##VIDEO ID:AsWfipmcYbs## [Music] all right well I think we have Quorum here so why don't we go ahead and get started if there are no objections um so uh it is 6 o' on the 21st of January 2025 uh will call to order the Halifax finance committee uh present on the call are Cheryl Burke Mike Bennett Frank Johnston Bill Smith and myself currently absent are uh Ed Brian and Mike Retta uh hoping they will probably join us here very briefly your Mike's on is he okay yeah see ah there he is yeah and Lindsay from the town there he is okay got it all right I need to change the view here okay all right so Mike Mar Mike is present thanks for joining Mike we will go ahead and get started so earlier this week there was the distribution of the minutes from the meeting on the 6th uh has everyone had an opportunity to review these yes yes okay anybody have any ads changes or deletions no good okay all right can I get a motion to approve the minutes thank you second second thank you Bill roll call vote Cheryl yes m Bennett yes Mr Johnston yes on the minutes from 0106 2025 thank you sir Mr Smith yes and Mr Retta that's a yes for me thank you thank you sir and I am a yes as well so that motion passes uh with the uh full support of the board okay so we will close out that item we will now move to the next item so uh this was for the school meeting uh that would took place on the 15th no I'm sorry um 16th 16th so uh I was there along with Cody and John Steely came to and was also present and so was Tom Pratt Frank was there and EJ came in so um Frank why don't you go ahead first give you kind of your Sy opsis of what you heard and you know for the benefit of the the committee it was a full house um from Kingston Plimpton um Halifax and then the unions and uh School committees um they just are in a dilemma on coming to a consensus on where and when they're going to have numbers to present and they're have little to no interest in presenting an estimated overall uh cost budget um to us um and Kingston pushed pretty hard on them Kingston's ta did about you know having a some numbers we can you know work with and but they wouldn't commit to putting together an estimated number for the year to present so that we could formulate our budgets and also have an understanding of where they really are um and that's about all I can say on that matter okay uh so that's that's that's fairly that's that's that's fairly cor that that is a correct representation of what happened it was a full house they had a number of people in the meeting room in Kingston they also had quite a few people um on the uh on their Zoom uh that you could see that was up on the wall um all the towns kind of made a you know a statement as to where we were financially I think we had um we as a town had let the school know we could do I think like 2% uh over last year's budget which was what our which is what our anticipated Revenue growth is um both the the school the high school excuse me the high school's budget was 11.3% over last year's budget uh and the middle school and Frank keep me straight here but I think the middle school was like about 20% um over or maybe that's rever uh Lindsay what did Cody say on the Middle School this morning in our meeting when we met with the fire department he had mentioned was it 20 or 23% or something of that nature like 23.5 yeah and I believe it was like 17.5 for the regional school the high school um I don't quite remember but those were the were the numbers he was working with and right uh so the the the elementary school's budget was um has a deficit based on what they propose versus what we can afford of $1.5 million um the high school based on what they propose versus what we can afford that or all three towns can afford uh is a $2 million difference so it's quite a gap that they that needs to be covered um at that point um you know there's there's also and you know there's there's questions about circuit breaker dollars I think we're still waiting for Chapter 70 money and Cherry sheets to be posted at this point uh I know the governor just released her budget like this week so I'm sure those numbers will start populating um I think it's um you know it's going to be I think it's GNA be a battle maybe not so much a battle but it's going to be it's going to be tight regardless of which way we go um trying to figure out where we they can make cuts and what the town can afford um I don't believe that uh there you know there was some of the some of the I think Kingston addressed the the Kingston finance committee chair addressed a you know a potential override uh that he didn't believe would get approved in Kingston I think you know we didn't we we as our committee we didn't talk about that but um Cody said that that was you know also something that would be you know a bit of a challenge to get through here in in Halifax um so uh it's you know it's it's it's not going to be it's going to be you know we're gonna have to check all the pockets everywhere basically to help try to kind of close this Gap as best we can uh the state um the guy who the guy from the Committees that liaison with the state so far as dollars is concerned he spoke for a few minutes one of the things we want to make sure that we're getting is full reimburse for the special education um transportation which you know transportation is the biggest spend we've got here with the schools so uh the um you know he's he's working with the the uh Healy Administration to make sure those dollars are coming back I think we're checking on the I think the millionaires tax was supposed to subsidize education too um so you know where is that money and what do they you know when's it going to come to the school to help defray some of these costs so it's um we're going to have a lot to talk about over the next couple of months uh before town meeting and before we can really finalize a budget it's just going to be you know it's it's it's G to be it's going to be tight everywhere um and um you know I think all three towns are in a position except maybe climon might be in a better position than we are from a deficit perspective meaning they have less of a def deficit to cover than we do um but that's just my opinion I have have no substantive proof of that um but that's just how it kind of sounded when they were talking to us um at the meeting yes and the the other part of that was um the uh migrant population what did they say 56 students 60 students somewhere around that number are in the Kingston school system that is correct yes at least up until the next three or four months it sounded like and then not sure where that's going to go due to the fact of the um potential to lose that housing over there at uh the facility that they're currently using with the state they talked about the cost reimbursement from the state and I believe the federal government for those students to include the trans Transportation as well as the English English to Spanish language teachers and the student population so there is money coming from other sources than the actual towns to cover the cost of those um students yeah I think those are all the highlights Frank I don't think everything else was just kind of General commentary on the same on the same subject matter each Town got a chance to speak to the schools the schools got their chance to speak um and uh you know they're they're they're they proposed three levels of cuts I think tier the the like the tier three the first level was already done because that was like ordering and supplies and some things like that that they didn't get that they normally would get uh I also think that they were looking at tier two and tier three which would be people at that point so par professionals and teachers but then that would increase class size so you know it's it's going to be it's it's a bit of a you know bit of a fine fine edged you know sword that we're riding here uh with what what could be done from a uh from a from a dollars perspective so you know as as we said earlier we're we uh we should from a Halifax perspective should be looking at everything that's out there that we could possibly claw back um to help kind of close that Gap both with the high school and but more so with the elementary school right um at this point so that's that's kind of where we're gonna that's kind of where we're going to be and to that end I think we have and Lindsay I think you're on this too tomorrow at noon we've got a call with Cody Lindsay myself and the elementary school that right yeah so we've got that tomorrow to kind of drill into what they have and what they can do if they can do anything at this point so um that is the gist of the school meeting I think Frank you think I did I miss anything no I think that's pretty good A lot of ground was covered it was there was some informative information there um I thought the meeting went you know pretty well um learned a couple of things and also a few things I didn't learn because they didn't want to speak on behalf of right um but it's it's a good start part um better than last year um so we'll kind of see where things go and they understand our position in where we're at with our budgets and and the money it's just you know we have X dollar and that's it yeah um so I don't know you know we're not the only ones um School District in the same position if you read the articles on Southshore news about each of the school district meetings everybody's pretty much in the same place with the exception of I think maybe Marshfield is uh doing fairly well I read that today so um that's the only positive one I've seen in a while with marfield yeah I haven't seen anything either so I must missed this Marshfield one but yeah yeah everybody's kind of in the same bucket across the state yes so okay anybody have any questions I can certainly take them down and get them over to Cody uh or just email them to to the group and we can get them over to Cody to get him any answers that we don't specifically have um but those are those are the notes that I took uh from the meeting um on the 16th all right okay so we will close out the agenda for the school meeting recap and we will move on to the FY 26 budget liaison update um so I believe just uh so I'll kick it off um I believe that myself and Cody have covered all the teams that we were going to talk to uh from a liaison perspective so I'm I'm we look at what they initially came in we had a couple of questions asked them to come back with a couple of things so once they return those um we'll be able to kind of final those those numbers and get them out in front of the team here so I have the same comments I met with mine last week with Cody and we're waiting for something from COA and police okay yeah I had my second meeting with um fire department and Cody today and Lindsay got uh revised budgets back from the chief uh he was able to tighten it up pretty good um maybe about a $6,000 differential now okay which he did a good job cleaning things up um so we're going to go with those numbers um and then buildings uh was another big one I had um we got that that's you excuse me you're the buildings guy I'm um no um the building inspector guy oh okay okay yeah because I have Scott and um he had a really clean budget there's not a lot of room to trimming his anyhow I'm office supplies and things of that nature it's just him and and his administrative assistant in there and um so his numbers look good so we checked that off and um yeah so good to go there um and a couple of miscellaneous ones they had small departments that are just straightforward um same as last year numbers so okay all right everybody else doing okay with theirs yeah I've had meetings with all my uh departments just waiting for some U responses back okay for a few questions things like that and we should should be good all right so Cheryl I just want to make sure I heard you correctly you you do the buildings the Buildings Department I have Scott um that was just hold on a minute um Town buildings yeah I have Scott madna okay so we met with him I met with all three of them last week with Cody he needs to send us um more in his 10% reduction and some explanations okay and once he does I think we'll be doing okay all right well the next time you chat with him if you could have him kind of walk you through his um his articles where he's got about $47,000 and unspent money okay yeah um I'd be interested to understand why we are where we are with that especially an article that went back to 2012 okay you want to have a look at it Cheryl when you uh next when you log on to your email if you look at the uh Lindsay sent out the most recent budget status on page 19 it's section 192 under public buildings and property okay okay I will yeah SC yeah turn Okay okay right mm okay Mike you doing okay with yours yes sorry I'm sorry sorry wrong mik Mike Retta okay yeah M mine are straightforward Cody uh had checked in with them already no need for meetings he said they are all no issues at all very good how's the library going uh actually her budget was pretty pretty straightforward this year okay so that there wasn't too much of a problem at all we had a couple questions for her but she was able to take care of those all right very good yeah okay um all right well if there's no other feedback or updates we'll close out that specific Jim who's got the highways I do Mike does yeah Mike Y and already met with Steve is he giving you money back no not at the moment okay okay alrighty anyone else I just think that uh having the in-person meetings early on like we've done last year and and again this year for me personally with the you know the team in there together with Town Administrator Town accountant assistant Town accountant and um the department head and myself um I I I think go really well um we cover a lot of ground um we can walk through a lot of things um and then come back in a quick followup if need be um I think that's working out really well I really like that format we've been using I think we made some really good progress uh with the meetings and stuff with getting the getting in front of the people getting being able to talk to them um and you know kind of work through some things and you know and I think the the meetings have been very productive uh so far as I'm concerned so um I hope we continue to get this level of cooperation um yeah productive for both us and productive for the department heads as well right um because they're also learning a lot as well as they go along here so I think that's really good you know no I couldn't agree more yeah could not agree more all right so we'll wrap up that specific agenda item we'll move over to committee liaison updates so um again I think Frank I think you and I have one like final meeting whenever that gets scheduled for the zoning bylaw committee review uh just to kind yeah just to wrap up all the stuff we have kind of hanging out there right now yeah get a finalized deal so they can get out ahead of town meeting also have the public meeting on it as well yep um because it's a lot to read through there that is true section 167 is long yes they're going to need to allow some time for people to read through and understand some of the changes and um so yeah they need to get need to kind of maybe get move I'm not sure what Mr Bruno's schedule is that yeah he's uh he's a busy guy right now it seems so yes tough to nail him down we got a wage and Personnel thing coming up too I believe yes we do yes we do did everybody so I think the the the uh government HR report came out today yes so if you want take a run take a look at that I've I gave it a quick scan over this morning so um when I got it so I don't really have any kind of firm comments yet but I did have have a have a look at at least the first section so let's all read up on that so we're ready for that uh for that meeting when it does come up y all right anyone else for updates liaison updates okay okay we'll say that that agenda item is closed uh correspondent and as may arise so um I haven't gotten any emails for the finance committee uh from the public or anywhere else at this point uh so we'll open the floor up for anybody who has anything they would like to discuss with the you know on from the finance committee with the other members of the finance committee uh so whoever that would be you have the floor should you have something to chat about okay going once going twice going three times hearing none we will close out that public participation uh any members of the public that are on the call um I see a at least someone on there um any if you have question for the finance committee or any comments we welcome them and if we can answer them we absolutely will okay going once going twice three times hearing none we will close out public participation uh next meeting planning so the next meeting is when is that the third I think yeah yes third yeah it's the third we're going to do that in person in the uh at the Town Hall um it'll be our first finance committee meeting in person for 2025 and uh still 6m right yes still 6 PM ises that time work for everybody okay in the selectman's room or uh I believe that's the one we reserved I'll have to check with um I'll check with uh Katie uh make sure that that's what we got going on I'm here I had to log in on my phone because my computer was doing an update so I'm the other person ah okay I was trying to figure out how to talk on this thing but I found and then for the in-person meetings I'm just we have to do a form every time to reserve it so I was just going to do ahead of time do all the meetings that have to be in person okay the first meeting every month is that what we de I think that's what we settled on I believe when we voted on about it okay so I will get that over um to the town's clerk's office okay awesome sounds good thank you Katie appreciate it that's gonna be every Monday because um the following Monday I do know that someone is in there well I think the alternative would be we would just meet in the Great Hall I think okay it's only going to be the first Monday of every month is that correct that is correct so it wouldn't be every Monday uh Sue okay yeah just the first Monday of the month that's all okay that's fine then yeah so we we don't you know we want to ease into it we don't want to like you know at everybody's schedule gotcha all right sure okay next that is it for next meeting planning does anybody have anything that they would like to bring up with the group before we break Jim have they uh certified the free cash yet no think so Lindsay um last I knew the consultant bill was working on it they want Cody wants it done by the end of this month I believe I know that the variances are down from what they were at and it's like a much better spot than what it was before um he is coming in tomorrow so I can talk to him tomorrow and just double check where he's actually at with that um but at this point it not done okay so we're hoping by the end of the month by the end of January hopefully honestly it's by the end of the week um but yes by the end of January okay Jim I want to um Circle back to the school meeting last week real quick about the police officer sure um because they gave a little bit of a present the chief gave a presentation and his Lieutenant did as well regarding the resource officers over at the um at midle scho there the high school and the um Middle School I believe it was is that correct middle school that's correct um currently they they're using two resource officers three days a week at the middle school on overtime rates that are certified they only have two officers that are CER certified and what they're proposing on doing is going to a full-time officer five days a week at a straight time rate versus an overtime rate to the to the towns is what they'd like to do um what about the high school there's already one there they have a full-time officer there at the high school which Kingston picks up I believe 100% of that correctly and so with the middle school they want to go with a five day a week one officer at a straight time rate which means that they would have to hire a police officer to do that and and I may be wrong on my numbers because he was throwing a couple of numbers around but they were looking at $80,000 if I remember correctly here my notes I wrote down regarding that position and then we would pay a what was it Jim a point8 or something well I think uh yeah we we pay a little over three quarters of that and I think Clinton picks up the other portion of that yeah so that's what they're proposing to do going forward in this next budget year here those numbers make sense to you Bill um depends on what their starting salary is I'm sure they're not going to hire someone right off the street and put them in the school they're going to use someone who's been there for a couple years and if they have steps and everything that could be about right have to I have to look at their contract I know how the Kingston Chief very well I can reach out to him and talk to him I know him very well yeah he's just getting his feet wet over there he said so yep he's a good guy he's yeah he seemed like it he's uh trying to wrap hands around quite a few things he said um out yeah so I don't know if they're going to you know he only has two according to the lieutenant he only has two certified resource offices so I would think one of those is probably what they're considering using I would think instead of hiring another officer to put them in the schools and foregoing one of those two positions there but and and keep me straight here Frank didn't he say that the guy that's doing the Middle School currently only does it three days a week that's correct three days a week um and I'm not even sure they're full days right um because he's coming off of day shift work right right so um and I think that's why they use two offices within that to pick it up um and also the re another reason they want to go with a full-time officer is because of some incidents they've been having in the school and uh things of that nature and getting somebody more wrapped into what's happening with right um some issues within the school student body become very challenging in the schools yeah especially at that age I would think yeah technolog is not a not a friend yeah and just be things going on he didn't elaborate on them but yeah you you could you're around long enough to kind of read between the lines yeah yeah and you being a former police officer you kind of probably knew where he was coming from yeah kids are tough yeah at that age group right they are tough at that age lot of things going on in their heads when they're in middle school yeah especially like Bill mentioned with the Technologies stuff of that nature Roger that so I just wanted to Circle back to that no it's good Frank I I that that that had slip my mind so I'm glad you brought it up so thank you for that okay anybody have anything else all right well then I think that is a wrap for the evening uh can I get a motion to adjourn the meeting so move second thank you thank you roll call vote Cheryl yes Mike Bennett yes Frank Johnston yes to adjourn please thank you sir Bill Smith yes Mike Retta yes and I a yes as well thank you all for joining meeting is now adjourned at 6:33 thank you all thanks everybody [Music]