Amended Minutes of Budget Committee
(BC) meeting 29 January 2007, Tuftonboro Town Office
Chairman Wood called the meeting
to order at
Attendance: Black, Cook, Eaton,
BOS: Duffy, Stockman, Weeks
Others: Simms, Phelps
Public: 4
Wood made opening remarks as the
BC Chairman and set an agenda.
The minutes of the BC meeting of
Theve moved to accept the minutes
as written. Passed 5-0.
Old business:
Wood reopened discussion
of Direct Assistance budget # 4442.
Weeks BOS recommends increasing
this line by $2,000 due to the increased need in the current year.
The Town is obligated to provide
for people in need and follows guidelines unique to the Town. Stockman When
people are on welfare the Town puts a lien on any property they have and
sometimes recovers the money. Eaton If the welfare need has gone up a
lot this line should be increased more.
Weeks - Moved to approve the
Direct Assistance budget #4442 in the amount of $
30,500
Theve - Second. The vote was
called. Vote 6-0 for the motion, the motion passed.
Wood reopened discussion of the
Planning and Zoning budget # 4191.
Weeks Reconsider the issue of
$3,608 membership dues for the Lakes Region Planning Commission. The BC deleted
this from Planning and Zoning budget. Eaton This is in expensive price to pay
for the type of resources available compared to the alternatives. Black Would
like to know what the Town would get for this expense. Weeks The LRPC is a
regional organization and does not represent individual towns. Member towns
still pays for the LRPC consultants even when a member. Dues are based on the
State formula, which is the same for school and county taxes. Duffy
LRPC is the source for towns to get grant money and other economic assistance.
Towns get considerably more money back than they pay in dues and fees.
LRPC serves 30 towns and has lots of money and research available. They have
research information on Public Safety buildings and issues that would be a
benefit to the Town.
Phelps The LRPC also has a lot
of research information on conservation issues.
Dave Jeffers Lives in Tuftonboro
and works for the LRPC. He explained the role of the LRPC in regards to
the towns. Their research is available to all the towns. The LRPC and deals
with transportation, economic and environmental issues. The LRPC is working on
innovative ordinances to meet the needs of various towns.
Simms - Presented a letter
(attached) in support of the issue. There was further general discussion of
this issue.
Theve - Moved to approve the
Planning and Zoning budget # 4191 in the amount of $37,808 including $3,608 for
membership dues in the
LRPC.
Eaton - Second. The vote was
called. Vote
New business:
Wood opened discussion of the
General
Budget.
Weeks The books will be closed
for the year of 2007 by next week so the carry over items are not in the
current budget. The current budget is for the new items approved for the
year of 2008.
The BOS recommends the BC approve
the Public Safety warrant article in the amount of $120,000 with $10,000
appropriated for operational funds for the new Public Safety Committee. This
was discussed.
Black - Moved to approve the
Public Safety warrant article in the amount of $120,000 with $10,000
appropriated for operational funds for the new Public Safety
Committee.
Cook - Second. The vote was
called. Vote 6-1for the motion, the motion passed.
There was additional discussion of
the current General
Budget.
Phelps Inquired about the
Conservation warrant articles and issues regarding conservation issues.
This was discussed and explained.
Wood Inquired if the Executive
budget #4130 could be reduced because the Town was losing the Town
administrator. Weeks - The BOS will be hiring a new part time
administrator so the budget line should not be changed.
Weeks Presented the Towns
sources of revenue. There will be a reduction in revenue from some
sources such as boat and motor vehicle registrations. The Town will have
to make up the shortfall.
The current total Budget and
Source of Revenue was reviewed. The current recommended budget is $2,827,069
and the amount to be raised from taxes is $2,431,679. This will be a
considerable increase over 2007.
Weeks The BOS and BC needs to
look at the budget and see where cuts might be made.
Black - Unless the Town cuts
services there will not be a reduction it the budget. Eaton The Town
need to look at how much it pays for employee health insurance. Wood
Suggested dropping the Lang Pond road warrant article this year. There
was further discussion general discussion of the budget but no other action was
taken introduced at this meeting.
Wood - Any further discussion or
public comments. There was none.
The next BC meeting was called for
Theve - Move to adjourn the
meeting. The BC meeting was adjourned
Joe W. Ewing, Secretary
Budget Committee
Memo:
To the Chair of the Budget Committee,
From John Simms.
Subject;
Membership in the Lakes Region Planning Commission
Greetings, Lloyd and the members of
the Budget Committee.
I understand that you have voted against including
$3,600 in the operating budget for Tuftonboro to join the Lakes Region Planning
Commission (LRPC). I urge you to reconsider this decision for the following
reasons:
1We are encountering an increasing number of regional
and inter-town problems, requiring regional
solutions.
Examples are: Cyanobacteria in
Waste water discharge into Nineteen Mile Brook
Development in Moultonborough which affects our
watershed
Water extraction at Castle in the Clouds
Increasing traffic on deteriorating roads
Milfoil in
Regional development pressures such as big box stores
in Ossipee
2 LRPC is the organization
most involved in discussing these regional issues and solving these inter-town
problems. Yet we are unable to benefit from their expertise, their skills as
mediators, and their background in tackling these activities that affect more
than one town. Tuftonboro has no committee looking at regional issues.
3 If we agree that we are
faced with regional issues, we should be obliged to support the organization
working to resolve these. if we benefit from the
solutions, we should contribute our fair share to the cost of getting there. It
is a simple issue of fairness. Of the 30 towns in the LRPC region, Tuftonboro
is the only town refusing to join and unwilling to contribute.
5 LRPC has conducted many
studies and prepared many reports addressing issues of immediate concern,
including formation of CIP committees, land use regulations, other issues of
direct relevance to local governance, including housing data, employment and
financial data, transportation, and other matters relating to the town
government, its committees and the voters.
6 One direct example is a
Hazard Mitigation Plan, which we need. LRPC has 4eveloped a template for these,
use of which will be much less costly than doing it ourselves with consultants.
7 Another is our review of our
zoning, site plan and subdivision regulations, an area were LRPC has much
expertise and ready assistance, which would save the town significant funds.
8 It is my judgment that
Tuftonboro would benefit in increased efficiency to a much greater extent than
the annual cost, which is about I part in 800 of our annual operating budget.
If you will agree to proceed with approving this, and if we do not save an
amount greater than the cost, I will be the first to support terminating the
membership.
It would have been of value to consult with LRPC in
the formation and implementation of the CIP committee.
I am the first to search for money saving ideas, and I
will be proposing some of these to the Board of Selectmen, However, I do
believe that joining LRPC is a money saver, and I recommend that you vote to
join this year.
Thank you for your time and attention, and for the
many hours you spend working hard to hold our tax rate down yet still provide
the essential services upon which we depend.
John Simms