Westport News

Present:    Bob McCarthy (BM), Warren Messier (WM), Tony Vieira (TV), Hugh Morton (HM), Jack Baughan (JB), Lisa Arnold (LA), Charles Baron (CB)

Absent:     Tracy Priestner (TP), John Miller (JM)

1.    TV, Chair, opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. with the traditional salute to the flag.

2.     Elizabeth Collins:    Ms. Collins asked to speak to the Fincom regarding the legal budget.  She was outraged at the BOS and felt they were being frivolous with the legal budget and the use of town counsel.  TV assured her that a subcommittee of the Fincom has been working with town counsel and the town administrator to find ways to cut legal costs.

3.    Budget Update:    TV started by handing out a spreadsheet prepared by the accountant’s office that showed budget vs. actual over the last three years.  He also gave a letter from the town auditor regarding the $195,912 cuts needed to cover the FY10 budgets.  He also said he spoke to the chairman of the BOH and they are looking into raising the stickers to an annual fee.
Michael Coughlin, Town Administrator, was in attendance to speak on the budget issues facing the town.  He distributed his budget strategy going forward.  (See attached.)  He started by saying that he is thankful of the hard work and team effort put forth by everyone.  We have closed the gap in the FY10 budget to set the tax rate but we are not out of the woods yet.  We still have a big issue with snow and ice and we don’t know if the governor will make any more cuts to the FY10 budget.  

4.    Special Town Meeting:    This is scheduled for December 1st.  Article 1 is to sweep two articles from the annual town meeting regarding $7,500 for economic development and $12,800 for legal fees.  The moderator is looking into passing over this article.  JB made a motion to recommend this article.  LA seconded the motion with all in favor and 2 absent.  Article 2 is to approve the new budgets after cuts of $250,807 to cover the deficit to set the tax rate.  BM made a motion to recommend this article.  WM seconded the motion and all were in favor with 2 absent.  Article 3 is to raise any additional funds by the means necessary.  MC said the BOS would pass over this article due to the fact that we have covered the deficit with the cuts.  WM made a motion to recommend passing over this article.  LA seconded the motion and all were in favor with 2 absent.  

5.    FY11 Budgets:    TV said budgets going forward will have to be closely looked at.  These are operating budgets only.  The CIPC has no departments that have requested any capital funds except for the schools.  JB said that any requests to the CIPC should have a payback component to the town.  TV said the strategy going forward is to encourage departments to look at a 5-year plan and capital planning with a bond issue.  We will have to look at revenue enhancements such as local option taxes to earmark it to rebuild stabilization if it is used to bridge the budget gap.  HM suggested a letter to the newspaper explaining town finances and the workings of the tax system.  He is responding to a letter in the Westport Shorelines.  All were in favor of him doing this.  TV said we would be able to have some say in the budgets in January and February as we prepare for the annual town meeting.  The town accountant said she feels the only way to cover the projected $700k shortfall would be with an override.  MC said we have to focus on special revenue for the spring, right now the goal is to finish FY10 without hitting stabilization.  Fincom needs to come up with a plan for zero-based budgeting.
                                    
Adjournment and next meeting: There being no further business to come before this meeting, BM moved and LA seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:00pm.  The vote in favor was unanimous.   The next meeting will be on December 1st at 6:30 p.m. at the Westport High School.  The next regular meeting will be on December 15th at 7:00 p.m.
                            
Respectfully submitted,
Nicole Botelho, Recording Secretary