03/04/08

Quick, tell me all I need to know about my town's finance committee

Douglas J. Swatski
CHAIRMAN, N.A. FINANCE COMMITTEE

You asked, so here’s the short answer.

What is the mission of the Finance Committee?

The Finance Committee’s mission is to make objective and concise recommendations to Town Meeting on the annual budget and any other finance-related warrant articles. To achieve this mission, the Committee reviews and considers any matter which may have a long- or short-term fiscal impact on the town and communicates with other Town boards, departments, employees, and members of the public for the purpose of gathering relevant and accurate information for evaluation, debate and the formulation of a recommendation.

Where does the Finance Committee fit with respect to the town’s government?

Three boards have significant responsibilities associated with Town Meeting: the Board of Selectmen, the School Board, and the Finance Committee.

Town citizens elect the selectmen and the school board members, and the Town Moderator chooses the members of the Finance Committee. Members of the Board of Selectmen set policy for a majority of the Municipal departments, except for the School Department.

The Town Manager reports directly to the Board of Selectmen and oversees the day-to-day operations of all municipal departments. The Town Accountant, also reports to the Board of Selectmen, and is responsible for maintaining accurate accounting for the whole Town. All other municipal departments report to the Town Manager.

By state law, the public school system is somewhat independent of the town government. While the town’s legislative body (you) controls the level of funding the school department receives, the day-to-day operational control of the school falls to the Superintendent, who reports directly to the School Committee.

Similar to the Board of Selectmen, the School Committee’s role is to set policy for the schools only.The Finance Committee, or FinCom, is a committee which has no authority over setting policy. All nine members are volunteers and receive no compensation for their services.

What does the town’s Finance Committee do?

Our number one responsibility is to make a recommendation to you, the citizen, on any warrant article which has a financial impact to the Town. In doing so, The FinCom does two key things: we review and modify the budget to be presented to the town at the annual Town Meeting, which is typically in May, and second, we write brief explanations of any warrant articles that have a financial aspect to them.

These explanations are inplain English and are meant to explain the warrant articles to our town’s citizens. We then distribute the budget and the warrant articles in a booklet to each household in town prior to the annual Town Meeting. At this meeting, every North Andover citizen of legal age can vote to accept, modify or reject our town’s budget.

How does the Financial Committee put together the final budget recommended at Town Meeting?
First, all department heads prepare a budget and submit it to the Town Manager for review. The School Department prepares their budget, submits it to the School Committee for approval, and then submits it to the Town Manager.

The Town Manager then prepares the initial budget and submits this to the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen, after review and any changes, will vote to send the budget to the FinCom.

The budget has two parts: the operational budget, and the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). The operational budget is the money that runs the town day-to-day (including salaries). The CIP contains all items funded with debt, such as buildings, equipment, and vehicles.The FinCom reviews each item in the operational budget, line by line.

The FinCom has the authority to change the amount of money listed for a given department in the operational budget, but not at the line item level. That means, for example, that we can increase or reduce the total amount of money listed for schools or for public health and safety.

At a town meeting, we also have the authority to recommend modifications of items in the CIP. For example, if a capital project to construct a building is in the CIP, the FinCom can vote to recommend to leave it in the budget, remove it, or modify the amount of money specified for it.The FinCom spends months reviewing and deliberating on the budgets.

We talk with the Town Manager, the Town Accountant, department heads, members of other committees, and anyone else that can provide insight on town operations to help us make informed decisions on the finances.

Our job is to put together a budget that best represents the needs and desires of the entire town, not just one select group or individual.

How can you have a say in our town’s budget?

”So, what?” you may say. If we town citizens don’t like the budget, we can just change it on the spot at the Town Meeting. This is true, but if you have ever attended one of these meetings, you probably realize that this is not the best forum for carefully considering all the issues in detail.

Well-meaning citizens often present emotionally-charged argumentsand the crowd’s sentiment may tip in one direction or the other as each speaker talks.

Changes to individual line items may be put to a vote, but it is often difficult to garner enough support to make a change. A much better approach would be to talk to the FinCom or one of the Boards as they are considering the budget. All town committees and boards have public hearings.

You can attend these and ask questions.

The FinCom is required, by law, to hold a public hearing once a year. We typically do this in February or March, after we have received the Town Manager’s recommended budget.Town citizens may submit a warrant article which is voted on at the annual Town Meeting. Articles that have a financial impact are reviewed by the FinCom.

The chair of the FinCom may ask the authors of these articles to attend a committee meeting and present on their article. Also, any citizen may contact the chair prior to a meeting and ask to speak on an issue. There is a link for the chair’s email on the town’s Web site.

If you have specific information that the committee needs to hear, the chair may then ask you to present at a meeting. As the chair of the FinCom, I invite you to talk to members of the FinCom any time you have information on an issue, so that we can make informed decisions. The best time to have your say about the budget is well before the annual Town Meeting.

How can you stay informed?

You can read the local papers to stay informed on the issues. Another option is attend the Fincom meetings, which are open to the public. We rarely have even one or two people join us, so there should be room to sit. At least two days prior to a meeting, we officially post the meeting date and time at Town Hall with the Town Clerk.

We try to post the meeting’s agenda on the town Web site a few days prior to a meeting. We post our meeting minutes on the town Web site following the next meeting (after they’ve been officially approved), and also post them officially with the Town Clerk.

When does the Financial Committee meet?

From June to October, we meet once a month at the Town Hall. In November, we start meeting twice a month. As the budget deliberations get more intense, we add more meetings. In January, we may meet weekly.

In February, March, and April, we meet twice a week if needed. Our normal meeting day is Thursday at 6:30 p.m. If we have to meet twice a week, we add Tuesdays.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Our committee foresees making some difficult choices to reach our recommendations, and your voice is important. 
    



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