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JANUARY 13, 2005

ATTENDANCE: Bruce Kimmel, Chair; Douglas Hempstead; Carvin Hilliard; Matthew Miklave (8:30 p.m.); Douglas Sutton (8:50 p.m.); Kenneth Baker (8:55 p.m.)

STAFF: Tom Hamilton, Finance Director; Fred Gilden, Lisa Biagiarelli

OTHERS: Betsy Bain, Rick McQuaid, Jeannette Olmstead-Sawyer,
Common Council

Mr. Kimmel called the meeting to order at 8:10 p.m. and noted that they needed four more members to reach a quorum.

CLAIMS COMMITTEE: RECEIVE THE MONTHLY CLAIMS REPORT; REVIEW AND APPROVE CLAIMS AS REQUIRED FOR CLAIMS REPORT DATED: JANUARY 13, 2005

Ms. Biagiarelli explained that there was one special request from the West Norwalk Shopping Plaza for a sewer fee adjustment in the amount of $14,766.00. This item was sent to the full Council, because there was no quorum present.

Ms. Biagiarelli said that the collections were slightly down from last year and she will provide a narrative in next month’s packet.

INFORMATION AL UPDATE AND DISCUSSION ON THE FISCAL YEAR 2005-06 OPERATING BUDGET – SCHOOL SYSTEM & CITY

Mr. Kimmel explained that this item did not require action and was an informational update. He asked Mr. Hamilton to explain the status of the budget. Mr. Hamilton said that the budget has been transmitted to the Board of Estimate & Taxation in accordance with the City’s code. The requested budget shows an increase of $17.9 million over last years, which is an increase of just over 8%. He said that he did not believe it would be possible to fund most of the positions requested, nor the service enhancements. There are a number of unknowns, such as the amount of State aid and what the real estate conveyance tax will be

Mr. Kimmel thanked Mr. Hamilton and the finance staff. He said that they provided the best budget booklet he has seen since being on the Council and said that they did a terrific job.

Dr. Corda gave a presentation of the Board of Education’s budget request.

Mr. Miklave arrived at 8:30 p.m.
Mr. Sutton arrived at 8:50 p.m.
Mr. Baker arrived at 8:55 p.m.

Mr. Hempstead asked Dr. Corda if he would provide the number of teachers that have been removed from the system due to a lack of performance. Mr. Hempstead asked Dr. Corda if there was an evaluation system in place for salary increases. Dr. Corda said that for the administrative bargaining group, increases are built into their contract and are not based on merit.

Mr. Kimmel said that it was incumbent upon the Board of Education to have a full time Finance Director. Dr. Corda suggested that the role that Mr. Updal provides made the position of Finance Director expendable when he had to make cuts. Mr. Kimmel said that this is something that he has been concerned about and that this is one position he would fund. Mr. Kimmel added that Dr. Corda is doing a great job, but this is something to be considered.

Dr. Corda asked if there was anything the Common Council has requested and not received, he would like to know. Dr. Corda said that a finance director would not be able to talk about instruction the way he could. Mr. Kimmel said that for a city this size it would behoove the Board of Education to find a way to fund that position. Mr. Kimmel told Dr. Corda that he means no disparaging, but this is something that should be considered.

Dr. Corda said that it was important to understand the budget requested by the Board of Education was not an increase of 7.9%. Mr. Kimmel commended Dr. Corda for coming in with a budget that was substantially lower than last year. He added that it is important to acknowledge the increase in the debt service and be careful about lumping that in with the budget. When they break down the numbers, the debt service needs to be separated.

Mr. Kimmel thanked Dr. Corda and the members of the Board of Education.

Mr. Alvord, Director, Department of Public Works described how the budget was put together and noted that there are a number of requirements that have been ignored. Mr. Alvord reviewed the requests and the reasons for those requests.

In response to remarks made by Mr. Alvord, Mr. Miklave said that he was disturbed at what he heard from Mr. Alvord and would like him to come back to this Committee again. He said that his language was inflammatory. He said that if they are in violation of federal and state laws he wants to know in detail where the DPW is in violation so that those concerns could be addressed. Mr. Alvord said that he would be happy to provide that information.

Mr. Alvord distributed his written comments in response to the Finance Director’s criticisms.

APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE FOLLOWING FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING: DECEMBER 9, 2004

The minutes will be addressed at the next regular meeting.

There was no further business and the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 10:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Rosemarie Lombardi
Telesco Secretarial Services