OCTOBER 16, 2001

CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Conroy called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.

BOARD OF EDUCATION FINAL BUDGET EXPENDITURE 2000-2001

Mr. Conroy asked Mr. Quinn to present his report first, as Mr. Quinn had to leave early in order to attend a Board of Education meeting.

Mr. Quinn provided a review of the final budget expenditures and explanations of variances, as follows:

Salaries: There was a $115,000 positive balance from degree level changes and a $418,000 positive balance in teacher salary accounts, larger staff retirements (offset by larger payments of retirement benefits). There was a $132,300 negative variance in teacher substitutes reflecting increased usage and an inter-year rate increase, and a $149,000 negative variance in the aide account, reflecting increased needs. Mr. Quinn stated that, regarding the increased usage of substitutes, they are looking at patterns of teacher absences, such as Friday and Monday absences, or to find out if someone has a serious illness. Mr. Kimmel inquired about the limit of sick leave days. Mr. Miller replied that the limit is 15 days (bankable) over ten months; there is a cap of 120 days, the maximum that can be paid when a teacher leaves the school system.

Employee Benefits: More teachers have retired than in the past, resulting in a $414,000 negative variance in retirement benefits for 34 teachers and 6 administrators. Retirements had been budgeted to be 20 teachers and 2 administrators. There was a special appropriation of $226,000 to cover the health insurance reserve, as they were hit very hard with several large health benefit cases. This year they are projecting a deficit of $250,000, due to 10 large dollar amount payout cases.

Professional and Technical Services: There were negative variances in speech services ($65,000) and in Occupational and Physical Therapy ($74,000). This deficit would have been larger, but was offset by the implementation of third party billing for medical services.

Property Services: There was less vandalism, including fewer broken windows and much less graffiti, resulting in a $70,419 positive variance.

Other Services: After applying the Board of Education’s portion of the Excess Cost Grant of $456,000, there is a negative variance in special education and regular education outplacement accounts of $75,000. For FY 2002-2003, Mr. Quinn said that they would specify what the special education and regular education needs are. Norwalk initiates fewer outplacements than other schools in Connecticut.

Supplies and Materials: There were positive balances of $66,000 in instructional supplies, $105,000 in textbooks and $83,000 in other supplies. The $48,000 negative variance in the oil account after the special appropriation of $307,000 reflects the 50% increase in the price of oil as well as increased usage of the schools. Regarding the large positive variance for textbooks, Mr. Quinn stated that not everything was purchased that was originally planned. Also, there is the issue that the specific needs were not well defined, which is being addressed. Mr. Torrano said that it is difficult to approve a lump sum when you don’t know specifically what it’s for.

Mr. Bowers pointed out that it has been a standard practice of past Boards of Education to say that the Committee doesn’t provide enough money for textbooks; the Committee funds the textbook fund and then the Board of Education uses it in other places, and then say that the Committee never provides enough funds for textbooks. Mr. Nolin asked Mr. Quinn to get this information to Rosa Murray and Rick Fuller so that they will know that when they tell people that there is a shortage of funding for books that it’s a lie; they should make a public apology to the City – the current members of the Board of Ed do not seem to understand their own budget process. Mr. Nolin stated that there does not appear to be any plan. He asked why don’t you tell people that you need the money to fix the roof? If you have extra cash and need it, why can’t the Board of Ed transfer it? Mr. Nolin asked if the Committee could get the budget broken down on spending by school. Mr. Quinn said that they do have those numbers and will look into providing them in the future.

APPROVE THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 19, 2001.

Correction: Page 1, under Staff and second line from the bottom - Paula D’agostin

Ms. Biagiarelli presented 2 special requests:

1) Phoenixcor Inc. - $43,658 was a correction done by the Assessor’s Office after the company received the Tax Collector’s demand and realized that there had been a mis-filing. They filed an amended return and found that they did not owe as much tax as they had paid.

2) Transamerica Real Estate Tax: $5,995 - the bank paid the wrong parcel.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Ms. Biagiarelli presented the following Reports:

September 2001 Report - breaks out both tax and interest, and includes real estate and personal property. She is working with the software company to make further improvements on this report.

Quarterly Report – lists collections through September. She said that collections are right on track and where they should be. She will provide this report every 3 months.

September 2001 Trial Balance - This report breaks down what the open tax balances were at the end of the fiscal year, what is due right now. This does not include interest. She pointed out that this shows an open balance and includes the entire second half of real estate and personal property taxes which are not due until the first of next year.

DELINQUENT TAX REPORT: RECEIVE REPORT AND DISCUSS

Mr. Conroy asked if someone has been delinquent for a long time, do they show up marked Attorney ("Atty.") on the report? Ms. Biagiarelli replied that they do. Mr. Conroy pointed out that Hoffrel goes back to 1987, with substantial amounts, but it is not marked "Atty". Ms. Biagiarelli said that’s because it is personal property; the Tax Collector’s Office cannot foreclose on personal property taxes, so has to do other things to go after those. In response to the Committee’s previous request for a plan regarding collection of personal property taxes, she presented a memo on Collection Enforcement: Personal Property. These measures include Uniform Commercial Code Liens (UCC-1 Lien), which do not have as high a priority as the large Real Estate liens that she had been working on. She will now be able to focus more on collection of personal property taxes, but hopes that the Committee understands that this will not happen overnight, that it could take a couple of years. Overall, collections are very good but she is looking to do even better.

Ms. Biagiarelli addressed the recent comments in the press about collection enforcement in the Tax Collector’s Office. The implication was made that there is selective enforcement going on based on political considerations. She wanted the Committee to know that she has been collecting taxes since 1989, this is her profession, and she has never made a decision based on political considerations. Her decisions are based only on what is in the best interest of the City and according to State statutes and criteria which she has always made open to everyone. She said that the public and this Committee need to be aware that the system is an equitable one and that the Office is not selective in any way. Mr. Nolin stated that the Committee has complete confidence in Ms. Biagiarelli.

REVIEW CITY CELLULAR TELEPHONE USAGE POLICY

Gerald Foley, Purchasing Agent in the Finance Office, gave an overview of his memo regarding proposed Cellular Telephone Usage Policy. Basically, he is proposing one large shared cellular account, with a pre-paid pool of minutes. This will drive down the costs, which will result in great savings. Currently, employees have individual accounts with Verizon; the total cost will be approximately $50,000 to $52,000 for this fiscal year. The cost for a shared account will be approximately $25,000. There will be a $10 one-time activation fee per phone and each minute will cost about 8 cents. Mr. Miller stated that there is a proliferation of cell phones among employees and a lack of awareness of the cost. Verizon does not provide itemization of calls, which prevents policing of private usage. The policy Mr. Foley is proposing will centralize the process of providing employees with phones, while weeding out those that do not need one. Department heads will be asked to sign off on cell phone equipment and service requests and to certify that the individual absolutely needs a cell phone. This will be a policy of the Finance Department and does not need the Committee’s approval.

PRICE WATERHOUSE COOPERS AUDIT UPDATE

Mr. Miller reported that he spoke with Henry Jones of Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC). There is a Board of Education meeting tonight regarding disputed areas that PWC believes they need to cover in order to render a complete and thorough financial analysis of the Board of Education operations. There have been delays in getting resolution for these issues. PWC had planned to conduct a number of interviews, of which 7 have been withheld (Pupil Services/Special Ed, the Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Bi-lingual Ed, Early Childhood Ed, Health Services, Assessment & Testing, and Secondary Education). A few Board of Education members met with Mr. Jones yesterday. Mr. Jones told them that these areas have to be looked at in order to get some financial understanding. Mr. Nolin asked if the audit will still be done in time for the budget, or have they delayed it so much that it won’t be useful for this coming budget. Mr. Miller responded that the PWC reps need to explore these areas and he believes there will be a positive resolution of the situation. PWC representatives have already met with 10 individuals and need to have the ability to meet with the remaining 7 that they had planned on meeting. Mr. Nolin suggested that, if the Board of Education is not going to cooperate, Mr. Miller’s office should produce a list of all the areas of information that they are not going to provide and serve a Foyer (sp?) request for all documents in that area for the last 5 years. Mr. Conroy agreed with Mr. Nolin’s suggestion. He said that this should be handled by the Steering Committee. Mr. Conroy said that one would expect that this will be resolved within a couple of weeks and there will be a course of action to take.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. CONROY MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Debra Zucker

Telesco Secretarial Services

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