this is the towns and finance committee calling meeting to order at 6:07 PM it's uh Tuesday February 11th and again it's 6:07 p.m calling order um with that
um I don't see Sam online but in case he fromes in I would like to do our our full call attendance jalas D Walker Mary Jan chille here Carol Haw is present ha Pres Grand
president okay so you are there looking at my wrong screen so thank you um that is six so we have a quum we are good to go this meeting is being recorded uh played live on Channel 9 will be replayed and available on the YouTube
channel in the future at this time additions or deletions um I will say that um fire chief um was not able to attend tonight so we're going to reschedule I have
tenda itely moved it to the February 27th agenda um it was um so I think we should still leave it on the agenda um there are when I was reviewing it there might be additional information that
would be requesting so that we give them the opportunity us to review it if we have questions we can forward them to them and so that they can be addressed um when he does up here so that would be really piece I
have at this point or changes to the agenda um and with that um we move into the work session we have a joint meeting with the select board we can can I call the order May um good evening I'm Laura shiffrin
uh chair of the select board and I am calling our joint meeting to with the finance committee to order at 6:10 pm and call veronic Cel present come
present I we do all join you in the Pledge of Allegiance please I pledge of allegiance to the flag United States of America and to the repblic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and
justice for all I just like to thank all of our military our veterans currently and those currently serving as well of all as all of our First Responders and as I
added this week also their families they sacrifice as much as um those that they give up so I do not have any I'll be also will be um meeting is being recorded and will be uploaded to YouTube
channel and is there anyone else here recording if so please state so think I see anything um I do not have any additions or deletions and we have no minutes to
approve this evening done take it away okay the police chief is not here so I would suggest we riew and if we have any questions we can the police chief and ask
to attend another session or there is nothing significant that may the budget Summit on the on the March 1st I don't want we do have a lot of budg to go through so I don't want to um down in
some of our meetings that could get on um okay so I'm going to share Bud we start and I had put on the agenda to start with the small one the Animal
control officer was submitted by Chief which one is that um okay animal control so these are the BB that go with it if we go back to our budget book the last tab in the budget book should we have budget books as
[Music] well Sabrina had mine made them finance committee I have them as well yeah um no that's
okay unless you want I can have Saina last the purple yeah it's the last page last page of the last T last page um sorry it's so no sorry it's kind like
it starts with Chief okay um and the first sheet which we haven't seen yet this is the um budget letter that has been could you take out the participants there just ex that so that we can
see those of us that don't have the budget books oh yeah that's good no the yeah yes that and hang on I usually War up a little bit because also in the room to see is that
a good good size I may need to scr back so the budget letter introduces um budget is included the head count um on second second sheet third sheet is on the back on the
back side second is um the oration chart and then Pages uh four and five would be the list listing current copy
of the names in this budget for for the police Sor I did want to start with animal control probably probably it's the last sheet in
that in this section and it matches anim control is is on theet on which tab are you on um it is the last it's the last tab and the last sheet in the book Thank you
it'll say ACO for animal control off right okay what's on the screen this is the um spreadsheet that matches um this is this is the spreadsheet for animal control officer if I scroll up to the top you
see this the FY 26 no it so it he's put talk about the headers okay so so right so he's put in FY 26 on the budget when we look down below the headers sorry fy4
this is actually fy2 which is where we are now and you'll see the 21,000 is sorry it's 20781 now 20781 now went down and it's going to go back up again and it's going
to go to 21525 so that's the 4% increase um why why was there a decrease from FY 24 to 25 looks like that was at the ACT but that was the budget but that was the
actual well that's not what it says right if we if we look at the BBA you'll see um the original budget was 21613 and it was it um was the adjusted so that 216
um 21613 um should be where the 21525 is yeah but this is no no no no no this is 21613 is what's in the fy2 25 budget
that we looking at was the year to date um okay so oh so what increase what you're just a 4% increase across the board is that what it is well let's let
just and now and again if he had the wrong number in there um you can see the calculation in columi went to 0% so he's actually gone down between fy2 and FY 26 decrease of
no that's an error that's an error so if we're if we're going to look at it we want that to be 4% so we need to get the police chief to correct this budget yeah I think so um what what we're seeing is that we
we look like we're going to recommend it to be a 4% increase um and I just got so so why is there an increase that's what I don't get well it this is a salary rning this is a stipend um for
the Animal control officer so she's going to get more money yes 1500 oh okay so dides she take money in is this do they have findes do we get money from the Animal Control when they find the place you can find that is if
there's a revolving fund that's associated with this so if you look at town meeting where we approve all the revolving funds that's where you see that if there is one and I can't tell you off the top of my head exactly same
same here I mean I can got to hook it up I don't get my so so it would be under a revolving fund for animal animal control off had one so if we don't have one that means she doesn't get these I mean if your dog is running
wild and someone calls you and she has to come pick it up don't you get fin I have no idea yeah I think you do I think we should know that because that's a source of Revenue isn't it and who collects the fines who enforces fines that aren't paid I don't know that that
exists um I don't know that we have police officers running around collecting dog fins and I don't know that the Animal control officer is deputized to do that sort of thing I'm looking at some of my
reports for revolving funds and um anything related to uh animal control is I don't see this on here yeah there are other police revolving finds but um any but related to animal control I don't
see they all signs right I'm not sure I'm what can we find out about that the next meeting I I have a question in reference to so each year a dog has to get a
license corre for the owner does so if for some would it make sense that for some reason if there was a violation against this dog by the animal control h
employee um would that not be reported to the town clerk and so when they're up for Renewal they can't get a license unless they're current on that's a good idea I don't know if
they've ever if I mean do they have the they ever issued funds we can I don't I have never anybody paying a f i our dogs but either we had dogs that got loose a few times and we did not get a
fine oh my dog L one get a yeah so there's no fines I don't believe so okay that's what I want so then it's just a service that the taxpayers pay for for well I think they probably consider they pay for the dog licensing Fe an animal
care program but I think that's if um if she picks up an animal and has I I will tell you personal experience there was an injured bird at my daughter's house that couldn't fly and I called animal control and they came
and put it in a little box and said she would take care of it until it healed or fixed it so so she has to hold the dog well that's what that is for that's what the oh okay right so if there is a evolving fund um and and again this is
this is from last year's um annual town meeting um so we see item six on there is the Animal Care Program and that revolving fund is is
the spending limit is $1,000 so um we' have to check bylaws and see if there are any any bees collected by animal animal control yeah I mean I know our dogs got loose just a handful of times and we never PID to find right we had to pay
for some chickens that the dogs decided to well no they didn't eat them they just brought them back to their owner but you know when they brought them back they didn't take too much care with that did the animal control people come to get your dogs or did somebody else no no they they they went to where the dogs
got loose to and got them there and then and then my wife went and picked them up oh so the animal control girl I my dog one time I just yeah they didn't come to I don't think she I don't think she brought them
did she bring them to the house it's possible she brought them to the house and dropped them off once I just wondered we had you know fees we need money right we did not pay a fine I know that no F so is the
budget is um 26525 am I that's what I have on here I mean it's total budget with the $55,000 for the the expenses um is 27477
27477 yeah yeah so we we change so if you're looking at hard copy that number on the hard copy is going to go up to 22478 actually which It Go to which one
um fy6 FY 26 okay is what is going to be 22478 and that is because that is because um it appeared that there was a wrong number in the FY 25 butet because that should have been 216 yeah ver right we better have this
corrected right oh yeah it's kind of like this this is the base build on the bus from it's kind of like and and that's that's why we we have this because we don't want to be surprised as as we put it together or if we have a deficit halfway through the year um or
probably through the year we want it to be corre um Don can I see the the uh cell that has the 3% on it right there in that segment yeah I want to see the formula no not that one the one above the 3% above right there okay um how are
you figuring that okay um you're doing h15 F5 okay I'm good with that but what's your granularity on the um yeah you want to see I want to see the 3245 so
um yeah again that's total budget with so the expense line has gone nowhere so the total budget increase is 3.24% with all of it being Sal okay so now I have I have a question this is a general question I don't
believe this position is in the union all of our Union positions of 4% and in general I think that we should be giving across the board a 4% increase if we're in a bad budget crisis this is just something to think about are we doing that just for union members
or are we doing it across the board and now then again I I haven't looked at say the building inspector because that's a lot of that's a lot of other areas that are right there are there are it's just something to think about
because I do think we unless an override passes we have to figure out where we're getting $1 and5 million are you asking us oh no I'm just throwing it out there no anwers oh okay okay but we need to be thank yeah that's
a good point identify questions and possibly identifying areas that we might come back and trim So to that this is a 4% automatic increase the a a this is 4% to match the salaries that that the
union employees are getting um well so and it's a it's a two% um cost of living and a 2% step I believe the steps are based on reviews um is that
correct yeah if you get a uh meets expectations then uh go up you get a step as well which is the way it is so who does that um the department heads the department head does
that so and and that's a union bargained thing we have employees some employees that are not in the union can we freeze it for a year or two not quite fair but it's something to think about right
right fair is we have we have to figure out I'm not getting um because that 3248 is higher than the 2.5 that we can count on well
but we you you have to look at the aggreg got two two lines that's the purchase of services that's adding to that so this is the 4% that 3 point 3428 is a to the total budget there two lines this a the St L for the personal
service the purchase of services is is level funded is level funded year over year so when you look at the three point that's how it it but it is still above what we're if we're going AC if we're going
line by you know Thing by thing you need to be like 2.5 do we know we purchase with the $5,000 probably if we look at the BB like that's something we can ask for if we look at it right now they're halfway
through the year and they have not touched it so this was as the end of December and that's why we do the bva I didn't touch it so do we have the bva from the end of last year I'm wondering if it's is this a place where
we could drop it by ,000 I know it's niichel and Diamond but we're gonna have to do that we're gonna have to do that I mean that's um do you have last excuse bva um I probably do I probably do somewhere but kind of um but if we drop
at ,000 that comes down it's kind of like you could even drop it um $500 well they're not spending it well they're not spending it spending it if the trend is not spending it why not cut it down to $2500 or like rank is at a
th000 no yeah I don't know what we'd have to look at what difference it made in you know or what actually they may use it for maybe they don't need it for one year but maybe this SP of the next year
right right right so we need more information yeah you we looking for hisorical bva they only used ,500 last year 5,000 so it down to 15 or two t make it
3,000 what does that do it's it if you can you manipulate yeah yeah if I throw the 3,000 in that's a drop in drop a 5% 4267 you can see whole budget so it's a 40% drop on
that line for the for the animal control offic 267 and just something to consider we don't have to do this right now but it's something to consider maybe we can feed that back to
them and ask them yeah you know why was this why is this number as it is and can we trim it back to something number of dogs that was being serviced in in house or something what the impact we could ask what the impact would be if we
dropped it to 3,000 right right again if you drop it just 000 we monitor during during the year if we need to have a special to meeting article or if we need to do a municip
the end of the year are remedies right this way but if we if it's not spent then we have to wait for the certification to get the money back so if we can reduce it SP back yes I am thank you I don't I can't remember
everything but some things I can remember if we don't spend it so it's going to be nickel and dime throughout this so right but if we nickel and dime through the whole thing it adds up a little bit no I know that's what I'm
saying um so who goes back to the police chief we um is is that something that the finance committee is doing do I'm the Lea on do you want me to do it um you can do it however you want we we have we can we can if you're okay we can
generate it and send an email and you can forward it on or you can yeah I'm not looking to do more things but we need to know who's G to say something on these things no that's um you know it's kind
of pretty much only and that way we can keep the salaries and right you know which I would rather do and when I make these changes um save the file back in the same place
but just identify it that it's not the original are they at the top of police is that where no not last year no um Animal Control is um some
funky place yeah down after um tree Wen all that good stuff got quick I think you probably know this is the three-digit code of the department yeah it's the oh yeah yeah
yeah that would help yeah it's 29 292 yeah that's the trick to find all right9 right here yeah so I had put that on top because that was the first one we were looking at you'll see there's no it says page 15
I'm looking at it on the cup so um are there any other questions on Animal Control so we're getting a new updated sheet I we're going to request a new updated sheet with our recommended changes we're going to ask um about the
a potential for a change on the purchase of service um correction and a correction yeah any anything for animal control officer nothing being heard um we we're not voting on these Budget Check did
that March 1 right we can do it March 1 or we can do it in other meeting um we we hadn't done it on during the budget because sometimes things were still in spot so we were in the past we have held off past budget Summit um
before we V on the budget okay uh next is police open that and again in the book The
what color is it is purple everything in the Poli okay what are we gonna look at now um we're gonna look at theget itself account 210 okay the police chief salary yep
that's start okay so he went up 3% [Music] is he one of the four percenters and he took a cut or is he and he has this a personal services contract so he does
not he's not a union member he's outside of the Union his contract is personal services and it's negotiated each year or for usually for three years because we can give threeyear contracts so that's what he has yes and he goes up 3% this year
correct okay so it's a contract I'm wondering about the lieutenant and that's also he the lieutenant is in the union okay but how do you know the difference that's two
people right okay well that that becomes one is that one he's the deputy and the chief he's a police lieutenant and the chief okay the depu is in there for historical if you look at it that hasn't been I see that we have had no salary in
Deputy police since 23 do we not have a deputy police chief that way we we do not it was to the lieutenant position okay and he makes wasn't the chief of police no no no I me no I don't think that's one
person I thought that there no there only if you there's one salary budgeted in here but if you look at the list of and and the support it does say one Lieutenant is vacant correct so this is
this is not that one person yes it is [Music] 110 oh that was years ago that was FY 23 when we did have two lieutenants we PA oh so now we
pay and we had the two lieutenants one of them was the entire year one of them was partial year and and again if we if we look at this on on the titles you'll see that title on the workbook says fy2 don't tell me it's
wrong saying 26 and then the FY 25 is the appropriation for 25 but this should be the FY 26 for the request say request maybe should get all corrected is that um is the lieutenant
salary increase in other words he is yeah he's part of I know he's part of the Union yeah but I thought he was in the supervisors you can not the police Union unless that changed and it could have
changed that's a question that's a question no he's definitely not in the police un we talking about Lieutenant still yes yes we are and in the bva it's not broken out I'm sorry it's not broken out
by the way it's broken out here when you look at the BV it's yeah it's on the first it's on page 9 28 let's just we were just given
okay let me pull up the BBA then um so I need to go here but um so I need January 2025 this is police but that's the second page the
first so it's GNA be page n oh here it is okay Lieutenant where you find it on the back because was printed different he is in the supervisor he is
why is it a 7% increase instead of a 4% increase because I thought um I thought all all unions were 2% step and um 2% cost of
living well two and two does not make sense I think what something's wrong I think no I think he lumped everything together um his base his clothing
allowance his um education stien he lumped that all together okay when he should of I think broken it out um can we have that broken out there is detail in um on the the chief
individual so we can go to the later chief 120 what's his name it goes by name right um is the yeah so the first on the labor work no
no oh I see him yeah he's down there yeah so it's gonna be clear way do this okay so Chief is on the top this is crazy so one more all right there's his base
way Chief and here is I don't know what it is fcal year 24 what's 25 where's 25 I don't know where's okay so 20 we have 23 actual 24 actual 25 appropriation is is what where
is that so why what do you mean where is that well this is the worksheet for the 26 request yes oh the request so why isn't the number 121 right because it's very confusing because at the top here
says correct that's another one of his this is 26 this is 26th yeah so they're not fixing the dates they they're not fixing the have to do that we're gonna miss stuff stuff we need to have this cleaned up before
we so that should be 26 okay and in the in the details in the chief's notes in the account number you'll see that which account he's assigning in his in his main sheet um so like the chief Sal is on
line 5100 that's we look up here 5100 it's Quin Quin that we're looking at the detail sheet
in the book and the chief salary line says it's 5100 and when we look at the first first that's 5100 would it be better if we cleaned everything up and then we go over
it well just saying okay well okay see all right well no that's not right let's let's keep going it's not it doesn't match exactly but I understand what he's doing um um so does it add up to 7% if
you add his uh well everything again if we let me I have to I'm complet because hang on let me let me go to label one I forgot is in here so we're looking for Li and I'm highlighting everything
ones so if we look at this line if we at salary says 121 he's added everything including the clothing allowance so he's got a clothing he's got a special Sion for Education if we take the clothing out he has a special
stien for education and he has base wages um are we gonna have to do that for every single solitary one I mean that's okay base and then and then the s for Education right
so it doesn't exactly match does exactly match but he he's done 120,000 well how how close is numbers come to 1,56 and what how close is that to the 7% or the two that's supposed to be that's well that's the 7% but it's a
matter of is this year's line different and not including that and he has it on a different line yeah but he's got to put it on the right line we have to well this is how mistakes are made right this is how things get lost in the shuffle this is how this is not a good
practice at all this is not fiscally responsible this has got to be corrected and we have to know if it's 7% on the front and Veronica you're saying it's almost 7% if we take out but we don't know for sure there's a rounding component here
is all I'll say it's not except but that's let's keep going with what we have here to see where we are and then you want we'll go back to main sheet budget for Sheet okay um
we have a question and that gets us into the details of making sure phones those I I would prefer to see it match this now and has he so he doesn't have clothing allowance anywhere else here I
see uniform allowances is that different from clothing allowance it should it should be consistent so that we all are on the same thing and when you say he you mean the chief of police creates this document right for
the individual people I don't know I would imagine the chief of police go back to lines and look at the closing allowance yeah you'll see that in in his code 210 he's putting into account 5195 which is the uniform which is the
uniform so we we have to extrapolate out a little bit but he's given us the information in that say 5195 and so if we total up all the 5195 we should get we get that so
see that's You' been here five [Music] years not anything this is something um I took all of the individual lines that were in here that had numbers associated with them and
values um which worksheet I pulled them from and then I created a pivot table that said the 5195 is total 69 yes oh 5195 is the line 5195 is the line and
so the line in the budget should be 16,900 but what does that represent that represents the uniform for the whole for the Department individual people okay so let me let me go back and and explain so did
you find another 5195 there are if if we look at okay if if we go to the individual sheets um which which I have way um up above so the label one line has the chief on the
CL Lieutenant teach and then for each line is identified in the account number where he's gonna assign oh I see okay I see on this sheet I don't see okay not on [Music]
oh so that's why I say you if I go to the labor two line we start the it's like a matching what's the difference between a what would they get for a clothing allowance that's different than a
uniform allowance I I don't think it's anything different I think it's just the same I say well if it's all uniforms it unifor but it is the same thing but does Lieutenant need a
different dress um when when he's representing you know he always that's what Legion believe different than the uniform but even if he hasn't dressed uniform it's still a uniform it's still a uniform so so we we're looking for terminology consistency anything that's
going in 5195 should have a description that says uniform not or we could change uniform to clothing that might be but it's really automatic anyway yes so
like I say every every one of the sheets the detail sheets that the chief has given us the breakdown by person um and one of the things that I noticed in here on labor four we have an item that
everything say that's what's labor for me school resource before is just a an additional sheet because he was it was getting WR so he put additional information onto an additional worksheet just Contin okay so after
officer Peach yeah and it's closed then we come to officer Rey and he's got a base wage what's his percentage is on the worksheet in the workbook I see him in the workbook yeah so he's got a salary he's got a salary
he's got a clothing allowance he gets a stien for education he gets holidays M holiday pay and he gets a step for longevity and a step for certification correct yes yep okay so he's totaled up the total for that
employee and then for each of the lines he's broken down into where where it's going to show up okay on the master sheet on the summed up on and then we have Phillips he's got a salary he's got another I guess they're using clothing
allowance Jerry I'm sorry and they they're using clothing allowance here but the BBA is saying uniform allowance it's mat it's a description it's a It's gotta match gotta match it's gonna have to change it stip for Education he's got a holiday
he's got longevity certified and okay so I get here Giles he gets money clothes education holidays longevity now we don't see the looking at what the percentage for each person but but there
should be a percentage of what his increase is right it will be on on the summary worksheet oh summary worksheet it should be on same thing then we have Francis he gets money close
s so what is the difference between these education it depends on that's something that the individual officer decides what he wants to do well it it's the whether it's a bachelor's degree master's degree yeah PhD terminology a
lot of a lot of your step tables will have steps then you go across for education and years holiday so do they use the full 1,200 for or they must I would think oh yeah
yeah um their education holidays well let's see now is holidays you have to you have to budget for it because you know you're gonna have to pay all what they pay right oh and right they're doing 12 hour shifts
and you and they have to work holiday so so the holiday pay for them is is figured into their schedule okay so it's not part of their base wage it's added on in essence yes but because of the schedule um and they have to have coverage so
they what happens like when they do details and they get paid by the whatever sometimes the town has to pay it sometimes depends on the yeah yeah and sometimes the town
pays right don't confuse us but if howany pays it does that well no that money just goes to the officer do it's not our budget yeah no no education we're not cutting a check for that oh you're not getting money you're not
getting a kick back from it UC I'm just making [Music] sure so Longevity if it's zero that means they're new they haven't qualified for longevity yet okay
then Z oh so that that's the thing we've looked at all the individual labor sheets yeah and then what this worksheet do we know we have three open
officers what is an open the question is do we know if we have people in the um I believe in the academy yeah say pipeline what do you mean it means that that they we have
them hired and they're in training oh so that's why there's a base wage here for nobody that's correct yeah because these are open positions and now will they be filled this year I would imagine yeah if they don't
the cheap if I mean I can't imagine but if they wash out through the academy it's kind of like they don't make it you're not going to hire them on they might we already have them identified who pays for the Academy we do that's we
do and that's why you see anyway when you when when we go through this the the increases are going to be in the training in the training areas um yeah but I don't get it there's nobody there so these are just imaginary people or
are they identified you've identified their position you've identified candidates and they're going through the state police training so we know who they are you know it's John Brown maybe maybees we we know we have selected them they've
passed some betting and they're going to the Police Academy school and they're real people and they're real people okay have to continue they have to continue to pass in order to come all the way through so we're paying for that and then they come to work for us like a Serv ofice payback kind of thing right
okay so yeah now when do they have to come though I mean there's a whole process yeah um that's a conversation for a different time oh okay I'm just looking at the amount of money that we have in the budget and I'm thinking what if they don't make it if they don't come if they
change your mind we still have have to positively that they are going to be successful and therefore we are going to pay them right all right and then and there's three of them so there's like three new hirers is that what we're really saying newers in process we don't
have the names for if you look you know where it says name vacant and then zeros like under tenant that's a position that is not going to be hired this year and therefore not budgeted right okay that was that was my question
when it was there so that that could be is there a hope within the next five years that we're gonna hire that position I don't think so okay because there was a there are now more sergeants than there used to be I think there's
two sergeants it was a whole right it it was a yeah transfer so for 100% we're going to hire these people once they graduate because this like $200,000 I'm just looking at money to find you know in case we need it for well it's kind of like if we don't hire them we're
paying over time to existing officers because there are shifts that need to be filled so um so you know it's a tradeoff it is better to pay the salary and have people working the shift at the salary
than to be paying people overtime because you haven't stabed the position so the budget does it account for that overtime also at the same time that it's over time line we haven't gotten to it yet because there will
always be overtime but that number will if you look at years where you weren't completely staffed up that number in the end is negative and it gets it gets sucked up really
quickly so anyway um yeah so when I when I did the numbers I did not write in the categories you'll see line8 here 5130 if we look if we look at the summary sheet 5130 is going
to be the overtime line just trying to understand it's right here I get specific overtime per person but the chief has we have always budgeted overtime and so that line is level funded from FY
26 to from 25 so what happens if we don't get them until say October or November then you're paying overtime for other for existing that amount of money is going to over well it could be it's moving out you sh it yeah out of this
line to the overtime line okay okay well it's all within Personnel so I don't even think you have to do a municipal transfer for that did because it's within that category all right so now I'm good now is that it
um those are the pieces um again if we look at the percentages that are that are going the training is 177% um longevity unfortunately it's it's all based on having people here there's no way around it if if an
officer is eligible for longevity they get it so that's going up by 13% and ifications for the Sens same thing if it's in the contract I have no problem with training I think does one heck of a great job of
training their people and I don't think they should stop so anyway I'll let you go don okay no no no question on on labor before we move to expenses I I I was just going to say that if you look
at I'm I'm confirming the number because I found errors and numbers but oh yeah yeah you know on that last number but in any event um if you look at the total Personnel Services the increase over the years is just 2% even
though we have these individual changes and a lot of that is because of having new personnel and paying them at a lower rate the new officers coming in I see like teachers similar yeah same got it same
y so this is a sound labor go to labor yeah that's um okay expenses dat so
um again the energy is is dropping it down $1,400 um it has been I think we're working on SOL up now I'm sorry I have to back up so I
just did the math on my calculator and that 2% is actually 1.67 8 wow so the question becomes what granularity are we using I mean are we rounding up or are
we how how specific do we need to be in doing this do we need to be specific on in rounding the rounding the rounding in column is only because We Shrunk it down to decimal places it's kind of like if I
I have now added two decimal places and you can see that it's 1.68% right so I kind of want to see the 1.68 that's me because when you're working with numbers he did it excellent because when you're working with numbers
this big that extra decimal point makes a big difference um so so I would like to see okay that that's just me because that's better and in the end when we go
to right what I'm yeah this and they're going to be higher or lower all depending um yes you know yes and so overall when you get to the end but everything I found when I've been doing this by hand is always it's been lower
yeah which is a good thing right for the overall budget and and again the other thing we need to if they keep it under 2% isn't it absolutely yes but we have to look at the expenses to see where we get in the end but it is
good okay so what are we up to to the energy yeah we're now starting the expenses we we have the energy um again it's a drop of $1,400 from FY 25 to 26 here's my question on that so um is
there more detail on these on the no iang I I didn't have these prior for looking at the see anything in in detail so this that's the question it's a solar canopy um and I I I am
wondering if that is all the drop that we're going to see in energy is is a the solar canopies that are going in do we know when they're going to be up and running will they be up and running by the start of the fiscal year
and um have we done any calculations to see if I mean I know it's a drop here and that's a good thing um but what's the bva for
energy where are we at right now right now it's only 29% has been used and again that's ended December so it's kind so the the new bva will be coming out shortly but this is December
is six months right so this is six months we expect % but we hadn't hit this is energy this is electric and gas and so we would expect that the heating probably so on the
year last year how did we do with that just curiosity I'm not we at 94% last year so we did use a good bit of it um I'm I'm just wondering if that would
be my question right you want to when is the solar come online and what's the expectation and does this number account was there a cost for installing the solar that's part of there's no the I think the company is taking the srex so the town paid nothing to have those
installed but the company gets the srex and that's how they get their payment okay so it's like when we get the residential solar through through um where we pay them uni till yeah yeah okay so it's the same type of program right so I'm
not anyway I would be hopeful for a bigger decrease again but is there Heating or is it gas I don't shouldn't matter well no I guess it will if it's gas if it's gas matter matter
the not we need to just a question on that a question on it can we save anything there given the um solar panels and I'm I don't I don't know how the calculation was done I think actually might be coming
online very soon I think there were last I remembered uh they're almost done construction I know when they put ours up it still took like two months for it to come online it was a uni thing I think they were pretty ility yeah I
haven't got an update in a couple weeks but last I heard they were like right at the very end of okay construction did they just put the panels on the building is that where they or they put canopy it's over the
parking over the parking area okay that's where they should be putting not not in a field we gonna be able to park Under The Canopy well the police cars or if you're at the police station around the back
yeah it's not in the front not on the it's not it's just the back side there's like couple sets up trying to think of how the the exposure back there is going to get a little open and you
just right no I know but they should get a lot of it doesn't get a block from any building because it's far enough from the that's far enough from the police from the building itself yeah yeah and it's
higher it's it's higher up than it's not well look at it drive drive out there and look at it you'll we'll do some water department we go
um okay um the water is um Lev funded um and they're currently at 4% say 33.9 don't know if they water WS or anything it's kind like that go in the
spr um the building and M repairs and maintenance for the building is going up 3,000 um again i' I'd be looking for details of what's included in here how much is maintenance how much is repairs that kind of thing so that we can see detail
on if there was a building repair there's some money in there to repair historically um in the last couple years on Municipal trans there been a lot of that sort of tells us we're not
funding maybe properly in the equipment the repairs and maintenance for equipment is funded um and at the end of December it was 48259 so
really half Sor that easier to read rentals and leases $400 again that's 400 it's there but they haven't used any of it in this year's
PBA um professional and Technical what is what are those um we can ask for the list of what they are they're going up% from 8 to
11 profal Services is already 85.5% consumed this year but professional servic yeah depending on what that is is that is it could be their website it could be so
want to we want to see a list of what's what's coming out of there right because I'm wondering if they have grants that they can get Municipal grants for the police and fire actually for technical assistance I I do know that Chief sortel
does a really good job of getting grants fund things that are needed for the Department typically they they aren't reflected in this budget they're outside of that so um would they anticipate
using the grant so for their line items well or is that we have to get their details find out what their details are yeah yeah so we'll ask for details communication is level funded at
to the and other purchas purchased Services what are they it's just a catch all essentially yeah but for everything else it's like miscellaneous okay but but just kind of
like I mean the other the other thing we can do is we can ask for um a print out of everything that's posted to this account and see what see what items hit it right um okay next on the list supp 5420 L
from at 4,000 and at the end of December it was 5632 um Building Supplies nothing equipment maintenance supplies so the office supplies were $1600 I mean they were higher they were 50 did you say 50 56.3
2% yeah so they're at 17 so this year is 4,000 um they have expended expended $2,252 68 to this point which line is that
that's line 18 the 5380 account a purchase Services 38 other Serv 538 or 50 55 5420 is the office supplies yeah and then 5580 is other
supplies yeah but the office supplies Don you said the officer supplies which are 5420 they went they went they they used 5,600 already no used 56% 56% yeah I thought he said that too and
I was going to say why they're already in the yeah no no no did I realize you said there's only one line it's closing in on it and the same for does and
memberships that's a lot of money that's that's 0% but there's a lot of oh doesn't matter I don't care what is um are they still relevant um we can ask just kind of like yeah I think that's
important that is high I $18,000 is that spent this year um it is about 50% spent this year who the membership is sitting at 48.4% sometimes that's to join a gun
club for training or things like that we should know right so we're looking for details behind the lines details behind the lines okay there's also certain um associations and organizations they would be a part of and those have dues
as well yeah but it's good to look at those every once and a while ie% yeah because yeah because I know what it is it belongs to like 20 or 30 different things that all have to do with your industry you know so so then
we have the training my question is how is that different from the contractual training in other words why is there another line for that you know if you go up to Personnel wasn't there training there
well in each person [Music] um so we look at the individual training no I think it was listed but I'm not seeing it in I've
gone through the um yeah it's Wes other training yeah training it's in everyone 51 line 5125 correct okay so how are those two different I guess that's my question and this a lot of money so that's one of our
questions right training oh okay between 5125 can you tell me what that did that it's line it's 5780 what 578 yeah it's almost spent already this
year is it yeah it's SP out of a 26,000 budget 25,000 of it's been spent I'm I'm just curious what the difference is between I'm curi I'm curious too yeah I'm not that part of the academy stuff
May yeah the three guys oh that could be we [Music] were I thought we already unknown police officer anyway question yeah because if if we're
paying for that when do they how long do they go to the academy and should that should last year feed into next year yeah yeah I think that's a good question yeah
what's the difference between line 5125 and 5780 and because both items this year are almost fully spent in fact 5125 is already overspent oops so and then even stiens for
certifications $90,000 so how many of the officers is every officer getting I mean that that's a lot of money for for the entire staff if you will but you do need to keep your officers
certified one of that's one of the reasons why we have gone away from Reserve officers um in this department um when you look on the list there's no more Reserve officers because the training was getting too expensive to keep training those additional people so
some of it some of it that had been resered for Reserve officers is is going but that's just conversations in in the past the CH I don't know whether it was in a budet now they're all G if we don't do
serve ours anymore because of the certifications and the trainings it's it's constant to try to keep up with it so what what was the new equipment that was new equipment is going to be very different for um police than it is
um many others he puts it in because that's the description on the line this is this is his leases for his vehicles and the new vehicles have come in and the new vehicles are they all pretty I haven't gone to see yet I need to I thought
there was another one for leases um oh no it was equipment rent yeah there was equipment rental for $400 the the least you'll see was the original budget that we had put in in F 205 for 95,000 we knocked that down in August to
475 um but his ask last year was approved meeting was the 95 um so this increase inre to the 12520 is a result of us in and two putting off the leases for the
additional months he put it off for uh the five months six months uh so that we could balance the budget in oh yeah remember that so on this this new equipment there new new equipment and then we have vehicle supplies so the
contracts the supplies are not included in the Lees the supply the supply are not included in the leases correct okay like it's your your local things I don't know whether it's the computers or putting
in okay we don't know a lot so what's the bottom line for the budget increase for you you want the total um that's what I was looking 4.88% that's not gonna compar it to
that's not bad yeah well and especially when when you look at this on the front page he has put the 475 the updated number right uh for for the leases so the 115,000 looks pretty significant over year over year
increase okay I suppose if we take that number out just to see it's all your vehicles right it's kind of oh it's Vehicles yeah if I if I put
this 2,000 back in that's that's where you're starting to see the 4.88% so let me see if I put the horses move back to horses I was just thinking yeah there must be an expense to them too oh
horses are expensive as hell um but if but if I put the 95,000 in that was in the budget for last year you see that the increased to 7.92 and the total increase is 2.25 so everything has gone up as far as
the vehicles the fire engines it's you know it's um but that's that's the piece that if you're looking got them before tffs so any Okay so we've gone through yeah um
make looking for something on the description on Lieutenant that um it's including the is well he he lumed everything but was was
he not was the lieutenant not getting the Cy last year so everything increased is the we gonna ask about the two training lines right but going back to the lieutenant of the 7% um yeah if he takes
out if it's Apples to Apples on the line I mean um it won't differently on the total because the will have to move from his line I get it but it is at least a
question we so don another question that we can can we ask um on the vehicular supplies which I assume it's like gas and things like that gas today they've only spent 36% yeah so can we ask if there's a
possible way we could possibly reduce that line for next year um we can ask and we can ask when the maintenance is done um well because the maintenance is a different maintenance I thought was a different line okay yep yep it is m is a different Line This is vehicular supplies which I assum things like the
gasoline Bill and oil you know and things like that last year did they spend I would take oil change be yeah they slightly they used up they used up every penny last
year free maybe if the gas prices keep coming down I know but yeah but no then then your vehicle maintenance is going to go through the roof yeah trade
challes okay um Sam I'm sorry you've been quiet any anything that we covered that you have questions with any questions from Hello everybody there y good I had a little problem with my mute button um
no I've been watching lines reading them here as you go um I'm little curious how we're going to trim the what needs to be trimmed or where but I'm going to sit here and watch and see what you do everybody has a lot of good
suggestions uh so I'm very pleased with it thank you okay everybody it um actually did Communication Center
also yeah I think a little bit shared but together you you want to look at the stuff um yeah and we went by when we were looking at
um we go one work with the ad and support St for the police I think that was later um is a separate um it was a separate worksheet but they were on the bottom of
the so this is for year 2022 no just a typo typo okay so this should be 26 now I have a question [Applause] though did it go up or
down we don't have another we don't have we the summary will tell you whether they went up oh yeah but you want you want to see I think it should be just
saying the salary and wages for the see it says at the bottom adjusted 2. 2 and a half% so I I guess the assumption is it was 2 and a half% less but I think it would be
good if we saw it in the lines just so they're all consistent showing the two and half% increase the 26 salary I so that that was part of um the chief's memo and yeah I had spoken to
him about it so the police contract is actually um about to expire so um and actually Veronica and I have a meeting a kickoff meeting next Friday um so we're not sure what the
what to do what what it's going to be so in order to at least you know have a decent conversation about what the next year's budget's going to look like I just told the chief to just put in two and a half% as a placeholder so that we're at least
taking into account um some increase in in Cola step um depending on how negotiations go you know that um may get adjusted but um
down U probably not two and a half percent is uh probably as low because you know you have to take into account each step is already two % so that would just leave a half% half% cola which is
pretty meager I would say um but certainly not a higher Cola than I've ever gotten well but certainly not out of the ra of possibility given the way budgets are are heading so just a question um so everything goes up two and a half percent every year so is
there a point where it becomes like 50% never so how do you how do you well it's by VA I mean are you talking about two and no no no not two and a half I'm saying it's two and a half this year two and a half next year two and a half two and so over 5e period it's a threeyear
contract you have threee contract she's asking talking of 2 a half and then two and a half and two and a half so well you yeah but that's the way it works I mean it's just the way it work So eventually taxes have to go up well
taxes go up every year taxes every year so but our two and a half goes up also the tax base you you base two and a half this year then you add the two and a half to the say it's 19 million it's going to be 20 million or 21 and a half next year then you put two
and a half on that so yeah so so we we want to look at the somewhere along the line we will look at the revenues too to it's just the way it works yeah your base is increased by that amount that's
just the way it works so hopefully it's compounded daily okay so where are we going where we going next Communications Okay so we've doneas and we've done ACO so we can set those as we
can set those aside all right 75,000 wow is this the regional the regional center this is these are these are the expenses um Patriot um headed in so and I'm sorry this kind of like
this is the first time so if you have questions about any that um you know again so what are service y oh we have wages and these everything's love together is that how this is read um if we really
take a look at it um Su sheets um it's Outsource labor the the detail would come with the um Patriot Communication Center over in P we're doing we're purchasing service and we have the other charges and
supplies um and then there is equipment that um and what are we buying we we are buying the Dispatch Center in time it's kind of like um so instead of having a a Dispatch Center where we're paying
dispatchers and setting up all the communications equipment and the telephone systems and all of that here it is now centrally located we we had one that was located in different places um Peppo built out and um a new
Communication Center and we're using them as our Dispatch Center now rather rather than I think we share the expens as D I think was just brought in like they're expanding their base and
taking in revenue and hopefully that's going to keep our city of the towns down because they shared resources is is a way to you know it's a way that each Town doesn't have to have a dis Center and and man 247
fire department uses this as well so so we don't know it's just LP yeah we we have Services 247 365 um about that L
and this is 911 this is 911 this is it um can you can you um add the do the decimal point thing you think I can because I think it comes up a little
bit lower than three in the end yeah yeah it would there we and then down so is this based on calls or is this based on it's just the Communication Center the number you mean
the cost of it it's what it costs to run they have a budget just like our town has a budget and we are like third they split it up proportionately amongst the town similar to the school district percentage so we don't see the details
right we just see the det the Rope on it okay it would cost us if we were to have our own it would cost us more Bo no I understand that but okay if you want to see the details we can we can go on to the pr website and because they would I would expect that
they're going to be they they have the same thing um so and this isn't the final budget for them this is an estimate this this time I don't believe they're actively pursuing any additional pounds at this
point but it would probably be great fund yeah and and if they don't get some grants they make the change right charges so if you look at if you look at what we've done so far this
year um overall we've only spent 30% of what was budgeted yeah if we don't spend all the budget does this have to go through the whole certification process Free Cash correct and there's a process you haven't seen
yet if there's extra money in here and we're short somewhere else we have Municipal transfers at the end of the year so if the money's there we might be able to use it and put it to another line that's gone negative or will go negative um so that we don't have to wait for the certification okay I just
wondering because this is like a contracted service if it was handled differently than some of the other budget uh groups which you know are are run by our in um invoicing or we don't have those details but we
can ask the details because if it's quarterly in a re that would explain why it's lower percentage in I don't know I don't know how the invoicing is yeah it's similar to the school district it's not like we're buying so you know no I know I just
didn't know if if the fact that it's a contracted service changes how we can treat monies not not expended or or extra monies that need to be expended it it it has to be treated the same same so um but like I say we do have that opportunity it it doesn't allow us if
it's free cash to free it up anywhere it allows us to pay another bill with it so you know yeah within the fiscal year the last two months right we had that opportunity um any additional questions
any clarification we with the fixing the again you can see see so that I think we were still part of devans at that point
two now okay well last week we had te and fire department the last so I thought fire we were pushing off
to and what about tea who submitted that I would say like from Chief shepher also but I um I just want to mention on the fire um the the blue before the purple
percent um maybe [Music] okay not seeing percentages okay yep there yeah okay so you're right they're
they're not in the detail sheet let me for the summary on the front page is I did I did not do percentages on there or or did you off to the right there and call me H that could be that looks like a percent you just did
M thank you for giving me this without having to ask you're right it's kind of like I wasn't looking at my des and seeing percentages but uh so this this is the short summary of of the Sal and the wages
and the expenses is and again this is just a it is if I look at the labor line I did do here if they
want um did did um I guess we need the chief here I I guess what I'm wondering is did he increase his budget based on the fact but he has to tr further the guys have to go the our emergency
Personnel have to go further to get to a hospital than they used to it's time and and it's uh and it's mileage and you know and so I'm wondering if that's the
reason you had it up there before the other page that okay you want yeah y okay I'm just looking at the wages line there m yeah um I I hope he did take that into consideration because we do
need to consider that yeah and when we look at the labor L all that we have is base wages we don't have a list of there's not a breakdown on there's not a breakdown this this is Wages I believe
for um okay that's I'm sorry those those two yeah there is that's the CH and the fire chief it keeps on going other stuff is lumped together the other now the other stuff is lumped in together we have officer staff we have one line
don't don't have the individual breakdowns um nine 9.08% I don't know how many people um we need the break we need the bre we need details miles and down to lemster so so
there really shouldn't be a whole Chang seems like it takes forever get yeah um yeah if you go up to it does take longer you have all those traffic lights where show but you're just zipping right through um even though you have a little
um but um um but to go to Emerson or up to um they're going to Jo yeah check St Joe's and Southern they're close together but you know that's that's where my wife
always took me when I need to go somewhere with St J St Joe Don if I may yes I have some business to complete in my agenda and I
have to leave by 74 okay okay so um I would like to uh state which I should have done under additions or deletions that number five work session was on the
posting by error we're not dealing with any of that tonight and um there are no volunteer forms to report and our next meeting is February 13 at 6 PM with the finance
committee and if I could entertain a motion to review and sign payroll Bill Warr out of session aesome moved and a second W uh Veronica yes Laur sh
yes and if I may since there are no votes being taken um I'd like to entertain a motion to adjourn our part of the session but you certainly can stay because I I move that we adjourn the select meeting at 7:43 PM okay can I
second favor Veronica Kell Laur yes thank you very much Don for having us thank finish our part of I have some questions and I have a question for Nelson too on on issue about the wages for fire and
ambulance didn't the um 13 counties or 13 fire departments meet with the state to ask for help financial assistance we did and how is that if we get it when we
get it how how would that be coming in and going out um trying to remember what it was for I think it was 9ish Million um there was 500,000 for a study and then the rest
was dived up amongst the 13 commun can't remember the amount I think it was I think 317 something somewhere around there I remember talking about it at when the select board meetings because I mentioned
it and I can't remember what that money would have been used for I think it would have been for the overage that we're we're experiencing for this travel time people people yeah I didn't I
couldn't remember if it was was for wages or if it was for equipment it might have been for wages but I'm not 100% sure I can't remember and where is that is that on the table is it off the table in somebody's desk it was reported
in the Boston GL there was an article that when it was submitted um oh I saw that maybe three or four weeks ago with the governor and you haven't heard anything we have not so yeah I saw that um and you probably heard Thea
UMass is taking it over and turning and um turning into some Er facility so I think with that that would alleviate some of the travel times and things of that yeah I don't maybe maybe but maybe
May a double ride you know if you get to the ER and you have to go if you have to go further they will probably if it's mid fight I believe they got the helicopter pass yeah I think depending on your ailment you know yeah are there
might not be sufficient right you might have to go somewhere else and and that would our ambulance transporting it would be wouldn't it second yeah was possible be a helicopter most depending yeah because I think once
they take them in it depends on well it depends on I mean because they're not just they could get called to do another run depending on how you transport right someone because they
don't typically get admitted right there unless they don't have that specialty but but if you need admitted you're going somewhere else whether it's right then or later okay so I do have another question am I still on the question are you still
questioning the fire yeah the storm fire okay so I have a question on the expenses of 343 398 um is the $80,000 that we just found out about for the additional funds do on the
Fire trk part of that no this not that's probably Capital that's probably Capital it's kind of like but it it has not been submitted as part of the f26 budget and it and it wouldn't be because it would have to be
paid if we're ordering the truck now it would have to be paid in fy2 in FY 25 yes okay so I'd like to address that am I able to do that right now here um start and we'll see it's kind of like
you gonna shut me off it's gonna be in the um in the borrowing section more than in here I believe borrowing the town borrows money right and then there's a a part in the budget
that isn't necessarily on these These are Department Pages it would be reflected in other than a department page so oh where we pay our loans like for the high school we're still paying for that and various other things
so yeah it will be part of the our debt you know service and debt schedule do we have a meeting with I mean is that part of what we do um it it's not part of artist we we did meet um that was with the treasury that was with the was with
treasur collector that Wasa given us then I have to bring this up on the on the day I have to bring this up because I have to dis close this information well um at the select meeting last January 21st you made a
motion to pay the $80,000 and you want to put it on the warrant for that Amendment we were going to put it as a um an article in the warrant right to meeting so I did a little research on it
I don't know how much has been done but um the contract is not have an escalation cluse so that's the first thing I wanted to make aware of everybody I know you made your motion based on it I'm gonna have to look at
the pretty sure no it doesn't for which truck $800,000 that's the second one correct the first one it's the first one that we're um that the money is being applied to according to the contract that we got
from the F uh it's the increase on the8 $800,000 increase 700,000 $700 okay that part move but yeah and it does say here that uh chassis price is subject to
change uh based on model year and will be adjusted based on actual model year assigned assigned to the order once that availability is that was I didn't see that in the contract yeah I didn't either yeah so and that's for the first
one and for the second one is probably the same language because the the manufacturers have to protect protect themselves in case of but the but the um increase is a single increase we're still getting both trucks and not there it's a single price increase on one
truck on the first truck and and they have agreed not to raise the price on the second truck which is good given and they're also increasing the uh warranty period by an extra year which typically
does cost um money if you were to do that so they kind of threw that in as well but yeah the first the first fire Tru there's language for when are they coming in in July July I think y so it's quickly approaching three
years so where did you find because I couldn't find that in the p in the contract that I had was so so this is for the first ambulance ambulance oh I'm sorry the the fire TR
see we do have an order yeah we do we do but that's not that's not this one right see sorry um and that was paid through the capital plan the so this one is the I'm sorry uh let me I was looking at the
wrong one there must be some language in here so you're saying it's not the $800,000 one it's it's [Music] $700,000 I got that right here
okay okay so um I will just say that if we are not taking it and we are going to reorder it it is going to cost us a whole lot more no that's not where I'm going $86,000 that's not where I'm going I'm going to I get that um good I really do get
that but what I'm really getting at is the fact that these increases this company has lawsuits against them in federal court for this identical thing of changing the price and asking for extra money and
um I think that we should just do a little more homework before we send in the $80,000 W New Hampshire is experiencing the same thing and the fire department in cohes New York for the federal Cas in
New York federal court and it is identical to this the contract looks the same and I just think that we should take that as a red
flag we're not the only one that got the increase letter that's what I'm saying we can do that and our recourses do not purchase well no that's not that's not what I'm saying I'm saying it means that we're
looking at three years from now I I mean what I'm saying is that if if this company is doing this did they take position possession of the not taking possession no they're in the same boat that we are and I just thought that it
would be a whatever you've thought to Nelson I didn't realize there was law communities simar a similar situation I'll s it right now wolf bro did not
file their lawsuit yet what they did is they had their attorney send a letter saying that they were not going to pay because they were in breach of contract and they're waiting to see what what the response so there isn't a lawsuit filed
not for Wolf bro but for New Hampshire there is I'm GNA send it to him I mean for New York there is New York has yeah New York hasn't um and the other thing is are we going to have tariffs imposed on it when it comes in what we have I
think it's already probably here I think it's already the price we have is the price we have if we go and we order something new that you know if we say okay we're not going to take that you charged us
$86,000 then we are probably going to pay 300,000 more per truck um and that's fine if that's what we want to do no or if we want to run the you know old old trucks no I mean that's not the answer
that I need I need an answer to the fact that are there going to be tariffs on this truck because if not now not we have a contract we have a contract so if there are tariffs they will be incorporated within what we have
if we order new then yes there will most likely be tariffs okay so this contract that I have is different than what you have because the one just send it to just send it to um Nelson and Hill it out
yeah because this does talk about tariffs that if they come on in the event of the federal state regulations and Etc um we would be or import tariffs are an actor
during the course of this contract then we would be responsible so you have this Nelson have we signed you sent it to me have we signed we have a signed contract for the first we signed it when I was still on the board yeah that was ordered
in 2022 the first truck was ordered in 2022 the second truck was ordered in 2023 after town meeting right um and I don't know the status of that contract but the fire truck we're talking about
is the first one they are both scheduled to come in and are currently being built right so and we've already secured the um loan for the first fire truck at the
price that we signed the contract for the original the first fir Tru May 2022 the funding was secured at the point that we signed the
contract okay trying to you have something to say Sabrina okay I didn't know so that the first one was taken care of and it's already planned
for the second one we did a year later because of the escalation of costs that were being seen um and so in my book paying 86,000 for these
8,000 it's like 86 it's 80 86 I don't have exact figure in front of me but I can look it up but in any event to pay that much more for two fire trucks total is
not a horrible horrible thing yeah okay so you're saying that it doesn't matter that the company's being sued to do things the same that we if we want to take possession and Sue after but no problem there's some class
action they're you know trying to build in any losses because that that will cost you more than the think that cost 86,000 yeah I'm just saying I just think due diligence should be done on this but if you don't want to do it that's fine too we can certainly take a look at it
and I I do feel some of those I was just Googling it myself um some of those cities and towns um probably it didn't sit well with them that they had this price increase but um if I was reading it correctly if those cities and towns
didn't take take on that price increase the company eats the cost and how long can you do that before you actually bankrupt yourself and you know those prices increases weren't due to um them necessarily being greedy everything went
up in price Unfortunately they signed contracts um for the old price so some companies can uh take that absorb that loss um probably to a certain extent but if you do that very deal then probably gonna go
backward so it's it's probably okay I just thought it's it's our our our responsibility to look into things can send what you've got to Nelson well Nelson send it to me
except send me the I'm gonna send that to you right now but just for my cursor research that's probably the gist of why the lawsuits happen and you know why the the the company had to pass the cost on to the to the cities
and towns so maybe going forward because the lawsuit contract was almost verbatim to the contract we have so maybe going forward will we do new contracts maybe we need to be more specific or get more
specific um language in the contract saying that if it price goes up don't talk to us we're done but could be specific even if we've already you can have specific language for material increases and differently so that it's
very um more specific and especially with the changes I mean the business I was in we did that with aluminum plates because aluminum prices started going through they from 16 right 1,600 per up to 3500 per right
it's kind of like so um there there are different and you renegotiate kind like depending on on the conditions things because you're right you go out of business if you if you're material cost go up and and you're making negative margins on things you're not you're not
going to be in business thank you for signing to I'll take take take a look at it thank you okay so thank well yeah especially when I think the town people should be made aware I
think I mean we already brought it up at a meeting and again I think some of some of the things we can do explain it in sheets that that in support of the
Arles we do the recommendation sheet things it's kind of like and you did it for the kids country playground description just more informative um out there black and white know they get to know
why we spending that kind of money in the condition that we're in okay so little little bit of a um but uh back to the fire she so we had the main the summary
on the front page the short version on the total Personnel increased for 7.76% and we can get into the itemization the expenses by 5.68% or to budget in
7.36 funding there um yeah it's gonna so in here we got uh 2% on the chief 4.49 on the assist on on the
salaries did you include looks like he included the special statement in the summary for thee know what the special St is an cont yeah in the worksheet we have we
generally have stiens in here longer version of this we get more detail on it um but the the increase again we don't I'm looking um as we have with police um number of people in each of these and and the
salaries of each person that gets us to the total um and and the increases um on the PO time sta but the per DM staff not I don't think we need the list if we need the list it's in the
in the appointed uh employees um on call the overtime increases is sitting at a 25% so it's increased by 20 20,000 I'm be looking to see if we can cut that
um and keep that close to where we are but if we look at the overtime this year and I know there's three positions posted downstairs which may be the can hire those positions over time close over
time over come on it's multiple over times in here sitting in a um through December the overtime is already at
129% so it's 23 almost $24,000 and and part of that is because of the uh extra travel time you would think it doesn't add upar you know just traveling to lster
for example or Southern say it doubles the right going going from here here to just over the ground line is a lot shorter than going up to nashille or going down L we double double all the lines and
again the the three positions we haven't filled um the other thing I would look for is on the unfilled position what's the Target hiring value by not having the detail you don't know what you're hiring into and trying to hire the
position so when it's hired are you above the Target and we're going to have to have more money when when we hire you mean does the base wages include the the posted positions doesn't includ similar to right similar to what the chief had it's kind of like
so without that you know list listed here um and seeing that um there's a lot of questions about how the how the budget's put together and what the numbers are so and again can you know if it's if the overtime is
increasing because of the travel to the hospitals in NOA does that shorten by having NOA open again next year that you know so it's kind of like what we have this year may not be what we have next year I don't think
we're going to have the um emergency room Center there open by July I I really don't I think it will take a while they have to get systems updated over to their over to their syst
every I mean I don't know what's that building it will have to be reworked so it's GNA have to you don't just come over and take take over somebody else's equipment is probably left in there gone exactly
I mean I will say this last year the overtime was at 76,000 so um going so you know um this will be about the same if we continue on
that or this could be two if we're December if we double it's going to be so it was budgeted at 80 and it was 176 yes so we're back at where we were my first year as a select we had like
350,000 over the overtime budget a huge number that not don't quote could be wrong but it was really high and and this is approaching that right and and again I think that would that prompted the changes to the organization structure it did the fire department and
we increased what we were paying for EMTs and firefighters and to get okay so this is this is the labor I do have these percentages but again they they're they're at such a high
level on the on the expenses same that police the items like to see on on the repair and maintenance how much how much is in there for me how much is in there for repair um it is increasing %
but covering enough the $50,000 is flat or here and how did they do on energy last year um they were way way down we had to do a
transfer the year to make it C for energy for for the energy so the 50k wasn't enough um it was increased for for FY 25 so what we're seeing this year the 50 thou the 50,000 we went to is looking
pretty closer at 35% through the end of December that's good so that so that increas is good much okay and so it it may stick you know again we you know that was
through November and December which were pretty warm months or December yeah cold but the really cold months are coming in we see see where that works through the through the spring as as those bills hit um repair maintenance on the on the
vehicles is up 15% level funded um professional and Technical Services um do a list of items just to see where
where it is what's included in here um Communications 10,000 that's their part that's their part of the expense for that Regional um no among themselves cellones cell phones yeah whatever their communication
devices are and they're at 62. 88% through December and that's so the that was a $10,000 so he's trying to stay even on that
um at the services 6500 that and so far is only $451 so that is down near 7% you consume
that might be um as itus waste collection has all been consumed at this point so it's increasing by 10% for the 4457 is all gone
for the year for the year yeah just kind maybe that needs to increase more unless there was a reason that more hazardous waste was in need of disposal yeah right yeah it could be a year to year thing
but start driving to the Walmart parking lot okay because that 10% increase might not it might not be enough if yeah office supplies I'll give you we're in good
shape that says so far they've used half of it it's at 51. 51% Building Supplies 22.41% so that double funding equipment maintenance supply that one is overdrawn it's sitting at 13
I'm going to call it 135% it's 13488 so so that's warranted I guess I don't know what that is but okay what we willing to put in what's in
here um custodial and housekeeping is at 49. 81% Target vehicle supplies is at 4848 funding again 3% increase on medical
supplies it's sitting at 4 4315 through December medical supplies medical supplies yeah is is over overdrawn no it is not overdrawn it's sitting at at 43.1 5% through December
so I thought it was 43 over sorry okay no that's all right the other supplies training like that funded um and it's sitting at 34.4%
still has still has room in [Music] it okay so I'm going to I'm I'm going to look at this and go there's two lines in in the existing B um one says other supplies says other
supplies training other supplies training was Zero this year so I think this is the other supplies not the other supplies training or maybe it was maybe he just Consolidated that line I right but yeah they they were
definitely two two different lines one with the exact description that matches that had Z on it that a uniform allowance for the on call staff it
is 36.7% consume so this space that to use on that did that did that get used up last
year uniform allowance on is um there was still about 3500 left over wonder if they could come down that I mean uniform should last more than a year could be turnover they might have increased their
on call staff yeah yeah okay unform allance full sta um I'm sitting at 2.31% through December so the course
same question for last year did they use they did but they only had like 9,000 last year um okay okay so 24 was 9,000 went up to
12,000 this year so training conference currently is at 2.5% consumed 17 177,000 we only use 425,000 $425 which one's fire training
conference fire training conference it must be something in during spring when the fire training center did they use all that last year this wasn't even a line item last year oh it wasn't yeah it's a brand new
one okay so mark that find out what that is when they say uniform that's not the that's like their fire coats and stuff that's like turn out here right and there there can be grants for
that but it's outside of the budget we have dues does and memberships level funded at this 6600 so far to December 16.67% used tell me what last year patient care
reporting is Pati care reporting patient care reporting was brand new into the budget last year um said it was a new requirement and budgeted at the 20 800 and is that something that our staff does or is that something that is
contracted out um that was going to be my questions because I looked at this if it's contracted out at 20,000 I thought it should have been put out to bid um well you they should at least have gotten
three right and at this point um that number that is put in there for 26811 for next year matches the expenses for this year it's already been it's at 12599 per.
um that line concerned me so I didn't go and work I did see one company's invoice posted in there that said patient reporting there were three other invoices that I'm not sure were patient reporting so it's kind of like so
details on this and look at the invoices and I guess my question yeah details for sure why wouldn't if that is some sort of agency that does that as opposed to staff why wouldn't it be up with professional and Technical Services I
don't know um or Professional Services it is included in there so it could be included in there um with then the details of in your Professional Services what are we paying for in Professional Services I think there's a company that does billing for ambulance runs and
things like that and that and that could be I I thought that was the one that's up higher professional and Technical Services yeah so when I saw this at 129% of we concerned with it already because I don't know if it's an annual reporting
thing or if it's quarterly reporting that we have to do or is it new hipper of some sort yeah know and then the last two items new equipment and replacement per um are
being over funded but again I'd like to see details of what we're replacing and if there quot if if it's a single item and it's 20,000 it should be fall falling under capital capital not a line item in in a budget
so it's kind of like so I want to see what what that look of equipment is um so far this year the new equipment is sitting at 8.75% $22,000 we' only 1,750 and on the replacement equipment it's at
2257 per um were they in last year's budget and did we use them all like last last year I think they were 15 in 24 they were 15 and went up to 20 and were they expended for replace equipment yeah
and the one above it new equipment well new equipment last year was 115,000 so there must have been some I think that was the JW of Life thing oh okay for the new equipment yeah so they brought it back down to normal level
right okay yeah so we we'd have to um now does that have the initial budget estimate plus the adjusted none of them were it was the same amount oh okay because they they weren't in the beginning of the
year that was adjusted at one of the special town when we move that money the original and the adjusted columns are the same but again I think we should see there's a way to to use
that use them or or something needs to go in there it's not there yet and see what the what the second half of the year is going to bring for new equip replacement equip okay so that was sorry I went through um Sam any
anything you say that you have a question no um everything looks good I mean we need to work on it but you need the chief too don't you yeah yeah we'll need the chief but we can we can give him where our questions are and try to
come prepared rather than hit them with questions in the meeting okay I'm gonna take that close it down um last
one if everybody still with me tea is that the the emergency MTG worksheet right after 291 yep it's keep going it's in the fire section it's in the back of the fire at the end of the fire section the
end thank you organized for oh is that the emergency MTG yes emergency system okay so do we want to summary or do we want to go right through details
let's go to DET well okay well you want me to get no no there's there so is this are the wages um separate from fire or are they incorporated into fire somehow um I don't
believe the base wage that I mean this is just paying someone to be the coordinator and I thought it was someone in the fire department like a s yeah exactly right it was always a stien but we have number there
so what is the new equipment and replacement equipment that he's looking into so went from $3,000 to 31,000 well yeah I mean he's claiming no no no investment into Emergency Management in recent years well that is true
um it's definitely true um but I I guess what are they planning to parate yeah you know I mean he's got 20,000 in new equipment and 10,000 repl replac equipment what equipment do they have equipment is that like when they had this fire down
there they had and stuff like that it's or when I know you know four or five years ago there was a hurricane that was supposed to come through so they had to set up Hawthorn GR it's our emergency shelter so they had to set it up that's our emergency shelter right or if there
you know if it gets really hot and open doest so I I don't know I it would just be good to know what what they're planning to do recent years that's why this that's why recent years is the second part of the sentence oh oh oh
that's why the big increase but what is what but that doesn't make any sense what is it what do they want to what what's their plan yeah yeah and this is the operating budget does it make more sense and again you get come down to
20,000 equipment is it something that's a Capital Equipment it's kind of like well you say Capital doesn't belong in this well it doesn't belong in here correct it's kind of like so if they're trying to put something in capital because it's a $20,000 line $10,00 is
your is your Trigg we need more detail on it it's kind of like um y detail on it and the stien increases 2 2% 2.02%
I know doing preparation meeting go on forood Preparation when you say stien you're really talking about the wages right the wages yeah the W the wages are paid in the they not paid I believe as a should
be on the special s line um probably you know it probably should be and let's get it put there okay that's not the concern the concern
is the $30,000 in equipment you better be careful I think we should know what that is yeah no but I I'm would one thing okay so that was the last budget
item yes on tonight's agenda so we have buing cemeter Parks I thought CA was I thought it was Library oh that's next week that's a week from today
13 the 13th I have that all right tree Warden Board of Health MTH Lille Building Department budget cemetery and parks and historic district commission is last on the list to keep you here all the way till the
end so was tre1 border of Health um AC cemetery and what um did you have building in there building building building department and then historic district so will just hear it we
so that's I said three a little quicker and I don't think there that's all I had um I was in I didn't um um I I haveing [Music]
meeting SEL or the select board has already closed the meeting so um joint meeting is closed it's just been us um the only other thing I had on here is correspondence there's nothing in the inbox this week so I just have one item
on the 25th on February 25th I won't be able to make that meeting okay okay I um I didn't get the list of items out I I gave everybody thank you thank you Dave for what time are you closing the public joint meeting
um we'll close the joint meeting 8:34 do we need um already do that the select theel board so we're closing the joint meeting with this we we didn't we probably should have closed
it at the same time we'll um The Joint meeting and then we'll close our meeting roll call to close thee make a motion yeah we make a motion all right I'll make I'll make a motion
to close the joint meeting at 8:34 with the bo is Select second um I don't think any discussion is necessary yes yes yes D Grant
yes yes unanimous then a motion to adjourn the finance committee meeting at 8:35 I'll make a motion to adjourn the finance committee meeting at 8:35 I'll second okay um roll call vote
yes Mary Church yes David Walker yes B yes Sam Grant yes yes unanimous pleas stand to Jour we'll meet again in two days