OFFICE OF THE SELECTBOARD
Town of Halifax, Vermont
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
December 1, 2012
Call to Order
A special meeting of the Selectboard began at 9:05 am at the Town office. Board members in attendance were Edee Edwards and Earl Holtz. Lewis Sumner was absent. Member of the public present was Jessica Bruno, Selectboard secretary.
FY2014 Budget
The purpose of the meeting was to update the town budget for FY14. Before the meeting was officially called to order, Patricia Dow inquired about appropriating money for FY12 into the bridge fund, the gravel fund, and the reserve fund for equipment. Edwards asked Dow to let them know what the general fund will look like if these funds are appropriated. They will discuss at the next Selectboard meeting on December 4, 2012.
The Selectboard discussed each line item of the budget in detail. A DRAFT of their work can be found in the attached document. Only part of the budget has been completed in draft form. The Selectboard will meet again on Saturday December 8, 2012 at 9am to continue working on the budget. The Selectboard discussed the town portion of the budget and reviewed the highway budget. Edwards would like to see a chart of various expenses and Holtz offered to do pie charts of the data.
Edwards noted that the Selectboard was supposed to have their report to the auditors today but because Sumner is not present, she is uncomfortable submitting it. She also noted that if we have another budget deficit, that needs to be noted.
Dow had given the Selectboard information prior to the meeting breaking down expenses. These amounts are update in the new file for FY12 actuals. Edwards suggested that the Selecttboard think about how to present the Irene expenses in the context of the town report. Her suggestion is to leave the Irene dollars in the accounts they are actually in for the roll-up, but then present a separate breakdown of Irene items at the detail level.
Items that were noted for follow-up are:
-Listers Wages- proposed level funding to $21k based on 8 hours per week per person- communicate this to them
-Acct 6253 Dues and Subscriptions includes VLCT, NEMRC (back-up for computer) Marshall & Swifts (cost tables), VMCTA, and Windham Regional
-Acct 6600- Halifax Fire Co- go over with Lewis Sumner
-Acct 6710 WSWMD- go over with Lewis Sumner
-Ask Dow for copy of health insurance packet
-Quickreport on #6720 Landfill Closure
-Acct 6753 ST Interest (Irene)- ask Dow for comment
-Acct 7110 Road Crew Wages- ask Dow for Irene wages broken out
-Force Acct Labor $92k, Force Acct Equipment $217k, ask Christina Moore to confirm these numbers
-Ask Dow to check on cost of adding voicemail and unlimited long distance to our phone package
-Acct 7380 Shop Expenses- ask Dow for Quickreport FY12
-It was noted that the FY13 intention regarding the resurfacing was that of the $100k, we were going to use $60K and put $40k in reserve
Items to discuss at the next meeting regarding the highway budget:
-Acct 7340 Roof and Fuel Oil Containment
-Highway Wages- look at people on par with average wages. Discuss 40 hour work week. This item will be discussed last during the next budget meeting
-Acct 7120- Road Commissioner- discuss increase due to more public communication and website updates
The meeting adjourned at 12:02 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jessica Bruno
Selectboard Secretary