Friday, June 5, 2009

BOARD OF FINANCE
SPECIAL MEETING
MAY 19, 2009
Page 1 of 2
Attendance: Chairman Janet Brunwin, Sally Huyser, Robert Brinton Jr., Richard Van Horn, Eric Gallant

Chairman Brunwin called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was held in the Conference Room of the Bethany Town Hall.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
APRIL 14, 2009
Chairman Brunwin called for a motion of approval for the minutes of the April 14, 2009 meeting. The motion of approval was moved by Brinton Jr. and seconded by Van Horn. A spelling error was noted to the word increases. The corrected minutes were then approved on a unanimous vote.

APRIL 20, 2009
Chairman Brunwin called for a motion of approval for the minutes of the April 20, 2009 Budget Hearing. The motion of approval was moved by Chairman Brunwin and seconded by Van Horn. Chairman Brunwin corrected the statement that the policy the Town would like to keep regarding the Fund Balance was between 10 – 14% of expenditures. The example listed for property tax increase was for median tax payers. The corrected minutes were then approved on a unanimous vote.

APRIL 21, 2009
Chairman Brunwin called for a motion of approval for the minutes of the special meeting of April 21, 2009. A motion of approval was moved by Huyser and seconded by Brinton Jr. The spelling of Gordon LeVasseur ‘s name was corrected by Chairman Brunwin. The vote was called. The vote taken was unanimous.

CORRESPON DENCE
Correspondence has been received from Moody’s regarding the bond rating.

MILL RATE
Brinton Jr. moved a motion to set the mill rate at 27.00 mills. The motion was seconded by Van Horn. The vote taken was unanimous.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Chairman Brunwin reports that she met with Marcia Marien, First Selectwoman Gorski and Michael Battista regarding procedures for the audit for fiscal year 2008-09. The Policy Manuel for the Town of Bethany Board of Finance should be completed for approval at the next meeting. Setting up of a complete set of books will be completed by Michael Battista for next fiscal year.
Discussion was opened regarding transferring of funds within the Capital Expenditure account. It was not clear as to whether balances from under expended Capital Expenditures could be transferred to over expended Capital Expenditures without Town Meeting approval. Following discussion Brinton Jr. volunteered to look up the State Statute that covers this subject.

The auditors recommended opening a special Park and Recreation revenues account to receive the registration fees for Summer Camp starting in July 2009. In the future the Park and Recreation account could be set up to turn over each year, building an account that could eventually maintain expenditures for the Park and Recreation Department independent from the Town budget.

APPOINTMENT OF AN AUDITOR
Van Horn moved to appoint Marien and Company LLC as auditors for fiscal year 2008-09. Brinton Jr. seconded the motion. The vote taken was unanimous.

AMITY FINANCIAL COMMITTEE MEETING
Chairman Brunwin attended the Amity Financial Committee Meeting. At this meeting enrollment statistics were discussed.

The State of Connecticut construction audit for the construction at both the Amity Middle Schools and Amity High School has been completed. A surplus was reported when the audit was complete. A determination will be made as to how it is returned to the Towns. There will also be approximately $1,160,000 savings on the bond issue due to the better interest rate received at the bond sale.

BETHANY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
Board of Finance members attended the Bethany Elementary School Board of Education Meeting recently. The visit was to try and develop better communication between the School Board and the Board of Finance. Board of Finance members encouraged the Board of Education to return money not needed to complete this year’s budge, rather than buying things that are just nice to have, and not really a necessity.

ADJOURNMENT
Adjournment was called at 8:00 p.m. after a motion was moved by Van Horn and seconded by Chairman Brunwin. The vote taken was unanimous.

Respectfully submitted,

June G. Riley
Clerk, Board of Finance