December 6, 2021  |   

SUTTON BUDGET COMMITTEE MINUTES   12-6-21

 

The chair, Robert DeFelice opened the meeting @ 6:00 PM.  Present were Mark Peterson, Pete Thompson, John Mock, Gail Guertin, Samantha Gordon and the BOS liaison, Walter Baker.  It was moved by Guertin and 2nd by Gordon to accept the minutes of 11-29-21.  The minutes were accepted as written w/o dissent.

 

There was a brief discussion of the Town of Sutton tax rate:  $24.16 per $1,000 of property valuation:

broken down as follows – KRSD $12.10, Town $7.80, County $2.42 and NH $1.86.

 

The chair asked the scribe, who had attended the MBC meeting on 11-30-21 @ Cougar court to offer a summary.  The meeting had limited itself to proposed bond measure for renovation and a 10% addition to the KRHS building.  The price tag was projected @ $22,000,000, which included renovation of the current building, mostly the roof, and the purpose was to further the STEAM project (Science, technology, engineering, arts and math.)  It was pointed out that the site preparation and the building of the middle school was $24,000,000.  If a brand new school of this size would be built the price tag would approach 100 million dollar.

 

Selectman Baker offered up the following:

  1. Selectman Curless attended and chaired the BOS meeting.
  2. Town contribution to KRSD was $4,000,000. Sutton is one of two towns that has met its school obligation fully and on time.
  3. Warrant Articles being considered: cemetery parking lot and CR for the PB.  Selectman Headley was absent @ said meeting.

@ 6:15 PM, Chief, Jon Korbet, presented the budget of the Sutton Police Department to the committee.

The chair passed out the 2022 operating and CR budget that had been presented to the BOS and a history of budget requests and expenditures.  This was used as a informational guide.  The highlights are listed below.

 

  1. 101 Full Time Wages Budget 2021 $124,817  2022 $135,000  Actual 2020 $102,856 2021 $91,458  3 officers in 2020 and 2 officers in 2021.
  2. 104 Building/Grounds Budget 2021  $3,000  2022  $3,000  Actual 2020 $2,498  2021 $2,335
  3. 105 Bldg. Sec. System Budget 2021 $3,000  2022 $550  Actual  $0  2021 $2,388  (Push door opener)
  4. 106 On Call Wages 2021 $6,078  2022 $6,000  Actual 2020 $5,861  2021  $$2,797  Special events and assisting other communities
  5. 107 Overtime Wages 2021 $18,234 2022  $20,000  Actual 2020 $11,600  2021 $12,998  This includes not only overtime hours but the increase rate per hour.
  6. 108 Chief Salary Budget  2021  $85,696  2022 $92,700  Actual  2018  $65,298  2019  $78,000 2020  $83,000  2021  $78,978.  There was a comment here:  the BOS in 2021 in executive session voted to increase the salary of the chief to $90,000, but this line item has not been changed.  Under executive session, all statements are not included, but any action is included for public informational transparency.  This information does not seem to be available in the weekly ‘Actual & Budgeted Expenses & Encumbrance.’  The chair pointed out that the RSA’s require that full budgetary and expense information be available to the budget committee for them to project a realistic forthcoming budget.
  7. 109 Admin. Ass’t Budget 2021  $32,214  2022  $34,320  Actual 2020 $31,200  2021 $29,159
  8. 110 Custodial Budget 2021  $2,633   2022  $2,633    Actual 2020  $0  2021  $1,350
  9. 2

 

  1. 341 Telephone Budget  2021  $9,000   2022  $9,000   Actual 2020  $8,770  2021  $7,951
  2. 390 Computer Services 2021  $4,000  2022  $4,000  Actual  2020 $2,250  2021 $1,541   New London is putting in a new computer service and inviting the other towns to participate.  This is ‘Crime Star’ and is used by the county sheriff and the state police.  While the equipment would be paid by NL, the other towns would utilize this computer service on a lease basis.  The charge will be based on total calls for service – the same as it is now.
  3. 410 electricity Budget 2021  $2,000  2022 $2,000   Actual  2020  $1,933   2021  $1,696
  4. 414 Gas Budget 2021  $3,000  2022  $3,000   Actual 2020  $1,322  2021  $1,126  There was a comment here that gas was $2.89 gallon and $3.70 gallon now.
  5. 430 Building Maintenance Budget 2021  $3,000   2022  $3,000   Actual 2020  $1,922  2021 $764.  The heating unit went down and was covered in the allocated CR.
  6. 560 Dues/Con/publications Budget 2021  $5,500  2022  $3,800  Actual 2020 $4,151  2021 $3,800   $3,100 was paid to the Central NH Operations Unit.
  7. 561 Training Budget 2021  $3,500   2022  $3,500   Actual 2020 $216  2021  $576  Two senior officers – one weekend of training is $400.
  8. 621 Investigative Supplies Budget 2021  $3,000  2022  $3,500  Actual 2020 $710  2021 $3,102  Included are body cameras
  9. 622 Firearms/Ammo Budget 2021  $2,000  2022  $2,000   Actual 2020 $770  2021  $0 There may be a switch to a different caliber.  There was a budget line adjustment  The expenditure in 2020 included a taser $560 that would lower the actual 2020 $770 by that amount.
  10. 625 Postage Budget 2021  $300  2022  $300   Actual 2020 $116  2021  $72  Formerly mailed files are now being sent electronically.
  11. 631 Mileage with own vehicle Budget  2021  $200   2022  $200  Actual 2020 $0  2021 $91
  12. 635 Cruiser Fuel  Budget 2021 $8,500  2022  $8,000  Actual 2020  $6,118  2021 $6,416 Currently two full time police officers.
  13. 660 Cruiser Repair/Maintenance Budget 2021  $6,000    2022  $6,000 Actual  2020  $3,897 2021 $3,346  There are three cruisers
  14. 672 Uniforms Budget 2021  $3,000  2022  $3,000   Actual  2020  $2,363   2021  $0

 

Capital Reserves:  In all CR’s interest earned is not entered as the rate is so low.

  1. 971 Cruisers  2021 purchased cruiser  $45,000 from the CR and $21,000 from general taxation.
  2. 972 Computer 2021 CR balance $7,494  – $6,100 from CR and $3,500 from general taxation.

 

A few  other areas were reviewed:

  1. Building space – not deemed sufficient – barely room for two desks. The chair urged the committee members to visit the police department building.
  2. Is the proposed safety building an option? Too early to tell.
  3. KRSD calls 55 purposeful calls to HS requiring investigation and reports, an additional 60 patrols.  34 purposeful calls to the KRSD Middle School.  The question was raised as to the actual time in hours involved and if it is of direct benefit to KRSD, should not the other towns pay for this effort.  What is the ratio of the police department school involvement time to the total hours of professional law enforcement?
  4. Mark Peterson asked about special duty – $65 per hour in town and $78 out of town – tis covers both the earned time and retirement cost for that period. 33% of special duty cost is allocated for the fund to benefit retirement fund.
  5. SOP – should there be a separate line item for administration,  It is in the other departments and helps in comprehension.
  6. 3

 

  1. With two officers, is the coverage adequate? State police ensure that the chief is in the loop as the contact him.  The town also experienced this before when an officer was out on 6 months of medical leave.
  2. John Mock requested that the budget committee investigate the feasibility of purchasing three (3) radar sign speed warnings; the amount per each is $3,000

 

It was moved by Guertin and 2nd by Gordon to adjourn the meeting.  The meeting was adjourned @ 8:06 PM.  The next meeting of the Sutton Budget Committee will be @ 6:00 PM on Monday the 13th of December @ the North Sutton Fire Station.  At that time the committee will review the budget of administration and executive with Town Administrator, Elly Phillips.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Robert W Wright Jr.

Scribe