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MARCH 9, 2006

ATTENDANCE: Calvin Hilliard, Chair; Douglas Sutton; Douglas Hempstead; Kelly Straniti.

STAFF: Frederic Gilden, Comptroller

OTHERS: Lisa Biagiarelli, Tax Collector; Thomas Hamilton, Director of Finance; Hal Alvord, Director, DPW.

CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Hilliard called the meeting to order at 8:01 p.m.

1. CLAIMS COMMITTEE: RECEIVE THE MONTHLY CLAIMS REPORT; REVIEW AND APPROVE CLAIMS AS REQUIRED FOR CLAIMS REPORT DATED: MARCH 9, 2006.

Ms. Biagiarelli reviewed the monthly Claims Reports.

2. NARRATIVE ON TAX COLLECTION DATED MARCH 9, 2006 – RECEIVE REPORT AND DISCUSS.

Ms. Biagiarelli stated there were two Special Requests, which appeared on the report strictly because of the dollar amount, they were both in excess of $5,000. One Special Request was for a stipulated judgment where the assessment was reduced and they have to give back to the taxpayer just over $6,000. The other Special Request is a duplicate payment made by the taxpayer.

** MR. HEMPSTEAD MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE SPECIAL REQUESTS.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

3. MONTHLY TAX COLLECTOR’S REPORT DATED FEBRUARY 28, 2006 – RECEIVE REPORT AND DISCUSS.

Ms. Biagiarelli distributed and reviewed her reports to the Committee. She said the department is at just over 97%, which is where they need to be, but are a little bit behind with delinquent collections. The City will not be doing the tax sale this year. She said she is very comfortable with the collection and thought it went well, there were no major issues and they are moving into the last part of the fiscal year. She said they are now in the middle of their delinquent work, and have issued demand notices. They will be issuing liens next week, and are fielding a lot of inquiries about that. There will also be a few pay garnishments, if the Committee members have any questions about those, they can get in touch with her and she will go over them. Ms. Biagiarelli said the department is very aggressive, and indicated the Committee members might receive some complaints about that, but explained that this is how they keep the collection rate high.

Ms. Biagiarelli said she has not issued any warrants because she has been too busy, and noted that she has gone to the Board of Estimate and Taxation to see if she can hire another person for the office, and they are actually considering it. Ms. Biagiarelli pointed out that they collect over 86% of the City’s revenue through her department and she is somewhat hamstrung by the lack of this person. She asked if any of the Committee members feel they want to speak on her department’s behalf, she would appreciate it.

Mr. Hempstead asked Ms. Biagiarelli to explain the automobile supplemental. Ms. Biagiarelli said this is when folks register a car after the closing date, and this results in that little extra bill that is pro-rated for the number of months that the car has been owned. It is a percentage of the assessment. Ms. Biagiarelli said this is the toughest bill to collect because it only comes out once a year, in January.

Mr. Hempstead asked for Ms. Biagiarelli’s thoughts about the State’s proposal to remove the motor vehicle tax. Mr. Hilliard said he felt it was a way for the State to siphon money from the cities. Ms. Biagiarelli said that if you do the numbers, it does not help people who have regular cars. Discussion followed.

** MR. HEMPSTEAD MOTIONED TO APPROVE AND ACCEPT THE MONTHLY TAX COLLECTOR’S REPORT OF FEBRUARY 28, 2006 AND MARCH 9, 2006.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Ms. Biagiarelli left the meeting at 8:14 p.m.

4. RESOLUTION, AUTHORIZING THE REDUCTION OF $100,000 OF CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS TRAFFIC CALMING (PROJECT ACCOUNT NO. 09044021-5777-C0300).

** MR. SUTTON MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE REDUCTION OF $100,000 OF CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS TRAFFIC CALMING PROJECT.

Mr. Hamilton said this item and the next item are related. The first item is a resolution that reduces the Capital Appropriation for Traffic Calming which up to now has really meant speed humps, and presently there is a little more than $200,000 in the Capital Budget that was appropriated over a several-year period for traffic calming. This resolution is to redirect $100,000 into the 4-R Paving program so the lower end of East Avenue, south of the I-95 bridge, can be paved. Mr. Hamilton said this has been in the press several times and has gone through the Planning Commission as well as the Board of Estimate and Taxation, and now it’s making it’s way to the Council through this Committee. The intention is to try to get the project moving sometime in early spring. He said the East Avenue project is a higher priority and that traffic calming as a strategy is something the Public Works department would like to take a step back from and look at in a little broader context than it has been previously. Mr. Hamilton indicated that Mr. Alvord is prepared to answer any questions the Committee members might have.

Mr. Alvord said as they know, the upper portion of East Avenue had been paved in the previous October, and that had been in the Capital Budget. He said all of East Avenue had been in the project for about eight years, but they have continually held it off because the State kept telling them they were going to do two projects. One was the complete reconfiguration of Exit 16 off I-95, and the other was the rebuilding of the railroad underpass of the East Norwalk Railroad Station. Mr. Alvord said the DOT is infamous for delaying projects, and now the Exit 16 project is off the itinerary indefinitely. He said the State keeps saying they will be doing the project some day, but keep putting it off. This is why the lower part of East Avenue is in this year’s budget. Mr. Alvord said they now have a date for the railroad underpass. The State says it will take them until 2010 to complete the Monroe Street underpass, and when this is finished they will move over to East Avenue and do the railroad underpass then. The plan right now is to put the bid package out in 2009 and award the contract in either late 2009 or early 2010, and start construction in 2010.

Mr. Alvord said when the City did the core borings for the northern section of East Avenue, they also did them for the southern section, hoping that if the base conditions were better than what they thought, they could save money and maybe at the same time they could do the lower section. Given the condition of the lower section now, it makes sense to pave it for a four-year period. The road will not be dug up to reconstruct new drainage, but will be milled over. Mr. Alvord said once the lower section is done, people will be driving over a nice, smooth paved road until they get to the I-95 overpass with all its potholes, and will complain to the City, which can do nothing because the bridge belongs to the State. So they have gone to the State and told them what we are planning on doing, offered to pave the bridge if the State will give them permission to do it, and pay for the paving. He said at first the State balked at the idea but now they are thinking about it.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

5. RESOLUTION, APPROPRIATING $100,000 FOR THE DEPARTMENTOF PUBLIC WORKS 4-R PAVING PROGRAM (PROJECT ACCOUNT NO. 09064021-5777-C0283).

** MR. SUTTON MOVED TO APPROPRIATE $100,000 FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS 4-R PAVING PROGRAM.

Mr. Hamilton said this is the second part of the action, which is to appropriate that $100,000 so that the lower portion of East Avenue can be paved.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

6. RECEIVE BOARD OF ESTIMATE AND TAXATION SPECIAL APPROPRIATIONS FROM MARCH 6, 2006 MEETING.

Mr. Hamilton said they didn’t need anyone to move on this item, it was to bring, for informational purposes, the Board of Estimate Special Appropriations that will appear under the Board of Estimate section of the Council agenda as special operating budget appropriations. They don’t require the Committee’s approval to get onto the agenda, but are simply bringing them before the Committee in case there are any questions. Mr. Hilliard said that this was not necessary as all of the Committee members are familiar with the requests.

The item was sent to Council and no action was taken.

7. AUTHORIZE THE DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, OR HER DESIGNEE, TO ISSUE A CHANGE ORDER TO ALL PHASE ELECTRICAL CONTRACTING, INC., IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $18,171 FOR PROJECT 2273, VOICE AND DATA CABLING, IN ORDER TO INSTALL AND FURNISH TWO TELECOMMUNICATIONS CLOSETS ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF CITY HALL.

This item was withdrawn from the agenda.

No action was taken on this item.

8. APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE FOLLOWING FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING: FEBRUARY 9, 2006.

Corrections to the minutes of the January 12, 2006 meeting are as follows:

Page 1, Item 1, 3rd paragraph, change to read: “Mr. Miklave remarked that the Committee didn’t need to approve each Claims Report separately and recused himself from the discussion and vote because one of his clients is on the list, and to avoid the appearance of impropriety.”

** MR. HEMPSTEAD MOTIONED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 9, 2006 MEETING AS SUBMITTED.
** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MS. STRANITI).

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. HEMPSTEAD MOTIONED TO ADJOURN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda J. Hayes
Telesco Secretarial Services