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ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
JANUARY 12, 2004
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairman Tallarita in the Enfield Room, Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Monday, January 12, 2004 at 7:03 p.m.
ROLL-CALL - Present were Councilmen Crowley, Edgar, Egan, Fiore, Kaupin, Mangini, Peruta, Reveruzzi, Tait and Tallarita. Councilmen Dodd was absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki; Director of Finance, Gregory Simmons
Present from the Enfield Board of Education were Donna Corbin Sobinski, Albert Harrison, Kenneth Hilinski, Roger Jones, Sharon Racine, Carol Santoski, Lynn Scull, Nicholas Sinsigalli. Also present from the Enfield Public School System were Superintendent of Schools, Dr. John Gallacher; Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Anthony Torre; Business Manager, Patricia Brooks; Director of School Facilities, Arthur Pongratz; Director of Technology, Joanne Kneiss; Elementary School Principals, Maureen Sampl, Ellie Goldberg, LeeAnn Beaulieu; Director of Curriculum, Linda Cavanaugh; Assistant High School Principal, Steven Sargalski; Director of Pupil Services, Donna Gittleman; Special Education Coordinator, Andrea Brinnel, Alternative Education Director, Bonnie Mazzoli
DISCUSSION/RESOLUTION RE: FFE BID PACKAGE FOR THE ENFIELD HIGH SCHOOL
Mr. Shanley stated this item will be addressed at the January 19th meeting.
UPCOMING BUDGET OVERVIEW AND DISCUSSION
Mr. Shanley reviewed projections concerning the revenue situation for the upcoming year. He noted he requested the Director of Finance to go through each of the revenue items and do a preliminary projection on where he thinks it might be next year. As concerns the State revenues, he noted they took that directly from the Legislature-approved financial budget.
Mr. Shanley stated this is not a budget proposal or recommendation. He pointed out they're over three months away from the presentation of a formal budget to the Town Council. He noted these are broad projections and intended to give a general sense of what the general picture is looking like. He stated he has not received any departmental requests at this point.
He explained for the purposes of this discussion he will present a relatively aggressive revenue picture. He noted it assumes a 1% growth in the grand list which is fairly consistent with what they've been seeing on an annual basis for the last several years, and he feels this is a rational assumption at this point. He stated it takes the biennial budget, as approved by the Legislature, and takes all of those numbers as they were approved. He noted it assumes a $1.2 million dollar drawdown on fund balance, and that is what was done last year and that's what they're expecting in the current year, as well as projecting another year of $1.2 million dollar fund balance drawdown.
He stated it budgets $2 million dollars in reserves because it assumes they're going to be saving on the expense side somewhat, and it also assumes that items such as the Excess Cost Grant, when there is money left over, comes to the reserve, and they go forward and appropriate based on the assumption that they are getting it. He pointed out that is not any different than what they do most years. He explained if they do get it, they're protected, and if they don't get it, they either have offsetting expenses that go down, or they get their fund balance to a greater degree than anticipated.
Mr. Shanley stated there is growth in the State revenue relative to what they adopted in the budget last year, and that's consistent with the second half of the biennial budget approved by the Legislature. He went on to note there may be a $100 million dollar deficit situation this fiscal year and it's too soon to know whether these are good numbers, but they will use them for the purpose of this discussion.
He referred to a projected reduction and this is a function of doing a very good job in collecting back taxes over the last few years, therefore, the amount they expect to get and the interest earned on that is down. He stated they continue to expect some loss in interest earnings because the interest rates have been very weak and they expect them to continue to be next year. He pointed out this is a good sign for mortgage holders and business people, but it doesn't help the revenue picture.
Mr. Shanley stated at the end of 2001-2002, the Town was at $14,012,000 for reserves, and this is combined designated and undesignated. He noted the Town used $1.2 million dollars as of the end of 2002-2003, and they will use $1.2 million dollars in this current year. He noted for the purposes of this discussion, he is projecting another $1.2 million dollars so that they are not filling that revenue hole this year. He stated he would project kicking that to a half-million dollars in the next budget cycle and then down to zero. He went on to state he's confident his recommendation will be not to use that much this year because they need to pull out of this dip, and if they don't do it now, it's going to be very painful next year.
Mr. Shanley stated on the expense side, they have an adopted budget for the current year of $100,047,300, and the Council subsequently added a couple things to that after the adoption of the budget. He noted for practical purposes, the base for 04-05 at zero percent increase would be $100,295,300.
He stated they have labor agreements, and he's working on the assumption that both the Board and the Town Council are going to respect the labor agreements they have and are not looking to lay people off, but are looking simply to maintain the current employment base. He noted if that's the case, personnel, health insurance, and workers' compensation insurance will increase about $800,000 on the Town budget expense side. He stated the reason this is a general number is because the police department has steps, people come and go, and it's hard to know exactly what the impact of those steps are going to be.
As concerns the School Department, Mr. Shanley noted he has already built in a reduction of $700,000 for retirements. He acknowledged that may or may not happen and that's really up to the Board. He explained he's trying to create a situation that looks reasonably good. He noted this figure assumes 30 retirements, and he's taken that amount of the school number already and that school number would be higher by $700,000 if they didn't assume some retirements. He emphasized this is just personnel costs.
Mr. Shanley stated with all of the assumptions mentioned earlier and assuming they are going to get $600,000 more in state revenue than what was received this year and assuming $1.2 million dollars in reserves, they could expect a 1% increase in the overall budget would cost .36 mills. He noted if they used $900,000 of reserves instead of $1.2 million dollars, which is what he would recommend, they would add .15 mills, therefore, 1% would be about a half mill; 2% - about a mill; 3% - 1.5 mill.
He noted the following assumptions have not been factored in:
" transportation, fuel and utility costs are going to go up
" transportation costs will go up
" materials and equipment will not remain at zero
" tipping fees are increasing
" salt and sand will be more expensive
" every year water pollution control plant chemicals are more expensive
" restoration of professional development
" frozen positions to be unfrozen
Mr. Shanley referred to the slide in capital spending. He noted when they started pulling down reserves, they also started reducing capital spending, and they've gone from about $2.2 million dollars down to almost a million dollars less than that. He stated Enfield is for the most part a "pay-as-you-go" community, whereby the Town bonds for really big items, but everything else is pay-as-you-go. He noted if the capital spending continues to go down or doesn't go up or at least keep pace with inflation, the Council and Board will really pay the price for that four to six years from now.
Mr. Shanley stated there's a lot of misinformation in the community as concerns large projects such as the school projects and the new senior center and how these projects are responsible for the budget being so tight. He noted between 3% and 4% of the Town's total budget goes to debt. He stated out of 169 towns, Enfield is 161st regarding debt, therefore, debt is really not Enfield's problem.
Mr. Hilinski questioned what the problem is. Mr. Shanley stated his belief the problem is an over-dependence in the State of Connecticut on the property tax. He noted he is not blaming the state, it's a structural thing. He stated 37% of all tax revenue in the state relates to property taxes-the single largest tax in the state. He noted the value of a person's house is not necessarily related to a person's income. He went on to note that as a community they need to match their desires for services with their willingness to pay. He noted they have to take a look at what services they're providing, what they cost, and what they might be able to do in that area.
Councilman Fiore stated his understanding the Town Manager is very active in CCM and CCROG and he stays on top of the State issues as they pertain to Enfield. He questioned if the Town Manager can expand on what he thinks might happen. Mr. Shanley stated he does not know this year because it's the second year of the biennium and the estimates on the current deficits range from $50 million to $100 million. He noted it depends upon how the income tax generates revenue, and they should know more about this in February. He pointed out because there are so many variables, it's difficult to know. He added his belief it's unrealistic to expect large quantities of money coming from the State.
Mr. Shanley stated there will be a lot of pressure to lift the cap for education spending. He noted education cost sharing is done by formula, and the formula has really gone by the wayside because there was a cap put on it years ago because it was getting too expensive. He noted with that cap, communities such as East Hartford, West Hartford and West Haven are very underfunded, therefore, there's a lot of pressure to take the cap off of ECS to allow more funding to go to those communities that are really stressed.
Councilman Mangini questioned at what percent is the Town currently being reimbursed for special education costs and No Child Left Behind. Mr. Hilinski stated they aren't getting anything for No Child Left Behind. Ms. Gittleman stated they're getting about 17% for special education.
Councilman Mangini questioned whether the Board of Education is taking steps to put pressure on Congress for funding these programs. Mr. Hilinski stated they are very active in that area.
Chairman Tallarita referred to fixed costs and questioned if they are starting to see a leveling off of insurance costs since September 11th. Mr. Shanley stated there's about a 7% to 8% increase for health insurance and about a 15% increase on the liability side.
Councilman Tallarita referred to debt and those communities higher than Enfield. He questioned if those communities are taking out debt to pay their operating expenses. Mr. Shanley responded for the most part no, however, there are some communities, such as Waterbury and Bridgeport that underfunded their pension payments to save money for so many years, and they underfunded them so badly that they had to sell 30-year bonds to bring them up to where they should be. He noted the State is also telling those communities they must also keep it up going forward.
Councilman Reveruzzi stated an impact with "pay-as-you-go" could effect their reserves because when shortfalls start coming, they start tapping the reserves. Mr. Shanley stated the bond houses really like "pay-as-you-go" because a town has a capital fund that Councils have funded over several years.
Chairman Tallarita requested Mr. Hilinski explain the budget committee put together by the Enfield Board of Education. Mr. Hilinski stated the Board decided to try a different approach this year with their budget. He explained instead of the Board of Education going through several budget scenarios all related to increases in budgeting, they decided this year that since they had issues with revenue last year, they should set up a Budget Advisory Committee to advise them the best way to save money within the school budget. He stated they requested organizations such as ETA, AFSCME, and Enfield Taxpayers Association to put representation on this committee. He noted they then advertised in the newspaper for membership on this committee. He stated they did not get a large response with only about five people expressing interest, and of those five people they chose three regular citizens to sit on this committee. He pointed out the committee consists of 13 members, including a Chairman and they've scheduled five meetings, one per week - Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. at the Henry Barnard School conference room. He noted they've had one meeting so far, and they're in the process of evaluating the budget. He stated their goal is to present recommendations to the Board of Education as to how they can save money in the budget this year. He noted they've also asked Dr. Gallacher and staff to put together a scenario for a zero increase budget and what would have to be done to achieve that.
Chairman Tallarita stated he was present for the first meeting of this committee and he was impressed with the diversity of this committee.
Councilman Crowley questioned whether there's been any discussion about the athletic fields. Mr. Hilinski responded that is not something they're discussing specifically at this point in time. He stated his impression this is more of a town-wide issue since it had been put in as part of the referendum.
Mr. Shanley stated once the budget has been presented to the Council, they will schedule a joint meeting.
Chairman Tallarita stated this is a partnership between the Board and Council. He pointed out they should always remember they're working for the same people.
MOTION #6945 by Councilman Fiore, seconded by Councilman Mangini to take a brief recess.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #6945 adopted 10-0-0, and the meeting stood recessed at 7:40 p.m.
The meeting reconvened at 7:45 p.m.
GOALS
Chairman Tallarita stated tonight they should discuss how the goal list is structured so that they can vote on this list at a following meeting. He added they should also decide on how they vote on this list.
There was discussion about how this list should be organized, the inclusion of some fiscal notation on some items and possibly reducing the number of prioritizing dots used in the voting process.
It was the consensus of the Council that the Town Manager can reorganize this list.
MOTION #6946 by Councilman Mangini, seconded by Councilman Tait to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation and Real Estate Negotiations.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #6946 adopted 10-0-0, and the meeting stood recessed at 8:30 p.m.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Executive Session of the Enfield Town Council was called to order by Chairman Tallarita at 8:31 p.m.
ROLL-CALL - Present were Councilmen Crowley, Edgar, Egan, Fiore, Kaupin, Mangini, Peruta, Reveruzzi, Tait and Tallarita. Also present were Town Manager, Scott Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne Olechnicki
Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation, and Real Estate Negotiations were discussed with no action or votes being taken.
Chairman Tallarita adjourned the Executive Session at 8:43 p.m. He reconvened the Special Meeting at 8:44 p.m. and stated that during Executive Session they discussed Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation and Real Estate Negotiations with no action or votes being taken.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #6947 by Councilman Kaupin, seconded by Councilman Egan to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #6947 adopted 10-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
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