 PM Minutes Recorded by: Matthew Francis II. Public Comment None III. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Decision: Approved Motion by: Maurice Matte Second: Meredith Bushey IV. Council Update Mayor Lott: Air Nat’l Guard came to last City Council meeting. Going to post online answers to written questions. Final candidate for City Mgr next meeting, with a feedback period. Joint mtg between housing and planning commission: changes to zoning/regs to create more affordable housing. Lots of data shared, will be discussing future meetings. V. Discussion/Approval: Scholarship Policy The draft was updated last Safe People’s committee to include definitions and refund policy. AA wants to know if we should include scholarships for programs other than city services, like code changes required by law. Mary H asked if we have. JS asks how it needs to be documented. AA responds. RC 10s of thousands of dollars for. AA and RC answer. MM says scholarships and grants should be separate. AA says there’s a cap on code. RC/AA Assures they’re separate. MM reiterates to keep separate. RC offers to add a clarifying sentence that could include ‘other city services’. RC clarifies that scholarship funds are no longer ‘silo’. NE asked if 60-day balance excludes people, particularly kids since they are most often the recipients and their parents pay. RC/AA say … Thrive payments come from subsidies, come late, so is a pretty good buffer. MH asks what’s outstanding and how much we lose. As of last FY $82,000 is outstanding unpaid. AA: Policy has recently been changed so that any donor may broaden the eligibility  NE asked if 60-day balance excludes people, particularly kids since they are most often the recipients and their parents pay. RC/AA say … Thrive payments come from subsidies, come late, so is a pretty good buffer. MH asks what’s outstanding and how much we lose. As of last FY $82,000 is outstanding unpaid. AA: Policy has recently been changed so that any donor may broaden the eligibility requirements. Meredith Bushey: Any project charter to assess the effectiveness of policies? AA: Every 3 years, annual check-ins also. RC: Scholarship policy is reviewed annually during the budget process. AA asks if an annual review at the staff level good thing to add. JS replies yes. MH: Kudos to Ray Coffey - policy was a mess and is now more streamlined. JS asks if they should include fundraising - AA responds that we should keep that in the fundraising policy. Policy will go under revision and be voted on next meeting. VI. Discussion/Approval: Grant Policy AA reviewed the document. The biggest update is changing the $ amount for grant approvals that need to go to City Council. Used to be $2500, now $5000. RC asks to define asset - will add for approval - capital asset. VII. Discussion/Approval: Fundraising Policy AA reviewed the policy. MM asks what we receive in donations. AA $5000 - most last year was for Halloween event or donating to the Senior Center, or life insurance bequeaths for the library. JS asks if people can donate online. Currently not. MH asks if the centennial group fundraises. RC says fundraising is not a top priority but could be doing more. Mayor Lott says soliciting donations from taxpayers is problematic. MM asks how fundraising works. Noted that it’s almost always an organization outside of city staff primarily raising money. AA says we can potentially add better language that clarifies city staff should not be involved in direct fundraising. Mayor Lott asks to include language barring future funding obligations without City Council approval. VIII. Discussion: Safe, Healthy, & Connected People Workplan See SHCP minutes: https://winooskivt.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_09142021-850 IX. Adjourn MM moved, JS 2nd.