Minutes of the Finance Committee Meeting,

Tuesday, February 17, 2004 3:30 PM

Judge Welsh Meeting Room, Town Hall, Provincetown, MA 02657

Present: Chair Ruth Gilbert, Vice Chair Sue Buerkel, Robert Vetrick, Mark Leach, Matthew Clark, Gail Enos, Tom Thurston, Ginny Ross and Ann Maguire.

Also present, Town Manager Keith Bergman and department heads and the press.

Meeting was called to order at 3:30 PM by Ruth Gilbert.

Budget Review FY 2005

V. Public Services

-511 Health/Conservation Agents (John Gilmore, Jane Raasch-Health Agent and Pat-Health Inspector)

Request of $100,056 represents a 10.3% decrease. This budget funds Health Agent and Health Inspector. Handouts given explaining tasks of both positions. Ann Maguire made a motion to table approval until revenue information is provided. Ginny Ross seconded. After discussion, Ann Maguire proposed to amend the previous motion as follows: to approve budget with the expectation that revenue information will be provided by next meeting. Mark Leach seconded. The motion as amended passed 9:0:0.

-512 Public Health/Nurse (Valerie Carrano)

Budget request of $40,249 which is a 9.7% decrease. Mark Leach made a motion to approve as requested, Tom Thurston seconded and it passed 9:0:0.

-513 Board of Health

Request of $2,272 which is a .9% decrease. Robert Vetrick made a motion to accept, Ann Maguire seconded and it passed 9:0:0.

-541 Council on Aging (Valerie Carrano)

Request for $147,341 which is a 3.6% increase. Substantial decrease in grant revenue due to state cuts. Ann Maguire made a motion to approve as requested, Tom Thurston seconded and it passed 9:0:0.

-525 Cape End Manor (Dennis Anderson and Eileen Thomas)

Budget request of $2,929,792 which is a .4% increase. Dennis Anderson gave a summary overview of proposed budget. 6 full time employees were laid off, 2 had shift reductions. Total full time employees are 54.2. Average census is 46 patients which is down 20%. Industry standard is 1.2 full time employees per occupied bed. 40% of budget reductions have been outside of nursing. Current census is 40, with about 60% having a Provincetown connection. Discussion of the cost to the Town of closing the Manor v. that of proceeding with the care campus idea. If the new care campus were built, the Town would have to fund Manor deficits for at least 2-3 more years in the best case and on top of that amount expects to have to pay any new entity that takes over the Manor an additional $1.5 million inducement. Closing the Manor would take about 1 year and cost between $1.0-1.5 million. Manor management agreed to provide the Committee with financial projections for different scenarios as well as a statement of the cumulative deficits funded by the Town. Ann Maguire made a motion to table approval of budget until overall review of town budget by Fin Com. Matthew Clark seconded and it passed 9:0:0.

-620 Administration

Request for $2,500 which is a 66.7% reduction. Ann Maguire made a motion to accept budget to decorate Veteran’s graves as requested and to fold this budget into Veteran Services next year. Sue Buerkel seconded and it passed 9:0:0.

-630 Recreation Department (Dennis Clark)

Request of $122,926 which is level funded. Revenue is $5,400 for summer program. $45.00 for VMES students for 8 weeks and $45.00 per week for out of town kids. Staffing ratios should be 1 staff per 7 kids per industry standards. Matthew Clark suggested doing some research in seeking out private foundation grants for after-school programs. Tom Thurston made a motion to accept as requested. Ginny Ross seconded and it passed 9:0:0 with the request that Fin Com receive FY2005 operating budget and that department explore private grant sources.

-651 Beautification Committee (James Mack)

Request for $10,760 is a 5% increase. This budget is fully funded by Tourism Fund. Ann Maguire made a motion to approve as requested. Tom Thurston seconded and it passed 9:0:0.

-671 Heritage Museum

No request for money

-672 Art Commission (Georgia Coxe and Stephen Borkowski)

Request for $16,300 which is a 14.5% increase. Commission feels like it has been under-funded for years. Collection has probably quadrupled in value in the last decade. Members feel it is still a modest budget request considering the size and value of town collection. Money is needed to perform a conservation assessment and to maintain and restore art so that it does not continue to deteriorate. Last years budget was used primarily to create a secure, climate-controlled storage room in Town Hall as a temporary measure. Collection has about 300 items valued at about $2.5-3 million. Goal of Commission is to make collection more accessible and to use it as a tool to benefit the town. Ann Maguire made a motion to accept as requested. Robert Vetrick seconded and it passed 9:0:0.

-673 Cultural Council

Request for $2,500 which is level funded. Ann Maguire made a motion to table approval given that no members of the council were present to discuss the budget. Robert Vetrick seconded and it passed 9:0:0.

-699 Tourism (Pat Fitzpatrick)

Request for $438,000 which is a 5.8% increase. This budget represents a 5 year budget plan recommended by Visitor Services Board. Ann Maguire asked how to quantify results of attending trade shows. Pat Fitzgerald said that every marketing effort is tracked by her office and that some past efforts have been discontinued because of lack of results. Ginny Ross complimented Pat Fitzpatrick on her job performance. Ann Maguire suggested that barrel pick-ups be made earlier on Sunday mornings after Saturday nights. Robert Vetrick made a motion to accept as requested. Tom Thurston seconded and it passed 9:0:0.

Next meeting scheduled for Monday, February 23, 2004 at 1:00PM-DPW., library and CIP. Thursday, February 26, 2004 at 4PM for School Committee.

Tuesday, March 16, 2004 at 1:00PM to work on tabled budgets and money articles. Town Meeting is Wednesday, April 7, 2004.

Mark Leach made a motion to adjourn. Ginny Ross seconded. Meeting adjourned at 6:50PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Phyllis Lutsky

Recording Secretary