Meeting Minutes

1. CALL TO ORDER
   Chairman Gallitto called the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m.

2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
   The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

3. OPEN PUBLIC SESSION
   Chairman Gallitto opened public session at 5:04 p.m.

   No one wished to speak.

4. CLOSE PUBLIC SESSION
   Chairman Gallitto closed public session at 5:04 p.m.

5. BUDGET WORKSHOP
   Chief Badamo reviewed a proposed budget package by section for fiscal year 2010 - 2011. He and Financial Advisor Sharon Maloney answered questions of the Commission members.

   Upon reviewing the proposed budget package, Chief Badamo discussed details of some of the line items. He reduced electricity due to having a new provider, Positive Energy and reduced telephone as well. The fuel line was reduced a bit in anticipation of entering in to an agreement with the Capital Region bid process to lock in our fuel price for approximately 1.5 years. Workers Compensation was increased slightly due to salary increases. Medical insurance will increase by approximately 24%. Approximately 4% is to get us to where we should have been last year and 20% would be the current increase based on information received from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. The Defined Benefit contribution will increase based on the recommendation of our Actuary.

   Sharon Maloney responded to Chairman Gallitto's concern regarding Workers Compensation. She stated our premium is based on our payroll. We had a credit from last year and feels that we will not come in over budget this year.

   Further discussion ensued regarding Workers Compensation.

   Chief Badamo continued his review of the proposed budget package. Salaries are projected at a 3% increase based on the maximum on the union contract. The total increase in the salaries line is approximately 5% based on step increases. There is a $1,000 increase in Physical Plant and Fire Department Operations will reflect mostly decreases.

   Commissioner Darling asked Sharon Maloney about the bid process for an Auditor. Ms. Maloney said she is taking more time preparing the RFP this year to include the Auditor being available to do a presentation to the Commission. She has obtained a list of over 30 auditors and will get the RFPs out early to give them plenty of time to respond.

   Chief Badamo then reviewed the Capital Non-Recurring Account. Reflected in the CNR were requests for fiscal year 2010 - 2011 which include $5,000 for Computers and Peripherals, $3,500 for Defibrillators, $15,500 for Major Facility Repairs, $15,000 for Apparatus Floor Resurfacing, $85,000 towards the replacement of Truck 34 and $20,000 towards Staff Vehicle Replacement.

   Chief Badamo gave a detailed description of some of the above mentioned CNR items.

   Chief Badamo then reviewed the Summary of Revenue which includes Tax Revenue, Interest and Lien Fees, Income from NRG and Manufacturing Equipment. $1,098,592,940 reflects our Grand List. $1,087,607,011 is the Grand List at 99% which we changed to last year. The projected mil rate is 3.484 which reflects about 0.1% of a mil increase.

   Commissioner Gregorio commented that we barely have one month of operating expenses in our General Fund and we should have two months if not three. We cannot do this all at once and need to be careful when we have such a small increase as proposed. We have to make sure this district is financially sound.

   Commissioner Russo-Driska asked about items such as electricity that could possibly be reduced.

   Commissioner Darling stated that with such a very small increase projected, it might be "pennywise and pound foolish" to start playing around with small percentage amounts and figures that won't do much.

   In order to give a perspective of what a 0.1% increase would mean, Commissioner Russo-Driska read off what the tax increase amounts would be based on the assessments of the homes of the Commission members. The range of the increase was approximately $18.00 to $37.00. Commissioner Russo-Driska went on to say that if there are any areas we can tune comfortably we should do so.

   Chairman Gallitto said as Commissioner Gregorio stated, we need to address our General Fund which would be an increase. Whatever we can do on this end of the budget we should and make those reductions where we can without putting any undue burden on or short-cutting any areas.

   Sharon Maloney stated that she is comfortable with making small changes but her concern would be just one line item going over and cited insurance as an example.

   Commissioner Darling asked about the status of the Kleen Energy reimbursement. Chief Badamo responded by saying he spoke to some representatives at Kleen Energy and was told our claim was processed, it's going through and they don't see any problem with it. They didn't comment on when the check would be received.

   Commissioner Gregorio stated that he is very afraid to count on money from Kleen Energy as there are too many variables and too many other companies involved. He is also worried about insurance. His company's insurance went up 25%. He wants to make sure that we don't cut ourselves short on those items.

   Discussion ensued in regards to reducing the CNR account by $7,000 due to being under budget on the purchase of the new Car 37 and regarding reducing Major Facility Repairs.

   Commissioner Russo-Driska said her concern is that last year we chopped the budget to keep a zero increase and did the same thing the year before. This is why we ended up not building the General Fund. She's not comfortable with chopping a budget to the point that we end up taking from the General Fund again.

   Some minor changes and calculations were made bringing the proposed mil rate down to 3.472.

6. RE-OPEN PUBLIC SESSION
   Chairman Gallitto re-opened the public session at 5:55 p.m.

   No one wished to speak

7. CLOSE PUBLIC SESSION
   Chairman Gallitto closed public session at 5:55 p.m.

   Commissioner Russo-Driska said she doesn't see many issues. The major increases are beyond our control. Our choices are, do we want to slice this budget so thin that we end up right back where we were pulling from the General Fund or are we going to put a budget in place that is real? We are not padding the budget, we're not looking for crazy stuff and we're not looking to remodel the firehouse. It's just a real budget.

   Sharon Maloney added that the two things we do not know for sure at this point is what will actually happen with salaries and the medical insurance as they are two of the biggest parts of the budget.

   Commissioner Russo-Driska asked Chief Badamo to explain the vehicle replacement and why the Chief needs the vehicle he is asking for. Chief Badamo responded by saying it would be an upgrade to a vehicle we currently have and we know we need this as it was reinforced at the Kleen Energy incident. We have no command vehicle that contains and carries everything we need to function at a durational incident. At Kleen Energy we used Middletown's Car 3 because it was available and it had additional resources that we don't have in our current vehicles. We don't have the ability to open the back and have the full command post function out of it. He is looking to upgrade the size of vehicle to accommodate additional items needed.

   After further discussion, the Commission decided to take some extra time to review the original budget proposal prior to any changes being made at this meeting, post it on the district's website (www.southfiredistrict.com) for the taxpayers to review and digest and continue discussion at the next Budget Workshop which is scheduled for Wednesday March 24, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

8. ADJOURNMENT
   MOTION to adjourn by Comm. Gregorio/Comm. Russo-Driska. Unanimously approved.

   Meeting was adjourned at 6:03 p.m.
   

Cheryl H. Creem
Recording Secretary