Budgeting discussions tonight

The Warrant Committee has sent the BoS the memo below of the budgeting issues it plans to discuss at tonight’s BoS meeting.

I had a list of budgeting issues I had developed this spring for a planned joint meeting of the BoS, Warrant Committee, and Water and Sewer Board in response to the budgeting conflicts W&S had with the Superintendent this year before town meeting (I am told that joint meeting has been postponed to the fall), and i have attached my proposed agenda after the WC memo.

MEMORANDUM
To: Medfield Board of Selectmen
From: Michael T. Marcucci
Warrant Committee Chairman
CC: Members of the Warrant Committee
Michael Sullivan, Town Administrator
Scott McDermott, Town Moderator
Date: June 14, 2015
Re: Issues for Discussion at June 16, 2015 Selectmen’s Meeting
______________________________________________________________________________
This Memorandum sets out several issues that members of the Warrant Committee would like to discuss at our June 16 meeting. The goal is to identify ways to improve the Town’s budgeting process and enhance the coordination between the Board of Selectmen and the Warrant Committee. The suggestions expressed here do not represent the views of the entire Warrant Committee and are raised for discussion purposes only.

Discretionary Spending: This year’s debate over Straw Hat Park has prompted discussion about how similar proposals should be addressed in the future. While there is no consensus on how the resolve the issues, several possibilities are identified below.

* Selectmen’s Discretionary Fund- one possible resolution would be to create a fund to be spent at the Selectmen’s discretion. The amount (in the range of $25,000-$50,000) would be appropriated in advance and the Selectmen would then decide how it should be spent. Thus, the Selectmen—and not the Warrant Committee—would be assessing the relative merits of various proposals within budget limits imposed by Town Meeting. If this cannot be done formally, it can be done informally by an agreement from the Warrant Committee to support some amount of discretionary spending recommended by the Selectmen. This would place these sorts of value judgments within the purview of an elected body.

* Advance Budget Guidance—As Gus Murby has noted, we are concerned about abusing volunteers’ time by asking them to undertake a project with no certainty of funding the outcome of that work. One possible resolution would be to provide joint budget guidance in advance. This would always be subject to the risk that other events would squeeze out funds when the budget is finally prepared but would at least provide some guidance about a budget range the Selectmen and Warrant Committee would be comfortable recommending to Town Meeting for the type of project contemplated.

Capital Budget: the capital budget process needs to be reformed. The current approach of fixing a set amount each year for capital spending which is then allocated by the Capital Budget Committee over several meetings at the end of the budget process does not allow for sufficient planning or flexibility. The amount of capital spending each year should be flexible based on the capital needs of the town and available funds each year. One possible approach would be to identify all capital needs over a 5 year period, which will then be prioritized by the Capital Budget Committee and then may be funded as appropriate over that period. The amount funded annually will vary with circumstances, but, over time, the capital projects of the town will be funded as needed.
We should also address within the capital budget process the sort of capital projects, like the Wheelock boilers and the traffic study this past year, which are capital projects but end up in separate warrant articles. Even if, as a matter of law or procedure, certain capital items must be voted on as separate warrant articles, they should still be vetted by the Capital Budget Committee and considered as part of the town’s capital plan.

Medfield State Hospital: As expressed in the past, the Committee is generally of the view that the Town should come to a resolution of the Hospital site sooner, rather than later. Preferably, this will be done some time in 2016. Whatever the Town decides to do with that property will have a significant impact on the Town’s finances for the foreseeable future. Given that, it seems that a simple up or down vote on a proposal to develop the property is insufficient. If the Town chooses not to develop the property, we must address the long term costs of ownership, which likely will require either increased taxes or cuts in other budgets. Otherwise, both expected and unanticipated costs associated with the Hospital property will squeeze out other budget priorities. The most prudent course may be to address this issue alongside any vote on a proposal from the
Medfield State Hospital Master Planning Committee.

Water & Sewer: Pete and I have discussed a joint meeting with the Warrant Committee, Selectmen, Water & Sewer Board, Ken Feeney and Mike Sullivan to sort out the  Water & Sewer budget process. We are happy to participate in such a meeting.

This was my suggested set of budget issues that I saw which needed to be addressed:

Financial Planning Meeting

Attending:
Board of Selectmen
Warrant Committee
Water and Sewer Board

AGENDA

1. Operating budget
a. Data – what data do boards need to create their budgets
i. e.g. – W&S tool
ii. dates and/or schedules
b. Responsibilities for generating the data
c. Uniform format for proposed budgets
i. last two years actual
ii. actual spending last prior full year
iii. requested next year – + explanations of changes

2. Capital budget
a. five year projections
b. total budget amount – how set?
i. NB – Arlington uses 5% of operating budget as its expectation

3. Budget calendar
a. create a template to reuse year by year going forward
i. e.g. – week 1 – all town boards meeting (in September)
week 2 – . . .
week 34 – annual town meeting (ATM)
b. meetings to set parameters
i. who is included
ii. selectmen should weigh in on expected increases
c. establish responsibilities and time lines for meeting
i. assign departments to dates
d. compare to timing and process in Amherst, Arlington, and Dedham (see attached)

4. Planning for the future
a. Mike Sullivan to plan for his successor
i. to create and document a written how to do the Medfield budget guide
ii. to document each step as he takes it in the first year, so town has a written budget road map of what needs to be done to create the budget each
iii. to cross train Kris to do all the steps in the budget process next year
b. Transparency
i. implement www.opengov.com and/or www.visgov.com (open source)
ii. implement the state’s system of putting its checkbook online
iii. implement the Willis Peligian tool town wide
iv. implement proper governance over budgets and associated expenditures:
(1) require budgets to include realistic operating and capital expenses; &
(2) include a separate contingency line item in each budget

5. Create a Business Manager for town, similar to business manager for the schools