ERCSD Finance Committee Meeting Minutes
October 4, 2005 – 5:00 PM
SAU Office
MEMBERS PRESENT: Greg Kann, Patty Lovejoy, Kris Magnusson, Robin Scott
ADMINISTRATION PRESENT: Skip Hanson, Walter Pierce, Nathan Lunney
Chair Kann opened the meeting at 5:13 PM. The following agenda items were discussed.
1. Approval of Minutes: Robin Scott offered a motion to approve the minutes of the September 6th meeting as presented. Kris Magnusson seconded the motion and the minutes as amended were approved by a unanimous vote.
2. Trust Funds – August 31, 2005 Balances: The committee reviewed the summary of trust fund account balances at August 31st. Patty Lovejoy asked when the pending transfers from FY 2005-06 appropriations would be made. Nathan anticipated an October transaction depending on cashflows. The committee recommended that the transfers be made as soon as possible following the close of the fiscal year.
3. September Financial Statement: Nathan introduced the monthly financial report and cautioned the committee that not all known commitments were encumbered. The Business Office is working to complete this process to offer a more accurate perspective on the budget. The committee asked about anticipated energy costs. Nathan reminded the committee that there were substantial increases in the budget intended to meet higher utilities expenditures. Plus, increases in health insurance were lower than budgeted which will generate as much as $150,000 in savings that will help offset unexpected energy costs.
4. Video-Streaming Initiative: The Superintendent explained that the Personnel, Policy & Communications Committee had discussed and voted to recommend that the Board pilot a program to convert videotaped meetings into streaming video presentations linked from the SAU website. The committee discussed the PP&C proposal and the estimated costs. Each two hour taping will cost about $450 to convert and make available on the web. The committee asked about possible additional fees for ongoing hosting of past meetings, and that will be explored. Kris offered a motion to encumber $3,500 to fund the pilot …potentially (1) Dec, (2) Jan, (3) Feb, and (1) Mar…on a trial basis for seven meetings. Robin seconded and the motion passed unanimously. It was suggested that Emily Quirk be contacted to see if coverage in the Exeter News-Letter might help in publicizing this new opportunity for people to stay in touch with board activity.
5. Board Policy Review – Investment Policy: Patty reminded the committee of policy DFA-R which is an appendix to DFA. This deals with the investment of school district funds. It was recommended at the last board meeting that this policy be reviewed by the Finance Committee before further consideration by the full board. After discussion about some of the details in this draft, Nathan and Walter offered that this language would create a measurable amount of overhead expectation when the ERCSD really does not do any such investing. The district’s operating funds are held in a managed sweep account by our bank and invested in overnight, fully collateralized opportunities. A policy should be in place in the event that some short-term investment was undertaken. The committee asked that Nathan survey the other stakeholders within the SAU, including district treasurers, and then return to the committee with recommendations for changes to this policy.
6. Update on EHS Building Project: Walter updated the committee on the continued progress of the building project. He reviewed briefly the impact of change orders to date and mentioned the furniture, fixtures and equipment budget and technology budget which are largely untouched at this point in the project. The committee discussed the projected unbudgeted interest earnings from the bond proceeds and the possibility for a warrant article to address those funds. Walter will bring suggestions for project related articles to the committee in December.
7. FY 2006-07 Budget Development: Nathan passed out an updated budget timeline that listed the anticipated topics for each of the upcoming committee meetings. He walked the committee through a review of the components of the Default Budget. Then he reviewed proposed 2006-07 budget information for P&L insurance, debt service, transportation, and gross appropriations. The committee referred to the updated FY06-07 Budget Summary worksheet in reviewing these budget elements. Nathan explained that P&L will increase significantly due to continued costs of catastrophic reinsurance for the risk pool and the impact of opening our new high school next fall. Transportation costs are projected to be around 5% higher in the extension year of our contract with First Student in accommodating the increases in fuel costs. The committee reviewed again the timeline and agreed to cancel the November 1, 2005 scheduled meeting. Budget items for review will be addressed at the meetings before and after that date.
8. Next Meeting Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 at 5:00pm at the SAU office.
Kris offered a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Robin and with a unanimous vote the meeting was adjourned at 6:59 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Nathan Lunney