11/09/1993 FINANCE COMMITTEE Minutes

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Town of AaOppt NU, a o own ?4all ANCE COMMITTEE November 9, 1993 Dear Department Head, The Finance Committee would like to acknowledge that your fiscal restraint over the Iast three years has played a pivotal role in placing Mashpee on a sound financial footing for FY95. At the same time, it remains clear to the members of the Finance Committee that we must stay the course so that we meet our obligations as outlined in the Fiscal Policy Report. We must consider the consequences of our actions today in light of what faces us tomorrow. The Finance Committee is continuing the following established fiscal policies: • Free Cash will be placed in the Stabilization Account. Free cash is simply money left over from prior years and is not a reliable source of funds upon which to budget for on-going salaries and expenses. By placing free cash in the stabilization fund to pay for one-time expenses and small capital requirements, we will protect your budgetary funds from the wild fluctuations of the past. • We will set aside $200 000 toward replacement of equipment and vehicles. The full amount won`t be needed in most years, so the excess funds ($200,000 less what is spent at town meeting) will go into a Vehicle Replacement Fund to build toward the purchase of our most expensive equipment. This consistent approach should insure that items are replaced in a timely fashion, not only saving money but protecting town employees from unsafe vehicles and equipment. • We will set aside 1% of the IM limit toward the future. It is extremely important that we not spend our full levy limit on the general operation of the government. Rather than depend on Proposition 2'/z, we must continue to reduce waste and apply those savings to the budgets. The savings from lower costs for town insurance and medical insurance has allowed us to bring our staffing levels back up. • We will save the reductions in debt service inside Proposition 2'/2 for future proiects. We make debt payments every year, and some of those debts are paid for with funds inside Proposition 2'/z. That means the money not spent on debt in 1995 is available for other purposes. Mashpee has a number of projects that could be paid for from the "old debt" monies, if we set them aside now instead of using them for general operations.