05/04/2009 Annual Town Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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i ! EXPLANATION OF LINE ITEM CHANGES OF GREATER THAN $50,000 AND FINANCE COMMITTEE COMMENTS. t F FinCom Comment: Note A: Al In last year's FinCom Report, the Committee strongly urged adoption of the Town Manager's ! ;` plan setting an organizational re-structuring of the departments in compliance with the Charter i and the recommendations of an Ad Hoc Study Committee established by the Town Manager. 4 The Finance Committee was pleased that the provisions passed at the October 20, 2008 Town Meeting. Four major elements of the plan include: 1). The creation of a financial team headed X711 by the Assistant Town Manager reporting to the Town Manager which includes the Treasurer/Tax Collector, Assessor and the Accountant; 2) the expansion of the responsibilities of the Personnel Department to that of a Human Resources Department to include employee benefits oversight, risk management, training, and state/federal compliance reporting; 3) the re- assignment of the Harbormaster and the Shellfish Constable reporting authority from the Town Manager to the Chief of Police, and 4) the transfer of the staff and cost of all school buildings and ground maintenance to the Department of Public Works. The implementation of items 1, 2, and 3 has already taken place and has been deemed to be a success; item 4 will become effective on July 1, which is the beginning of the 2010 Fiscal Year. The Finance Committee is pleased that the Town Manager and the School Committee and School Superintendent have worked out the administrative and financial details of this unique " k and potentially cost effective re-organization. As in the case of the organizational changes ' already implemented, the implementation of this re-organization will also produce an a opportunity to improve municipal services. ; k;. Budget Note 1: Department of Human Resources (+ $49,653) ' As part of the approved Charter-mandated Administrative Code, the functions of what was formerly called the Personnel Department, have been expanded to the Department of Human Resources, which now encompass in addition to the normal personnel-related functions, payroll I information, benefits coordination and analysis, training, insurance and risk management over- sight, employee related staff assistance to the Town Manager, and the filing of the various state and federal OSHA, Right To Know, and similar reports to those agencies. The department also provides follow-up and benefit coordination for retired employees. One of the key cost related duties will be to annually review medical benefit enrollments to ensure there is no duplication or incorrect information. The cost increase is related to the shifting of a part-time Payroll Assistant to a full-time Payroll and Benefits Administrator, as well as, contractually-related salary f increases. 4, Budget Note 2: Department of Public Works (+ $1,863,282) As required by the Charter and approved the voters at the May Town Meeting, the responsibility for the maintenance of all municipal buildings and facilities, including all school facilities, is to i be centralized in the Department of Public Works as of July 1, 2009. This requires that all costs for these functions included in the School Department budget need to be transferred to the DPW E 9 ' 14-