May 30, 2007
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Leonard B. Katzman, Hubert E. Little,
and
Peter J. McIntyre arrived at 7:05 p.m.
6:30 p.m. – Town Council Chambers, Town Hall,
President Canario stated that it is crucial that they get through the entire Provisional Budget this evening so he is asking the Council keep comments to a minimum. Public Comment will be received at the Public Hearing on June 20th.
PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE
A moment of silence for our men and women around the world in harm’s way.
TOWN COUNCIL
Continuation - Adoption of Provisional Budget (from May 29, 2007)
Debt Service – Town
A motion by Mr. Seveney, seconded by Mr. Katzman, to tentatively approve the Debt Service-
Town budget at $937,606. All voted in favor of the motion.
Debt Service – School
A motion by Mr. Seveney, seconded by Mr. Little, to tentatively approve an increase of
$107,000., making the budget $2,334,335. All voted in favor of the motion.
Warrants
Town Capital Improvement Plan
A motion by Ms. Gleason, seconded by Mr. Katzman, to delete “o. Recreation” amount of
$23,000. All voted in favor of the motion.
Fire Chief Lynch requested an additional entry to the warrants “r.” $14,000. for an inflatable boat for pond rescues.
A motion by Ms. Gleason, seconded by Mr. Little, to delete the new “r. Inflatable boat for Fire
Dept.” amount of $14,000. The motion carried 4-2 with Mr. Katzman and Mr. West opposed.
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A motion by Mr. Seveney, seconded by Mr. Katzman, to reduce the Warrants amount by
$115,000., deleting a. Extrication Tool – Fire Dept ($30,000.); n. Management Study – Police and Fire Services ($37,000.); o. Recreation ($23,000.); q. DPW building replace heating oil tanks ($10,000.); and r. Inflatable Boat – Fire Dept. ($15,000.); and cutting c. Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus from $25,000. to $15,000.; and to tentatively approve the Town Capital Improvement Plan amount of $205,000. All voted in favor of the motion.
Road Repair/Resurfacing was zeroed out by the Town Administrator.
A motion by Ms. Gleason, seconded by Mr. McIntyre, to tentatively not approve both warrants.
The motion carried 4-3 with Mr. Seveney, Mr. Katzman and Mr. West opposed.
Other Warrants
A motion by Mr. Katzman, seconded by Mr. Seveney, to tentatively approve at zero the
“Other Warrants”. All voted in favor of the motion.
Item #28
The balance, if any, remaining in the following funds or budget appropriations on June 30, 2007, are to be re-appropriated: Misc. Dept. Island Park Planning & Development-Police Details, Town Council Contingency for LNG tanker legal support and the Warrant items funded by the Rescue Wagon revenues.
A motion by Mr. Katzman, seconded by Mr. Seveney, to tentatively approve as proposed. All
voted in favor of the motion.
Item #29
Any Melville Ponds Campground revenues in excess of
expenditures remaining on June 30, 2007, will be carried forward and combined
with the Melville Reserve to be expended on Town recreational facilities
including compliance with
A motion by Mr. Katzman, seconded by Mr. Seveney, to tentatively approve as proposed. All
voted in favor of the motion.
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Item #30
25% of any Glen Manor House revenues in excess of expenditures remaining on June 30, 2007, will be deposited into a special, interest bearing account to maintain a Capital Improvement Account for repairs/renovations of the Glen Manor House. Expenditures are subject to Town Council approval. Fund balance as of 6/30/06 is $312,579.
A motion by Mr. Katzman, seconded by Mr. Little, to tentatively approve as presented. All
voted in favor of the motion.
Item #31
The sum of ($0) zero dollars of unreserved General Fund Surplus for the Fiscal Year ending June 30,2007, shall be transferred to the Capital Improvement Fund. Expenditures are subject to Town Council approval. Fund balance as of 6/30/06: $106,715.
A motion by Mr. Seveney, seconded by Mr. Little, to tentatively approve as proposed. All voted
in favor of the motion.
Item #32
TIME: 7:58 p.m. – Mr. Katzman left the chamber.
From the Recording Fees revenues retained by the Town, 10% shall be designated for the Clerk for document preservation and technology upgrades and the balance shall be designated for the General Fund. From the Real Estate Conveyance Tax revenues retained by the Town, 80% shall be designated for the General Fund and the remainder shall be designated as Open Space Recreational Reserve. Open Space Reserve balance as of 6/30/06 is $293,379. Expenditures are subject to Town Council approval.
A motion by Mr. Seveney, seconded by Mr. Little to tentatively approve as proposed. All voted
in favor of the motion.
TIME: 8:00 p.m. – Mr. Katzman returned.
Item #33
100% of revenues generated from the Town billing for Ambulance Service shall be restricted and designated as Capital Improvement Fund, less $67,531. of said revenues which shall be paid to the Portsmouth Volunteer Fire Department. Said payment shall be adjusted annually by 3%.
A motion by Mr. Little, seconded by Mr. McIntyre, to increase the amount paid to the
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Revenues
Mr. Driscoll explained the two options for Transfer Station Fees that would offset the cost of garbage. He said that once we impose a fee the number of people using the station will decrease.
One option will let the town break-even, one will need money from taxes. He said a user fee is a cost for a service we don’t have to provide, but when we provide it we save people money. He doesn’t think it’s a tax at all, taking into effect that we don’t have to do garbage as a town.
Mr. West asked if there could be an exemption for persons who qualify for hardship exemptions for taxes.
Mr. Driscoll said that something would be worked out to give them no cost stickers.
A motion by Mr. Katzman, seconded by Mr. Seveney, to tentatively approve the entire revenue
page as presented with the exception of the transfer station fees which are listed as $600,000. and should be listed as $500,000. and adopt Alternative A. The motion failed 4-3 with Mr. Canario, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Little and Ms. Gleason opposed.
A motion by Mr. Katzman, seconded by Mr. Seveney, to tentatively approve the revenue page as
presented and close the Transfer Station. The motion failed 6-1 with Mr. Canario, Mr. Seveney, Ms. Gleason, Mr. Little, Mr. McIntyre, and Mr. West opposed.
A motion by Mr. Canario, seconded by Mr. Seveney, to reconsider Alternative A. All voted in
favor of the motion.
A motion by Mr. Canario, seconded by Mr. Seveney, to tentatively approve Alternative A and
the entire revenue page with Transfer fees changed to $500,000. All voted in favor of the motion.
TIME: 8:40 p.m. – Break
TIME: 8:55 p.m. – Return
President Canario announced there would be 15 minutes for public comment.
Larry Fitzmorris,
John McDaid,
Paul Ross,
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PROVISIONAL BUDGET
Mr. Faucher said that the Town is currently $49,469. above the cap. The increase in tax rate would be 2.37% or 26 cents. The tax rate would go from $10.95 to $11.22.
Mr. Driscoll suggested the following proposals:
a. Financing the Town Warrants over five years to save about $150,000.
b. Lose one police car and the one-ton dump truck.
c. Cutting part of the landscaping contract for Glen Park.
Mr. Faucher said if the Council accepts “proposal a”, $26,138. would be the principle interest payment semi-annually. You would save the $205,000. that you currently have in spending and pay as you go for capital items. The difference would be $178,863. taking away the $50,000. covering the amount above the cap, we would still have about $128,863. available for our use.
Mr. Driscoll recommended some small adjustments:
An increase in the fingerprinting card costs by $720.
A motion by Mr. Seveney, seconded by Mr. Little, to approve $720. for the Police Dept. fingerprinting account. All voted in favor of the motion.
Mr. Driscoll recommended that in DPW – Landscaping, not to cut three fields at Glen Park and maintain them as meadows. This would save $2,500. from the grass cutting account.
Mr. Katzman requested Mr. Driscoll consult an expert from URI on concerns about meadows increasing the danger of deer ticks and lyme disease.
A motion by Mr. Katzman, seconded by Mr. Seveney, to adjust the budget as suggested down by
$2,500. All voted in favor of the motion.
A motion by Mr. Seveney, seconded by Mr. Katzman, to start the Provisional Budget process
with the aim of increasing our bottom line budget to meet the 5.25% increase to the tax rate, to make a decision right now to move through the provisional portion of this budget adding that additional $630,000., that’s in this briefing that you provided us on exceeding the cap, add that to our bottom line and move back through this budget and come up with a provisional budget that provides all the services that we really want to and historically have provided to our citizens.
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Mr. Driscoll clarified that if the Council were to add $640,000. to the budget or go over the cap by that amount, it would essentially restore the cut made at the tent meeting to the town budget. that would result in a tax increase of 4.1% not 5.25 %. The 5.25 % would yield the Town government over a million dollars to add to the budget if you wanted to do that. He said the real increase on the levy would be 7%.
A motion to amend by Mr. Katzman, seconded by Mr. West, to increase the cap by $633,000. which is a 4.11% tax rate increase. The motion failed 4-3 with Mr. Canario, Ms. Gleason, Mr. Little, and Mr. McIntyre opposed.
The Main motion failed 4-3 with Mr. Canario, Ms. Gleason, Mr. Little, and Mr. McIntyre opposed.
Mr. Driscoll repeated his proposal to bring the budget into balance by amortizing the warrant items over five years. This would gain the Town $178,863. covering the $49,469. we needed, plus the lifeguards are back in.
A motion by Mr. Seveney, seconded by Mr. Katzman, to put the extra money into the fund
balance. The motion carried 6-1 with Ms. Gleason opposed.
Thomas Ellis, President of the Anthony House Residents’ Association, urged the Council to reconsider their budget and increase it to $2,100.
A motion by Mr. Seveney, seconded by Mr. West, to provisionally approve the budget in the
amount of $52,525,178. The motion carried 6-1 with Ms. Gleason opposed.
Mr. Faucher said this is a tax rate increase of 2.19%, or 24 cents, and a tax levy of 5.25%.
Mr. Driscoll will provide Transfer Station Scenario A information to the Council.
A motion by Mr. Seveney, seconded by Mr. Katzman, to adjourn. All voted in favor of the
motion.
TIME: 10:07 p.m.
________________________
Joanne M. Mower