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Advisory Committee
February 10, 2009 Meeting Minutes

Town of Hingham
Advisory Committee

February 10, 2009 Meeting Minutes

Hingham Town Hall
Present: Committee Members Lauter, Seelen, Asher, Dwyer, Farrell, Friedman, Innis, Johnson, MacCune, Manning, Marwill, Mooradian, O’Meara
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1. Call to order

Board of Selectmen Chair John Riley and Advisory Committee Chair Irma Lauter called the joint meeting to order at 7:06 PM.

2. Joint Session with the Board of Selectmen

School Committee Chair Christine Smith informed attendees that the School Committee had voted unanimously the preceding evening to recommend a $1,599,565 override to the Board of Selectmen.

School Superintendent Dot Galo presented a Proposed FY 2010 School Budget Update for Joint Meeting.

In response to questions from the Board of Selectmen, the Committee, and the public, Superintendent Galo conveyed the following:

• It is very unlikely that the School Department can operate four comparable, fully-functional elementary schools without an override
• There is no alternative plan at this time in the event an override does not pass
• March 15th is the target for letters to be mailed to potential layoff candidates per the current labor contract

Selectmen Riley informed attendees that the Board of Selectmen would vote on the School budget and the recommended override on March 10th.

The joint session with the Board of Selectmen concluded at 9:10 PM and the Committee reconvened separately at 9:20 PM.

3. Approval of Minutes for February 3, 2009

The Committee reviewed and approved minutes as amended from the meeting on February 3, 2009.

4. FY 2010 Budget Presentation

Ted Alexiades, Finance Director/Accountant, presented the following budgets. No budget votes were taken.

Ted Alexiades, Finance Director/Accountant, presented the following budgets.  No budget votes were taken.

• Accounting

Ted explained that he had reduced the budget of his own department by deferring desirable—and eventually necessary—IT expenses for maintenance and support of the Town Hall IT infrastructure.
The Committee encouraged Ted to solicit and evaluate bids from a number of regional audit firms to ensure that the Town’s need for timely, thorough, responsive, and cost-effective audit services will be met.
The Committee also recommended that the Town seriously consider moving to a bi-weekly payroll frequency, thereby reducing the administrative expenses of a weekly payroll.  Irma indicated that she would notify the Personnel Board of the Committee’s recommendation.

• Debt Service.

Ted signaled the Town’s intent to issue $38M of long-term debt during the second quarter of FY10.  Ted will prepare a written analysis of approximate borrowing costs under various scenarios for the Committee’s information.

5. General Business

• A Reserve Fund Transfer request from Elder Services for $3,000 to cover unforeseen repairs beyond routine maintenance on its 1998 Dodge Ram van was approved by the Committee with one abstention.
• Amy Farrell, Education Subcommittee Chair, solicited input from the Committee regarding budgetary interaction to date with the School Department and School Committee.

Several Committee members remarked on the improved spirit of openness and teamwork regarding School-related budgetary information.

However, there was strong feeling that the School Department/Committee needs to formulate alternative approaches for opening the fourth elementary school in the event an override isn’t authorized at Town Meeting or approved in a subsequent referendum. Further, all operating and capital planning must have a multi-year time-horizon to enable informed decisions by the Committee, Town Meeting, and taxpayers.

Irma signaled that the Committee will now meet routinely on Tuesdays and Thursdays in order to meet Warrant and Town Meeting deadlines.

6. Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 10:52 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Jonathan Asher, Secretary