1/15/1991 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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a r BOARD of SELECTMEN page 2 MITES TUESDAY, JAUAY 1 r 1991 FY 91 Deficits: Mr. Harrington reports that most of the Town spending is in personnel costs , of which the Board of Selectmen are responsible for, In order to present a. balanced budget to the Board on January 2th, he will recommend a series of reductions in personnel, Mr. Harrington would like to reduce the spending in personnel.. All of our money is people and the free cash- we are trying to maintain is being absorbed. FY 92 is the problem to address. i Short Terra Interest Account; 16 Three factors compound the anticipated estimated deficit of $140,000, These include delays in sendir'g .out tax bills, slow collection of taxes and non-payment of taxes. These effect the cash flow problem. Kevin Harrington noted the tremendous amount of time the Board of Assessors have to deal with addressing the abatements. Alot of research is involved and until they are resolved this problem will be addressed. e has talked with Mr. Bailey and the tax bills should go out on April the 1st. Selectman Carter has suggested some assistance to the Assessors Office such as a. floating clerk. Selectman Manson agrees to add assistance to increase efficiency. Selectman Lawrence Feels this is also a. key priority. Nodepart- ment' s will exist if we get our ta.x bills out late. We are at the point where we have to make some of the hard decisions fast and now. Selectman Lawrence would also like some outs made to balance the FY 91 budget. Selectman Gottlieb also agrees to drop a few positions and look into FY 92 • The Selectmen have agreed with Selectman Lawrence and his suggest- ions . It is the consensus of the Board to have Kevin Harrington make the potential cuts in personnel and to discuss there at the next schedul- ed meeting on January 2th. Report from the Treasurer: Anne Shaw has taken care of the situatibn relative to the tax .bills undeliverable and is working on the cash flow problem that hasescalated to $140,'000. The financi .l advisors with State Street Bank advised Ms. Shaw that is cheaper to borrow all the money needed for one year. A better interest rate is obtained with borrowing the Five million at one time. The money can be invested as long as we have the cash flow to prove we will need the Five million over the year. The five million dollars was borrowed in five million dollar notes. e have the ability to prepay and Mrs. Shaw is starting to Fine tune the cash flow. With interest rates dropping, we may be able to pay off State Street Bank, Anne Shaw stresses the need for the Assessors office to get the tax bills out in a. timely manner in the spring.