REDDING BOARD OF FINANCE
REGULAR MEETING
February 27, 2006
Present: Alvarez (8:30 pm), Cotton, DeSalvo, Dolan, Guitar, Viscio
Also present: Hutvagner, O’Donnell, Ketcham, Takacs, Moisio
Redding Board of Education: Fossbender, Sullivan, Simeonidis, Lewson, Gaspar
Region #9 Board of Education: Pemberton, Poltrack
Media: Redding Pilot
Mr. Cotton called the February 27, 2006 meeting to order at 7:32 in the Hearing Room of the Redding Town Office Building.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion: move to approve the minutes of January 23, 2006 as corrected. Alvarez, DeSalvo. Approved. Unanimous.
Correction: page 1, item #1, first sentence, change are to and
TAX COLLECTOR REPORT
Patricia Moisio reported that current collections of taxes to date at at 99.5% of budget representing 98% of the total grand list.
DISCUSSION OF REDDING BOARD OF EDUCATION 2006-2007 BUDGET
Chairman of the Redding Board of Education, Nick Simeonidis, presented information on the proposed budget. He provided a packet of information showing the areas of increases, reductions already taken, increases by category, and cost comparison information. Questions and answers followed.
Chairman of the Region #9 Board of Education, Julia Pemberton, reported the budget discussions were just beginning. She will provide an update at the next Board of Finance meeting.
DISCUSSION OF BOARD OF SELECTMAN’S 2006-2007 BUDGET
First Selectman Ketcham reported the proposed budget increase is at 2.5%. Questions and answers followed. There was discussion of the proposed expenses and revenue increases attributable to the Georgetown Land Development project. Additional revenue has been projected by the Zoning Department and Town Clerk. Additional expenses were included for the Zoning Department, Tax Collector and Building Department.
The Town’s contribution to the Mark Twain Library was questioned by Mr. Cotton. He expressed his view that the funding should come from private donations. The Board asked that a representative of the library make a presentation at the Thursday budget hearing.
Discussion on capital items followed, particularly on what should be included in the budget as capital expenses. Mr. Hutvagner noted that the Town’s budget considers any expenditure item of over $5,000 as a capital expense. Mr. Cotton suggested that these items might be considered for short term funding pending long term financing rather than in the operating budget. He asked for a listing of the items over $5,000 with the estimated life period of the item.
DISCUSSION OF MANAGEMENT REPORT
The auditor’s management report with responses from the Controller was available for review. Board members questioned some of the repeat items and asked why they had not been addressed previously. Mr. Hutvagner responded that the report is received in January, half way through the next year, not allowing sufficient time to make adjustments.. He will meet with the auditors to address the recommendations recommendations.
YEAR TO DATE FINANCIALS
The financial reports were available for review.
ADJOURNMENT
The Chair adjourned the meeting at 10:17 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Maday, Recording Secretary
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