 So let's get started And just so you know Gus is coming at some point to review the warning and I told him to come when he has another meeting Before this I told him to come when he could and we take up the morning Any public comment on items not on the agenda or additions or changes to the agenda I Have something for Addition to the agenda Two-step verification from the dot gov team Complications that gov is where our website is a station for dog up. Yeah And I could bring it up under new business or other business All right, I don't see the offer I don't see Toby Um town hall renovation We're meeting on Wednesday. We haven't really we haven't met since before Christmas, right? before Christmas Because Donna and John were in California and the weather So we're meeting this week Wednesday to get caught up on what's going on I do know that Ernie and Green Line builders and John and Folks have been working over there and Donna did send around a few pictures, and they're making some progress inside John you have any update from CVR Meeting ended early because of the weather last week Each a conference to me development gave a really nice presentation Job centers discussed How there how many big towns I call in towns or really cities The Burlington's the paintings the Brattleboro's the batteries and I put all the problems Either nine of them And he said to a 30 mile radius around each one of them That would comprise a higher job market for the state and Called the job sheds that flow and then so So yeah, so they they looked at yesterday they wanted to get a sense of where people can do basically Where they should focus their efforts, so he Jobs growing jobs. Yeah, and yeah, we're encouraged It's more attention where we're doing all right where they can focus less attention but also said that it's important to Create a sentence for people to move out to our countryside to and keep those towns a lot and we'd be great economies there where they're hurting Of course, I had to bring up In terms of or how our community's gonna fare when we saw we lost our dairy farms and our timber industry just about And our sawmill industry We have left there are some post offices in schools and now they're going to lose the schools And he was kind of had a loss He's like, well, you know Maybe through innovation we can we can you know, maybe we don't need school We don't need bricks and mortar We can have kids for instance come to the library and has somebody who's an expert in the field and they can meet with them And I said I'm talking about elementary Well, you know, it's not his agency and I said no, it's not your agency But you know, I'm communicating with them and are you collaborating with them and because you seem to be working across purposes, so he kind of was careful that he acknowledged that there may be some Problems there, but he had to be careful of course. So we got I got the message across for our town anyway to him That's about all there was because they was meeting at eight o'clock soon as he was done we got out of there So that's a sign that when I worked in the Addison County We used to We did GIS mapping based on all the census data, you know all of those trips We identify all those centers, but you pretty much know where most people are coming from and and that's valuable to town So call us in terms of beginning to establish, you know, transit routes and and even how do you want? Future development to kind of happen around that So if you might if they haven't already given it to you might actually get some of those Map GIS map downloads. I think it's pretty intuitive Traffic flowing and what do you do these you'll be surprised? I'm we got some really interesting things. We really map that out Please help design transit routes and things like that down there with our transit providers Okay 46 I Had hope that we could get together with these school board members Talk about what we discussed with Jeff and executive session last week and there's an act 46 act 49 articles of agreement type meeting at Is that you 32 I think right at you 32 And the next cal school board meeting is Thursday the 17th But Jim's not available So we need to see if we can come up with a date and a time to meet With the school board and Jim and go over some of the ideas that we discussed Last this was last week right last week So People's schedules look like if you're available any other evening was Saturday Sunday I know Jim said he was I thought I brought the paper I think he said 18 the 27th maybe the 21st 18th of January that's a Friday. Yeah, but he didn't do Friday night. I don't know What a fun way to stand up for any night. Hey date night Because I think we when we talked last we wanted to do this meet thing sooner rather than later Do people want to get back to me with schedules? I don't know Know It was on a Saturday, even well, you when you have me every other weekend so on this weekend I'm on this weekend, but Friday the 18th is fine. And I have to drive to Maine on business We either Saturday or Sunday So Friday would be best Let me know if you give me some notice. I'll try to work my schedule around that Right now. I'm not available late In the afternoon this Friday odds are that's going to yeah, but if it doesn't then that's But you can do like Friday Seven o'clock, you know if we could say let's hold it to a half an hour We I would do a special agenda and I can include the select school board, but I don't know if you have to do your own Special agenda I mean I'm happy to do the agenda for both If we we can you know we pretty much know what we want to talk about I did my chance forward See now it says canceled on November 14th Washington's Angeles School District meeting That was like the town meeting Right, right transition board so we went I went to And John was there Rick was there Scott Thompson dot I don't think who else Anyways, it was a kind of a meet-and-greet with Jan Ansel Kimberley Jessup's representatives and Andrew Purchlick How do you say his name was supposed to be there pretty but he forgot to come You've got busy doing chores or something and spaced it out So anyways, a lot of the discussion was About at 46 there were people from East Montpelier Anybody else from other towns there besides Calc's Yeah, East Montpelier put it on their front porch forum, but for some reason Right, it wasn't for some reason it wasn't on houses from porch forum So I don't know how people would have known if they didn't go to the co-op. Yeah kind thing, but it was a good meeting Actually, it was Better attended than what I might have thought on this freezing cold Saturday morning and it was cold in there What are you getting wimpy? That's right. I am Yeah So it worked out some I So we kind of like I said it pretty much was about at 46. That was the main topic of conversation You know making reminding our representatives that they represent us and Making them aware of What the people think we did hear that There are more people in favor in favor of at 46 than what we apparently Know about in our district or state way in our district in mainly in our like in our town even this is what I know representatives So I would yeah Gave us some thought and I think we should have a Public forum have a meeting and invite everyone in town to educate them on the pros and cons back 46 stated pros and cons and And then what we understand is the impact is going to be to take tonic Alice and then I would suggest because there was a representation that there's a either a Sort of majority. I think John and Ansel said that it was a significant number She believed based on her conversations, right? But they they were intimidated. I don't know who Has intimidated anyone in this town and to not being able to express their opinion That was I thought that's when I actually left the meeting I said, you know, I don't want to listen to this Because I then asked who are some of the people and she wouldn't couldn't give me a single name So I would suggest that we have a informal meeting And invite people And then at the end we can hand out paper ballots so people aren't intimidated and they can give us their their sense of whether They think it's a good idea or not. I know My expectation of people have all the facts in front of them that he won't think it's in their interest as a callous taxpayers To see their school closed down potentially and at the same time Pony over two point five million dollars. I think people are Couldn't let to believe this is gonna save them. I and Last I know if you add two point five million dollars to the tax rolls that cost money. That's my simple dunk Yeah, I was too mad And initially when we started going to some of the meetings at the school There was quite a few people there sometimes And I don't recall A number of folks that were in favor of it at the time we were still trying to understand what it all meant That was even before the debt issue The only people I've heard express support of that 46 was our former chair of Chantel And the current chair those are the only people who call us that I know of I know Dylan burns and Dylan did four years and now I think in that meeting it sounded like David Healy was Supporting support. I don't think these people know anything. I think if they know more Yeah, I mean I just I've talked to David Healy's other belief that to save him money. He might be supportive of it I mean, I don't know the reason but if he finds out it's gonna cost him a lot more in his tax We're gonna go up yet again as a result of this. Well, that's I've written a little bit of that too You know where people have just been on the misinformation cycle this our taxes are too. I they said you better pay attention I think you're in for very rude awakening So So we would do this as a select board. I don't understand. I guess I don't understand haven't for a while now Why the school board do not? Hold more or make a more of an attempt to have a public informational meeting like we're talking about We've had several of them actually and we called it call us the original the senators to be committee Yeah, we had several meetings in Calis. You have the school meeting for Well, we have meetings at school about act 46, but I'm talking about like what we're proposing. Oh Yes, yeah, that's good question. We've been so engaged and trying to Basically don't know None of the Susanna is broken salivation I think and Katie, you know, she's kind of not that engaged in it all and that Chris is engaged Brand new to yeah, he doesn't know anything. So that's That's basic. Do you think the school board would react to us doing I think it's fine I think they I mean we'd support you at least three of us guaranteed I think the other ones would too that we know it's a good idea and we wouldn't we can Yeah Yeah, yeah It was it worked out what you're talking about is is creating a productive conversation like we did Last time we had a very contentious issue and right it worked out. Well, it worked out. Well It worked out. Well, I mean at the very least Inviting people so that neighbors can hear from each other because I think as the people, you know the people that we're talking about are Intelligent and informed and and they have different perspectives, right? Yeah, and sometimes right Okay, so let's try to set something up I think I guess we should do it sooner rather than later because I'm still I'm sure about the calendar with They're talking about doing some kind of The media that was postponed doing it like on February night It's important because our representative Janet Ansel Seemed to have reservations about pushing too hard and and then Said she spoke about some legislation. She's looking to introduce right and But said at some point and my recollection is that she wasn't too sure how well We'd go in the legislature So I suggested to her that well, you know, it's put together a list People who would help back you up and support your legislation So we could and if you let us know that you're running into trouble waters Let us know when we get these people to turn out right and that's how you do it and that's when she said Well, I'm not so sure that everyone Support doesn't support acts 46 right and then so she then started like arguing against her legislation And and and then that's when we got that panic dole, right? statement, and she could give names so so my sense is and you know again Party politics if you're a true advocate you bring your people down and you're proud to have those people come and advocate With you right, but if you're don't want to upset the party leadership, you don't bring Your town down there and have them embarrassing the party leaders, right? So I got a I can't that's why I walked out because I'm being a lobbyist and I've been over there for 20 years I know exactly what I believe the representative was was Meaning so I think it's important that We should have if we're gonna do this then we should have Some kind of a handout with you know just the facts And not long and involved because people won't people will generally look at something. It's more than a page long Right, so we would need to do something like that What do you think that's I think it's simple, you know three you know open the meeting vise, you know I have a show of hands. How many people think act 46 is going to save you money Raise your hands, right? And I really need to know their position with it, right? So I would say that that could take you into the intimidation Right, yeah, I would say start with start with facts and start with information and don't put people on the spot I think we want to have Janet and Kim Yeah, I'm Janet and I think we should invite the senators from Washington Maybe a Sunday afternoon Anything that's involved in the lawsuit now they were recreated the excuse to not do anything so now we can't work on improving You know the law of the land right now. It's as it's been interpreted by the Education They're claiming that they didn't follow up So if we try to Clarify that well that there's a pending lawsuit and their rule they have a rule house rule that doesn't that we don't engage on legislative level on mostly matters that are that might interfere I Be related to a lawsuit that's pending I think it changes that rule, but well now they suspend rules at the end of the session every session For a whole variety of rules You know, so this is Well, let's see we can come up with Like a Sunday afternoon, I was actually going to bring up the this kind of is part of What we might do Is put together a letter from the select board it doesn't have to to Janet and our three senators Just about some of the things we'd like to see happen in the legislature act 46 being one I know we've had other issues that we've asked to have brought up and They don't go anywhere, but I was thinking maybe we the board the select board as a whole could put a letter together to our delegation That was one of them and I forget that we've had a couple other things over the years that we What's the speed limit when it gives us a third? We don't have them right to reduce speed limit Okay, but yeah, I'm gonna do a traffic study study. Yeah, oops So I'm sure there's other things that we would you know like to see I'm sure we can think of stuff, but I just thought maybe You know as is we can put together something But I was gonna suggest a Sunday in Calis to have an appreciation dinner but Maybe this is public forum thing is more important right now Although I think an appreciation Because if our representative Is of a certain belief right and it is or a bit and if it turns out it is not reflective Ground truth right your thing of it is Then I think that What was the impetus for the legislation that you guys circulated coming out after the meeting Janet shared Proposed right I asked Okay, I asked School board as well, I can't remember the details, but that seemed like the my recollection my walk away was it's It helps with the issues that were some of the issues right right so where was the impetus for that if you felt at the meeting like Janet is Isn't getting a clear message from the town, which I think she's kind of Reminds me a way a lot of you know, they're they're this whole I'm with with With kind of a base base, then they basically ignored the AGS from the schools alternative government governance systems you know this So they like I think that she's trying to throw a bone To us and the reality is there is no You know for these small rural schools, they're getting really damaged They can really make a difference they're not touching it and she's not she's shown no back See if she doesn't agree. Maybe she supports it or she doesn't have that I don't know what extensions are really going to do there needs to be a fix to the problem not an extension But it might help her And a face into the unified tax rate to really have Be able to say look, you know, I'm hearing from my constituents and there is This is you know, there are a few people that support it And maybe we're all wrong all of us that have been to any of these meetings would that we're all wrong And maybe we'll learn something I mean, I hear you saying John or and the extension doesn't accomplish every it doesn't accomplish It doesn't solve the problem, but it certainly kicks the can Which isn't that's all you can get then at least the conversation is still alive and the status quo has right But during that shifted extension you have to come up with some solutions. I would think I mean Delaying the time that we take on two and two point one million dollars in debt from another town Doesn't make it go away. Just lose it out. Well, it will but presumably in them in the meantime They are continuing to pay and it will and it will reduce. Well, it will reduce it But it's still I'm sure incrementally, right, but but it saves the conversation for a different political environment Could be Which we thought we might get right in the fall Right So do you want me to contact this school board or do you want me to draft up some kind of a notice and give back to Everyone I don't know. I think we should have it at school So people are right there and they're there Well, that's where we meet anyway so for town meeting. This isn't really a town I want to call the town meeting and then we gotta go through that whole Process of warning. This is not information. I'm reading writing at 47. It's hard. It's basically our town. Oh, it's our space It's just right. What else are you gonna have it right? I don't want to have it. You know make a corner East Cal's rec center True, but I think you should have it at the school. I hope that we would have a really good turnout We're gonna have to start We want to have we're gonna have it in February on the Sunday We want to have enough time prior to that to announce it Several times on from porch forum and other places and get a document ready and you're gonna want to stay clear of School vacation, right? And what is school vacation? so we vacation is It will start the 25th, right so the weekend of the 23rd We'll be out. It's not gonna be good that we can find won't be good the weekend of the 16th is a long weekend Which people go either way and whether that's a good idea or bad idea But the first week Well, I was looking at either February 10th or 3rd for an appreciation dinner, so we could Do it one of those two weekends the 10th might be better because it gives us a little more time to pull things together We can remember to we've got a lot of information that we've I've been involved with us since the beginning of great Scott we've all we've done summary documents so we can actually get together put that summary document together kind of pros and cons We it that is 14 so that's one two. Yeah, that's almost four weeks away So that gives us time. Yeah, it's it and you don't need to overthink it to the next point And if you push it out any further than that Right and it's not the Super Bowl is it Let's shoot for the 10th I can send a note to the school board That we're gonna try to do this and see if the school is available and contact cat And we can do this as a select board It doesn't have to come from a joint anything from the school board. We'll be involved as far as I can't promise for the rest The body is so we'll be yeah, I mean I actually think the whole board would be involved But we'll let's see right can't promise it right so far the 10th But we don't have people aren't as a special select board meeting public informational meeting because if we're all there It's a community meeting that this select board is right We still need to right. We still need to have What did we call the one we did at Memorial Hall because we thought carefully about what mean we were attaching to right I have to think we called it do we call it a public forum I think we called it a public informational meeting or something like that. I'll go back and look but I like but it might actually be some value to branding These kinds of conversations with the same Yeah, that one that one went to my surprise was very well Okay Yeah, all right, I'll go back and look at What we did there was it's like it wasn't a lot wasn't it Life was it really? Yeah, I remember wearing shorts. I don't wear shorts until July And then All right sounds good and we'll put off The dinner appreciation dinner. Yes is more important. I think right now All right So Very good. Thank you guys and Gus is here, and I totally would stop what we're doing and do warning was no Join us. I guess Summer out there now, right? Yes, 19 degrees at my house Below this morning. Yeah, I was gonna say it was like 14. It was 14 below So do we can you call the morning up without the Jim Barlow language Yeah Remember last meeting we took out the agent to convey real estate. There's no need to we don't need that Jim explained to us why Here's you'll see his comments and Over there about the law agent. It's really a town agent Who is that who do we always want to know Tina She would probably still do that Did you have a chance to look at the morning? I did But it seemed pretty straightforward other than the stuff that you wrote to you about Yeah, and then the other thing I'm not sure about is I thought when you said to elect the moderator for the ensuing year does that mean for the following year the year it would be from town meeting to town meeting In other words the moderator serves for the year, right? Not just a one day. It's a whole year job No, there's only been a decrease in the first few years. I did 18 dollars You got $18 Yeah, and you're gonna do the school one too. Yeah as far as I know I Think we tried to put things kind of in the same order. We've put them in previously. Does that make sense? Do you see any reason to change any orders of anything? No, I don't think so The only thing I'd say is if I don't know that you're gonna get any special articles warned last year for some reason Yeah, a resolution or anything, but should you get one? I just would not Listed after other business and last year you did which was I think the first time That had happened And I know people feel different ways about resolutions But my own feeling is it gets For some group of people they're usually pretty important. Yes, and the issue is you know refugees or war in Iraq or Actually, actually one year we had a debate that immunizations and there's nothing there was nothing Being debated there was no warning people just started in Ontario That was probably just Janet about what was going on in the state and somebody Asked if they could end the date and I said So anyway, I guess I would just say you know should you get a resolution about impeach on the president or No It has to be Well, it has to get to you by the time you've got one thing Right. Well, but it also there's deadlines and statute for submission of Resolutions or items for the warning all that stuff It's instead a certain percentage of the voters right from Frank signatures. Yeah So one of the things that we talked about and we don't have to decide at this minute, but Sandra had gone through the treasurer and Updated some of these articles to make to try to make them more clear because every time you Somebody reads it. They can maybe to interpret things a little differently But Jim said that you only need to say one time About the delivery and And so forth so that was his suggestion that we take it out after we've said it once Yeah, and I thought he was basically saying you should combine in essence combine articles 10 and 12 Or they didn't but maybe maybe not quite, but That's true, I guess I don't know whether you could add a different clause about the grace period in article 10 And eliminate article 12 all together right well, and I sent you his email where he explained all this I don't know if you had a chance to look at it He's saying that it could cause a problem because yeah, I can't amend an article that you've already voted on Yeah, he basically just found it to be Opportunity for confusion, especially if there were amendments, right? Yeah, but I I guess I'd also ask him whether you can combine the grace period into article 10 or not So can article 14 10 and 12 that was that the one? Yeah Uh, no 14. Oh, I'm sorry 10 is 12 yeah 12 is the grace period. Yeah, so Can we combine? You've got the you've got the due dates in article 10. So it just made sense to me that you You could also have the grace period in the same place. You could but then But don't you have to up or down Each one they're different. They're really different questions the grace period Well The grace period is really you can view it that way. I'd view the grace period is sort of amending the deadlines right, yeah Shall each property practice often? Well, it's interesting. That's up to you. I'll do it either way. I don't I don't feel strongly about my reaction to To Jim's notes was We all know that those were important Clarifications, right, but I don't see any Reason we couldn't just be really clear what our intent is around interpretation I mean after Perhaps after we vote. Yeah I mean, yeah, just to kind of, you know draw that line We didn't really have we had one we had one one person It was very But we want but it's used, you know, we could say point it's point taken Yeah, so we can be clear about how we intend to interpret because we're doing some confusion We can make sure katie captures it in the minute. So it still goes in the record And we're we're good I would think We had some issue and all that stuff, right? I gather Much to figure it out Right and all the takes is one person to really challenge the issue But if we just say this is how we're going to interpret it, right and we and if we're consistent in how we interpret it I think that's the goal, right? So we're interested, right, right? Yes All right, so is everybody in agreement to accept Jim's Changes, yeah Okay, and then the big question is about the tractor Um, you know, maybe we just take that article out and we can talk about that more when we do budget Stuff and it's not going to make a difference Because we take it out and leave it in at this point at all and just put it in the budget instead of separate No, no, not at all. Just don't do it this year. Mm-hmm. Well, that would help a lot. Thanks. Yeah Yeah, so that was going to be something I was going to suggest under when we have our budget Discussion, which everybody's welcome to stay and listen to That's completely up to you and that's great So if you want to have a debate about it, we can have one if you don't like it people the opportunity to debate it That's up to you. Yeah, and we might just mix the whole idea Because budgets are really tight um I can see Gus there being a lot of maybe debate over the fire department a very fire department They are going to have somebody from the fire department in the audience to help explain What they're doing what they're doing is what they should have been doing right along but didn't And which is what Eastmont player does is they have a capital reserve fund for replacement of equipment But they originally started out they were going to ask us for 40,000 um, and we had no like oh my god, so they reduced it to 31 But you know it's 31,000 a year for the next however Well, it's a reserve fund. It probably is never going to go away. It's never going to go away Even when they get a new piece of equipment, they're going to start building up for the next right and it makes perfect sense It's just a lot of money to start asking for all at once Well, yeah, I think there's also a fair question that various people like pennailler used to debate is You know why tax somebody now for a piece of equipment You're not going to buy for 10 years when woodberry can borrow it taxes up rates and Charges when you need it not 10 years before you need it is a fair For people to date. There's an answer to that though, too. Yeah, there is It's lost every year. Yeah, you're essentially using up that value every year. So you might just capturing back. Thanks very great Yeah Unless you're going to be dead by the time And Or For a year that's used Yeah, so I just Over yeah, you know over things and that's when it's up to the voters That's why the question like this should come to the voters and not Because they were hoping that we were going to put it in our budget slump or budget We said now not for that kind of my Brand new brand new thing a little bit like people sending their kids to the schools here I sent three or four kids to the schools here. We paid for them my kids included Then as soon as your kids are done, you still run the flora You establish residency in florida and you summer up here and you don't pay your taxes and right so then Yeah, so that's an inequity there and it's it's similar to the argument To pay it pay forward on this. Is there anything else? Yes. So you can think of it looks pretty straightforward and it's you know It's not 28 items. That's nice. It's really short this year. Yeah, it's remarkable to me how short it is and how considering all of the time We're not done. You know now we're not done All right Anything else you want to know about Town heating at the time that we can tell you know, it's I think it's better for the moderator to not be Real involved in whatever controversies that are going on. So I don't my job's to manage the discussion. It's not to Have you gotten anything from the school a warning? I've traded voice messages with susanna and the last One I got from her was just essentially we don't know what we're doing yet And that was probably two weeks ago and I know now there's been An extension of deadlines, but she wasn't sure whether they were right We weren't a budget at that point. So yeah, I assume they now will but Yeah, we're trying to leave that up to them to The agency education is saying do not choose any budgets, right? But some districts are and some aren't you know, it's all over there. Maybe it could be I don't know if there's a question that someone did the school board which is statutorily obligated to present a budget If they Up not to as the superintendent is currently saying they're not going to do because he was advised by the agency educationers is very political Then he Then there would be no budget voted on the floor of town meeting if someone were to Take the numbers that have already been worked up for each town school district and present them on the floor under new business or something They have that vote even though they're typically voted on by Excuse me, australian ballot in lieu of no budget that could come up. You might want to This is probably right even the elementary even the elementary budget is australian right Some you had a problem that says they had to be voted on by australian We might want to try to get an answer to something if they the town is voted to vote by australian ballot So I don't know that uh A vote from the floor Would be binding would be blind at the special meeting I guess well, and so and so what is the what is the harm Of presenting for australian ballot vote a budget for the calis elementary school, right? I think there's I don't think there's any harm. I can imagine lots of harm and not doing it Though there's a straight direction that we're super right not to but I don't Different different school boards from the information that I've been seeing Different school boards are going to be doing different things And some are going to put for the budget They don't care what a g agency of education says and some aren't We already I'll tell you where we are right now. Don and I are going to try To get the budget that we recommended to for this interim school board We're going to try to get that on the agenda for thursday night and we will try to I doubt it depends on support. I mean I can't tell where that's going On our board with us I need kd on this one because that's where we come from from the otherwise you're violating your statute or I know that yeah Education is no authority And you're not preserving your options Yeah, because I really don't think I mean I A lawyer might tell us differently, but I don't think that if Somebody just proposed the budget on the floor that it would be binding since the town voted that I don't think the town I think there has to be there had to be australian balance. So I think yeah If you don't want something Then you're out of luck. That's exactly our plan. That's what the lawyers are going to do Right, exactly. You got to preserve the option, right? You got to I think we got to I think With me I would say let's just do it the way we've always done it And then if we can't and then if they say That you you couldn't do that I'll just write right. So no harm no harm. No, you know, no, right? Well, what seat you come up on your school board? Uh, I'm not sure who is coming up, but I'm not Um, I think it says on the warning doesn't say on the warning the bottom There's two Did chris did chris just chris? No, I think yeah, yeah, and to lamb Okay, so chris took chris took drus See chris. Oh cataract cataract She was coming back though. Yeah, yes, but I don't think he's interested So katie reed and chris He wasn't necessarily Oh, yeah, he was neutral, right? Yeah, sometimes you got to take a stand um So There's two two seats available Well, that's what you're trying to get I mean it doesn't I mean it doesn't hurt to just do it the way you've always done it It's kind of it's kind of up in the air. Nobody really knows the answers Yeah, well, we've already got the budget because still we had to Create it to recommend it. Don't forget you've got it and I don't have it in front of me But you've got to get into judy by a certain date to be in the town report, right? Well further we early thing do it is thursday because right But you might want to know what those Check in with what those deadlines are you got the budget? And here's an eye with 32. I mean you have it in hand And we've got to be in our own reports in our reports from that board meeting where we We recommended it. Okay, so we should have a digital copy, right? So yeah, we should be all right All right, anything else? On your agenda, so we'll be properly more trying to get on the agenda It's Thursdays your meeting, right? Anything else? No, I think this is I think that It will probably be Questions about act 46 at town meeting. I think it's inevitable. I've talked to susanna She doesn't really want to go there. I think it's inevitable susanna That somebody is going to ask questions about act 46 even if we have these A public forum ahead of time I think there's going to be still Questions and it's fair to You know Have a discussion under I don't know what's going to be on the warning or it's not. I don't know I can't even answer The board meeting where we're talking about that So we aren't going to have any real authority to do anything assuming Right, we don't got to stay but if You know, we were going to be there to really answer questions and discuss that was what We started our meeting. I don't know why I shouldn't say we wouldn't Say we'll stop certainly snake. She wants to keep things positive Which I hear that but sometimes you gotta have the hard discussions, right? Um, no, I would also think just and I again, I haven't talked with her directly But I would think even if the transition we're going to happen if the lawsuits are not successful people are going to ask questions What does this mean? What's the new process? How does the we might have Not everybody goes to me So I can't imagine there won't be questions to be answered We might have an answer on the lawsuit by town meeting. Yeah, you know, we could And that it's going to you know Make additional questions and stuff, so It's going to be fun being moderated this year school Thank you Despite the short agenda Are for being ours easy I mean, that's your best interest the year And more than his first right when he's yeah first again, I think Yeah, first last year, right. I mean, this may very well be the last school town meeting So I didn't want to get into the debate Yeah, no, I think this person who's second this time because it just didn't seem worth it. It might be like So I talked to Suzanne about that as well and said you guys go first I don't want to we've got more important things to worry about than that It might be good to have the school first because I'd love to be able to have people in the room You know to be able to talk to Janet and to the representatives when they come in Not after the fact, right, you know, because there might be questions that Come to the She knows but yes, I usually there's night there in the beginning. Yeah, she shows up later. She shows up at lunch Oh, yeah, that's right. He might be proud right people will have probably sat through the school meeting and hopefully the town meeting Sure, yeah, if we did after she wouldn't be there for sure, right? So this informational meeting you just talked about for February 10th Do you want a moderator for that or do you are you guys going to handle that? Yeah And you can think about it. I'll let you go. We had mic passing last time Yeah, I mean I kind of did you moderate? I didn't need to bounce her last time, right? No, I didn't meet I didn't meeting last time. I don't know And Were you guys comfortable with me doing? Yeah, I worked very much. Um, I mean, I don't mind best doing it and I get That'd be fine too. Yes. We tried to get susan, didn't we? I tried to get susan Clark to me. Yeah Well, you can think about it if you're available if you don't for it. What time or day are you gonna do it? I would say sunday sunday Sunday late morning, maybe After Yeah I think it would be great if us if you're willing just because even susan's been You know, she's been in this debate herself and she's very good at paying a partial one You know, but if you're willing now, I think that you've got a really even Unviased voice I'm happy to You guys you guys because we sign those letters You know So having having somebody squarely impartially squarely Not just wearing an impartial hat for the day If you're interested you could sign cliff and mine petition to be on the select board All we can also have a piece of chocolate and you can have a piece of chocolate Oh I gotta confess the chocolate is left over from christmas Which is left over I thought you were gonna say it's left over for years ago. I didn't have any I didn't put it in anybody's bag or stocking or I have a collection I kind of stuff I have these bags that I'm gathering for stuff I find around the house that I forgot to Yeah, forgot, you know, it was tough here tough there I know I found a gift that somebody left us at the house Christmas day when they came for dinner and one of my little a little down syndrome and he Stashed it somewhere and so when I was like, okay going around the house making sure I had everything put away You know, I always find the inevitable christmas Candles candles or something that you haven't boxed up. There was this unopened package I hope it hadn't spoiled. No, it was very nice. It was very nice Yeah All right Are you ready to move on? Thank you. Thank you guys We really need you guys Three people we need to get that on the agenda this we're trying we're doing right Who makes and this I Thank you very much. Thank you. It's always nice to see you guys have another business item on it, right? You're right I would like to video it Yeah, well if I do the agenda, you'll know it Okay All right, so we were done with the warning. Thank you everyone nice nice work Yeah, you don't want to stay talking about budgets It's not very does not very exciting does it but you never know It might have its moments and get excited. Yeah, it might happen and you would miss it Okay, so here is a revised So last week Wednesday, we met with the staff and we met with the Sandra and we went through Um the budget and we had the questions that we had We had the questions that we needed to have answered Or we got those answered everybody Everybody remembering size Yep, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah And I asked Yeah, budget and he did that right off, which was great um So here we are And i'm hoping that we can get through this tonight and finalize it because we've got to get this done so you can get things to Laura philbach to get them formatted and ready for the town report I've got the one here This is the one that's forwarded to me And then i'm gonna open the this one that you've got in the separate The one you just had open is for me, right? She wanted she too. Okay. Yep. And then here is The one the latest and greatest from Today, is this the one from zander any? Yep Okay, can we can we please would you mind if we go back to the one that I sent that has the Year over yeah, I was hoping that john would be here for the discussion. I think it's Right would be important So we could do We're discussing the budget Because sharon has some ideas. Uh, so okay. Yeah, I I just I didn't see it before I left because I came around Yeah, I didn't bother to spend it send you guys complicated spreadsheet But sharon did some research I did some research and some analysis clipper you go to sheet two This is Yeah, that was just that was where I started as doing percentages, but I decided that was Go to sheet two Yeah So Is this the this what you have in front right here columns a to j You said you gave us a copy. I gave you a copy of columns m and so on and I meant And I don't even know what I did with that already. I was trying to print both and I think I'd set my print area And of course we'll do that and only it prints the same thing. Why is it? I'm looking at so so why don't you backtrack? so That's a different that's that's different. Yeah, we'll get to that the first the first First few columns that you're looking at Um, I went through the old town reports Um And so we don't have a hard copy of that. No, you don't know and I that's what I was trying I thought I printed one but I said I printed two of the other one. You're welcome. So So what you see here is that From I looked at 2005 2010 2015 So I went in five year increments And then I went year over year 15 16 17 18 19 20 and as much as I mean, I didn't take through the time fine tooth comb. I went to the bottom line So in 2005 the bottom line budget was 1.3 million in 2010 I looked at this twice. It appears that we actually reduced the budget slightly So second year budget was 97 percent of the first of 2000 not second year actually In a five-year gap The budget seems to have went down and I did not dig in to see what that was about And then in the next five years we went from 1.3 to 1.4 almost 1.5 million and then Again 2015 to 2016 it went up about 1.5 percent and then it starts going up in bigger Chunks and the big one was six and a half percent in 2018 2 percent last year and now as we know we're looking at 11 24 6 percent this year So I just wanted to have that kind of backdrop of 2018. I think budget was when we Discovered their deficits well No, and also we added the select board administrator position too. Yeah There was a lot that came out as I once well and and you can see just the high level columns the big increase of The highway budget was quite a while ago between 2005 and 2010 there was a big increase in the highway budget But since 20 well we had 9 percent we had 9 percent in 2018 um Are we talking highway or fire and highway? John was giving that I just I want I let you guys know I like to look at percentages and see how things are changing so Anyway our big problem this year is not It isn't the highway That's a really small increase Well, and we also made reductions to the highway, right? That's what which you know are showing in the spreadsheet that I would by the time I that spreadsheet that we had So how do you have 2020? Okay, we're at f y 19 as proposed 2020 is proposed right. Okay. Yeah That number that includes the uh truck $80,000 It's just the bottom. It's the bottom line was the tractor Yeah, it's all the woodbury fire department Not using money out of the capital reserve fund to pay for the lease Right, right That it is the bottom right the highway actually went down considerably if you consider The the tractor taking the money out of the I guess it's called a reserve fund to pay for the lease and also Toe remains some other cuts which amounted to 10 or 10 or 15,000 I think I'm remembering correctly So the other thing that I really wanted to point out is in between 2017 and 2018 We had a 40 percent increase in our salary You know, where are you? Column Okay, I see it 2018. You know what I can't see the letters 29 all the changes 2019 You're showing is it's gone down Yeah, that was the number. Those are the numbers. Well, that's because we don't have to have them Like we do not use names. Can we use titles right? We don't have the And that detail that details and the next spreadsheet that you do have a hard part It has all that detail, but that was that was a big jump going if you look at the jump though It's 4.18. Does that include the That's this year. No, I was saying that in two years ago, we had a huge salary jump, right, right? And so what was going on in my head is Trying to stabilize at that point considering we made a huge jump then well part of that year we were paying for two treasurers, right because there's training And assistant, I think that was the first year. Maybe we really had a separate a separate Considerable, you know, right real person assistant And I'm just trying to think about why it was not shown as the savings that increasing those salaries Created on the other end. We're not hiring You know outside assistance to do treasure work Well, right, but but the bottom line is it's a town budget is still going up increment We're in each year, right and it's really hard because there are so many outside influences like this year Part of the increase is because we've got to do a better job of Computer DNA, DRA, DRA, IT services, we've got to have a significant jump there just because we do And then we're doing this COTS thing. That's a significant amount of money Those are two significant pieces. It's not just salaries, which is why it becomes important to try to Stabilize where we can and if you know Yeah, I mean, I don't think we can just you know hold it On the salary. I think there's a bigger picture So do you want to go over to your other side there? Uh, we can Yeah, social services. Let's just look at that for a minute Well, what's included social services? We used to include Whatever's in it. Did you include color coloring? I just took the numbers I just took that I didn't I didn't it's not that big as 20 It would be it would be it would be a different I mean this took me most of the afternoon You know be a different level of detail to pick through and really get big at apples and apples, right? But I think when You look at the bottom line under social services Kellogg-Hubert is there I don't mean here the books are here if you look on the Here So It's a set warned item, but I think when you do the when you do the budget Is part of that if you look um Towards the end of the one standard And the There's a significant piece of the budget So I have 20 I have and I put that in I have 2016 and yes, tell I'll cover it Like you look at Santa's budget It's in the line. It's on the second to the last page is there. Okay. Yep. So it is why because teller covered one Up significantly at one point, right? Uh, so there's a there. I mean you can't it's not just apples to apples. There are there's variables, but no But you know, that's why you step back at 30 000 feet, right? What's going on all the time? So then on the Salary piece to dig into that and that you do have in hard copy that one. I was successful printing, right? Sonya ministerier popped up As a paid position in 2018 and I didn't go back and look if I was missing it before or no It was a new okay, and also the list is getting Salary that was a new thing. We had like a whole bunch of stuff because people are being tired of doing things voluntarily They were getting there was a budget for them that looked the same the name didn't change So I put the amounts have right. So I carried that right that in Because um Yeah, because only really there was no really there was no pay And then it got to be you know, a lot of work for somebody to do and in order to keep somebody without having a higher Zoning administrator. We had to put some money in the budget same thing with listers And then of course now we have the recording secretaries because things are so much more, right? Um difficult tax collector And as we don't start paying the liquid tax collector until 2018 Right, that's that's so that's not huge. That's that's a new salary And it's not necessarily an increase to the budget. It's just that's reassigning Right, I think that's a fee fees that float in but into the general because right Used to be it wasn't budgeted though wasn't no because the liquid tax collector the way she used to get paid Right was from the fees, right? And we changed that right handle things right in her request. She said it made more sense Right, but now it is a paid position. Right. Um, and this is this is Yeah, so um So things that were I didn't do year-over-year increases, but well, we can look at the paper too um so town clerk in 2015, so Um, five years ago 28,000 I didn't use a math on, you know, what is that over time over time and now we're at um A seven year the proposed and I don't remember. I can't remember where these numbers came from but but the proposed was 41 I wasn't sure that came from it being for Yeah, that's her effort. Are you looking at just so you're looking at 2020 post If I'm not mistaken These notes one of these years, I remember there was a conversation about The clerk putting in way more hours, right now. It's just a paper the name when we came up with the budget and We want to happen to find money To compensate her for the extra hours Right that because she was doing other duties as a sign that weren't statutory and it got to be a little bit of a Struggle force, right? Because we needed the clerk to do these things Um, but that's also the work that's already acquired. So that's what came out there Right, and that's also when we came up with the administrator idea, right, right? There's a lot of pieces that it's much more complicated. There's there was an evolution here That resulted in reassigning some of the monies are not increases or just reallocations Of exit of monies that were spent anyway, but under different monos. Well, like like the uh Tax collector, right the right tax collector those fees came in and there were times when you that may not did You might save us money, right because they're not getting the fees You know the fees go to us, right and what was happening though is because at town meeting The fee piece kept getting reduced, right? So even when the fees would came in, right? They didn't really if you figured out how much she was making an hour. It wasn't even minimum wage. It's interesting and the state's interesting that when we took the incentive away or created a distance of the incentive to leave Unpaid taxes on the on the rolls Vanished those taxes got paid off You mean when they it used to be if the penalties remained, right? It was a continuous income stream for the and there they were for the tax collector It was it was it's in the Ted was in the tax collector's interest not to get the taxes collected because because because There became an income So and there were people making accusations that there was a conflict And at least it was an appearance of a conflict that we didn't think was healthy And the discussion happened too many times and so we said we're going to fix that and that's what we did Right. And that's when we came up with right. So there will be some years we wanted with more money in the bank, right? Then So so bottom line, so it's been important to me to understand as we add all these different positions as we're saying all these moving parts And we're we're creating we're making life easier with now We've got assistance, you know several different assistants who are making life easier. We're taking some of that burden off. So It was important to me to step back and understand. Okay. Well, yes, okay. There's more hours But we're also bringing in help to address that. Yeah, I don't see auditor on your list I didn't put auditor on because it's been handled very differently over the years We came to learn that there were functions that weren't being picked up by the clerk historically prior to Donna And then Donna As she started digging in and seeing like all of the same that had the word her job description kept evolving And it and it wasn't budgeted for and yet there were all these work items Some of them were getting done by the previous clerk and some are not At all and we have statutory obligations and financial obligations to to get these things done and So now we have the staff in place We have the staff in place. That doesn't mean that it's not like we're bumping people's salaries No, and it's not and the job duties and responsibility continue to evolve and increase It's like every year there's more stuff that the state puts on that the church or has to do for reporting for This that and the other thing and accountability and then we have to I'm still working on that person to be an auditor. We have to have an auditor Yeah Um, you just have to and if we don't have one That we can Appoint from the town that we're going to have to give father gillens to galley or somebody and that's going to cost us more So the bottom line is it wasn't as It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be when I put it all in one place and looked at it I thought I was going to see big jumps um I think over the years we the select board has been very Careful and cognizant of trying not to Have huge increases. So I think that we could have we had that one year We had the one year, but I think overall we have done a really good job of trying to manage and now we're budget and Not have significant increases. Well, and now it's so we had that one big one year and now it's it's stable And so what I was looking For is so, you know, then I look at the bottom line. So the proposed increase for this year Over last year for this set of line items Ended up being slightly over four percent And then I went back to my principle of You know three percent And look for how could we get there? and so I got I got to actually one and a half percent by doing And that's not on here. No, it is it's bottom right hand corner So one of the one zero point. Yeah one way four six one and a half So that suggests instead column is Is is the two point with so then I did the cpi I want to know what where the cpi landed at the end of the year We can we can talk about that, but whether it's one point five or one point. Would you say it was two point two? Okay, so I want you to show me where that is, but in any case 2.2 1.9 whatever it's not 2.7 Right, and we've been talking about 2.7, but I thought we originally were talking about 2.7 Because Right because that's where cpi was sitting at that point maybe but in any case if in the end of the year 12 months, right We're looking at the right calendar here, and it's 2.2 Then the 2.7 we've talked about is You know it creates what we have also been talking about which is that number that gives you a little merit cushion so Applying 2.7 Consistently Rather than you know one is seven percent and one one was you know more whatever 2.7 because it is at least half a percent more than cpi I did that I took out the stipend for us because I wanted to see what it did and and I also on the The third thing I did you want me to go into the detail on the third thing I did Denise Right, and I think all the well Let's back up a little bit so instead of So you did 2.7? On every position including like delinquent tax collector, which we did not do before I did and I did it on delinquent tax The reason that I explained to you you didn't do it on listers I didn't do it on listers. No, you didn't do it on zoning so what I didn't I didn't know if we were thinking about them in the exactly the same way if we are we could do it No, we weren't thinking of them in the same way because they're Really what they're getting is sort of like per diem right Really the paid employees out of the road crew The three office staff Those are really what are getting paid as employees Everybody else is sort of per diem or per hour like Recording secretary. It's so much an hour period And when you say three office staff it is the treasurer assistant Clerk clerk the clerk is kind of is in there, right? Okay And then of course we need to add the assistant treasurer line, which we didn't have right, but I didn't give that one a bump Because that's a new line right And I'd have to go back and compare that with what we had in the Did you look at what we had? And that's that two points up. Yep, but did you go back? and look at When you were doing a comparison Did you look at the current salaries? I just looked at the budgets. I just took numbers out of the budget You mean these these line items like this, right? Yep, I pulled. Yeah Like the treasurer for instance. Yeah I mean, I can see you put a lot of work in that and I appreciate that So so each of these right after 2019 comes out of the budget And then the 2020 proposed came from the spreadsheet that cliff sent after we all worked on it last week Then I did the math on the percentage increase just between 2019 budgeted and 2020 proposed and then I just suggest instead is like an alternative Proposed 2020 and then the final column is a percentage of increase between 2019 And the alternative so the town for instance, you're showing that as a I applied a 2.7 Percent increased from the 2019 budget as the assistant town clerk is showing us I didn't approve that because that we were that was new Well, no, it's not new Well, in terms of the hours and the assignments And I thought that the 2.7 was already built into that That new number the assistant town clerk Okay, I just want to compare that to with what the office staff gave us and it looks like it's the same number, right? 19096 And yeah, I just took it out of and the town clerk wages though Are not Looks like the treasurer took ahead 41. I was sick. Now the town clerk is the same right now suggested instead That's because the original proposal was a seven percent increase and I went to 2.7 the problem I have at this point is Just getting this tonight, which I know you've been busy But the town office staff believed that we were Using the figures they gave us had they known Tonight's discussion might include decreasing. They might have wanted to show up To have the discussion. So I feel I feel like I don't want to I feel like If I was them, how would you feel I I do understand that but we've been saying all along that You know, this is wishless wishless And yeah, we have but at the same time I think we were looking to see if perhaps we could save some money Basically we're saving like between the clerk and And the treasurer we're saving like $2,300. Okay. So the difference between what share Okay, but I my problem is That somebody comes in and says I'd like a seven percent increase I'd like this percent increase and we just put it down as a placeholder And they they just They had more workload We're trying to pay them Sandu was working for free And I got a problem of people working for free still learn we base a salary line I'm not what we not salary when we made budget Based on her understanding of the position. It was the best guess last year That she could get it done in 32 hours And then she informs us that it's taken over 40 Stop, let me let you don't understand what I did here. I paid for what you're talking about And it's not personal. So I don't want to use names because this is right. That's why It's not about it's not about the people at all It's and I acknowledge everything you're saying. So I took the 2019 Um budget And I multiplied it by 1.25 to take it from 80 percent to 100 percent right for full hours And then I applied a 2.7 percent increase to that new number So the 2.7 with that merit cushion is applied not just to the 80 percent base But to the whole new 100 percent But not the additional that's been floating out on the spreadsheet However, there was never an increase in the delinquent tax collector line And I did apply it to that rate. I think she's more I think she's going to see the the treasurer is going to Not care so much that there's an increase in delinquent As as the person is going to think about their their current position which takes the majority Of their time because But now when you think about we're paying But if you look at this too, this is what The office staff put together this is if you look at the fy 19 budget and the hours that were At the time we thought we were going to have a select board administrator. We don't right um So they they see they see things a little differently than we do So we should look at I think And I had made some notes on Here it is According to them, it's really a 2.4 increase If you consider the amount of hours We use that on the sheet. Yeah. Yeah, if you look at the fy 19 budget line item We thought we were going to have enough staff to do the do 102 hours worth of work Now we have three people um Well, I guess they're including me my six hours. So if you look right under there fy 19 actual They're doing what we had hired Enough people to do on 102 hours. They're doing and getting paid for in 87 hours Is that you see what I'm saying? No, I I I looked at this earlier. I I confess I really I didn't if you look at this So we're if you look in this column here, right We budgeted f1 19 This is hours not salary, right? So we figured the town clerk would work 32 the assistant clerk could work six the treasurer work 32 And we'd have a full-time basically a full-time select board administrator doing 32 hours worth of work a week, right? Which comes to 102 hours of time By individuals in positions to perform In actuality because we don't have a select board administrator doing 32 hours worth of work And we've reallocated those responsibilities, right? They're doing 102 hours worth of work at 87 hours That's what's being paid out This is the pay not the actually worked That's being paid for right This is what they're actually terms out that are working. They're getting the same thing in all this work responsibilities were uh completed But they're able to do an 87 hours instead of 102 Able to do an 87 instead of getting it done They're working more hours than that You might be saying different things You know you're saying you're saying Yeah, yeah, yeah, no they're like sanders. She's getting paid whether she works 50 hours or They're the same the same amount right so I misunderstood right I miss but But how is it so is so is this a typo or is the town clerk getting paid if this if the blower set is numbers are actually getting paid The town clerk is getting paid 33 not paid 32 Oh, unless that's a typo, but I know that the assistant clerk This is okay. If you look at that, that's it. They're saying that for the FY 20 budget, which is 19 actual all these are what she's actually working working 33 That's what we have three hours by So but that's apples to that's apples and oranges that if this is what she's what I'm trying to understand clearly Is this actually what I'm working this number here? Or is this what I'm getting paid for and that you see how that's confusing to the clerks one makes sense But then the treasure one doesn't right there's sanders working 40, but it says 32 Or is it what they're getting? Yeah, I you know, I think I think she's doing As best she can to work within the 32 although like for instance, if you looked at her timesheet, which is in the warrants She worked The last two weekends But we're not paying her for that Exactly she's The 87 total Is what is being paid What's being worked is much greater right Because they're trying to make up the difference between the 87 and the 102 Okay, so this is what this is what we have employed basically is right We don't know we can't explain that one hour with the town clerk So the proposed budget works for them. That's 99 hours and they they can get We can do all that work two hour two hour allocation. They can get it done at 99 So here's my it's a more just compensation Well, so here's my problem and and and the overall increase is 2.4 percent But here's my problem with that the treasure position was a 0.8 Plus the link with tax collector, which at 10,000 is about what is that a point, you know to 0.25 position so In theory then it no longer makes sense To have the town treasurer and the delinquent tax collector combined If the treasurer is a full-time Job and and I I yeah Well, do you mean so okay, so this the treasure position we thought was going to be a 0.8 position Right, and then we combined we we didn't combine them we added But we added the delinquent tax collector to the same person's plate Because that was a fraction of a job But if the treasurer position is now Essentially a full-time position where you are, right? Then there's not That doesn't make sense anymore. Well, I don't think she's asking not to be both And not asking for an increase in delinquent tax collector salary I don't think you can be a full-time employee a full-time salary legal well To be a full-time salaried employee and then to be paid separately In addition for another job I I was I could never make that fly when I have tried But no, if you're a salaried employee, then that is your then that is your job and that's what you do and you can moonlight other places But You make this like more than more than 40 hours. Yeah as a regular But she doesn't do the link with tax collector stuff You know very it's Times of the year. Well, then maybe 10,000 is too much. I mean it really comes back to what is You know if we're aiming for a 40-hour job and and If we're paying for if it's 40 hours Or it's a full-time salaried position. I certainly hope in a year and this is not personal I like these people very much, but I certainly hope in a year. We're not having a conversation About It's 55 if it's 55 then we have to look at hours like these are these are salaried positions So when you're full-time it's when you're full-time salaried as the treasurer It doesn't make sense anymore for that person to also be separately compensated separately Whatever delinquent tax collector Yeah, it's too bad. We didn't have this conversation before we are trying to finalize the budget tonight Well, I know but it's we could increase this treasurer salary by five To make it one position make it in one position system treasurer slip by statute aren't they so Combined treasurer with what? Delinquent tax collector Our treasurer is Employee, right? So we can have our treasurer collect our taxes Are we electing someone to that position? No, no we haven't Right they're both appointed. I'm just trying to think it's real All right. Well, don't don't the gym that we said there's a conflict And and I'm trying I think don't quote me on this but doesn't sound familiar. We look at other town's budgets Okay, so same position Yeah, most a lot of towns have treasurer delinquent tax collector as the same person um Bruce is the delinquent tax collector But he's not the treasurer. Oh, yeah, I know about it. This is only a minister. Right, but he's not the treasurer he's the so so if it's only couldn't have to think like you're as a practical matter is a Is a nothing job And I don't think there's nothing not nothing but but you know In a full-time salary position there are ads which work right right And if it generally well, I think that's what we thought when we were doing 32 That the ebb and the flow would offset By the hours needed for a link with tax collector now And I think it still will fit in To that no, you can have a salary position where the person's working 55 hours It happens all the time. You don't have it separate. I don't you don't have a separate job duty But I I don't have to work more, but I don't think I think for the purposes of the budget. That's why it's You know, you got to show the how much we're paying for a delinquent tax collector now Just do a slash so that we can all make it one position. Yeah, we can make it treasure or delinquent tax collector one position and then show zero In this budget item where is this strike strike it Just straighten this and rename it Assistant I mean treasure slash delinquent tax collector, right? And then what are you going to do about the money that was allocated for the delinquent tax collector put it in the Salar with the treasurer or a portion of it because what I'm not clear on is whether Those hours that we're looking at where the treasurer is working 40 hours or more Does that include the delinquent tax work? In which case I mean Right. I mean, you know, I mean on a day when she's here Some days if you look if you look at the orders and you look at the time sheets She will have put down So many hours for treasurer so many hours for delinquent tax collector But that doesn't mean that she hasn't put in the extra hours for treasurer. She's just not Right And that's the right And that's why I've been saying for quite a while we should be paying for her for what she's actually That's what we're doing, right So I so so you're I don't I'm agreeing with Denise said this is a little late I don't disagree with Sharon's members for some reason and it makes sense But I'm disagreeing with the lateness of this But I would propose kind of in the interest of compromise That we've merged with delinquent tax collector titles with the treasurer title make it one line item The treasurer Proposed salary the same 49 733 And then add 6,000 Which is I'm not looking at the 6,000 And and discount 6,000 of the 10 of the 10 to 10 to 70 So that would 10 so you're discounting it 4,000 there I think I think I could go along with that some total comes out to like so yeah just shy of 56 Yeah, I mean and I do 49 and to be fair on the lateness I have been I have been objecting all not you lateness It's us it's a collective But I have been objecting all along to some of the numbers that we're showing up in those Spreadsheets, right? I don't you guys know I have right and we don't yeah, that's not a person. It's not a person Okay, all right You know the way you look at the salaries and the increases or whatever I want to call them Are different than what we call them it amounts to a lot It amounts to pretty much the same thing you just Look at it differently You call it something different This this is something we should be mindful of every year Yeah, what's the whole picture and in the whole picture can we what are we doing? So And now that the spreadsheet's done it's easier to do so it's 54 Town treasurer slash Dulling contact If you look at the town treasurer and we add slash Dulling with tax collector She's done some bass So We're 49 73 plus 6 comes to at least 55 If you know if you 41 oh If you had 49 733 plus 6,000 that comes to 55,000 733 I got a cabinet right here Brain totally yes, right totally fried So therefore we say 5,000 on the Dulling from tax collector line But the 49 733 Plus 6 49 733 is basically 5 50,000 if you add 6 that's 56,000 you take it down 55 You said 54 55 49 733 plus 6 is 55 Yeah, it is And we're totally And we're taking And and so and so we're really clear We're taking it down We're adding 6 but not a 2.7 But we're because that 49 had 600 on the tax We're eliminating the Dulling with tax collector because don't forget Wednesday Cliff and I are going to have to explain it to these guys Right, we're eliminating where we're combining it. It's combined slash right slash job. Yeah Um Still with the expectation of 40 hours total. Uh, no It's whatever it takes to get the job It's a salary full salary It takes to get the job It's a salary full time position And that's kind of where you know, it gets crazy then we have a conversation That's right If it gets crazy, but I mean, but you know, you can work for several months running at 55 hours a week And there you go, sometimes salary positions you only work in 20 right you got all your stuff Well, that's what we thought right now, but that's how it works and we also can use that Um 4000 that we're saving from the Dulling with tax collector To pay for the assistant town clerk. I mean assistant treasurer Correct Because that's about because that's 4000 Well, it just is it just I mean it just worked out that way the tax covers that expense So this um, what was 10 becomes zero? You know we're going to fill in zeros Right And then we're not going to do a 2.7 increase on that part of the job Right, that's what we're saying just to be really clear. Yeah, I never figured 2.7 on in the first place No, but I couldn't figure out why why we hadn't and that helped me with I didn't like I mean because this this is a this was like a 5 increase which You know when cpi is 2.2 is right So so this helps with that and then you saw the cuts the cliff when I came up with Which amounted to fifteen thousand four hundred dollars That was in the town office town hall reserve fund 5000 from legal fees and four hundred dollars for planning commission maps You guys ask them about um Is there a Is there this may be two two nuance is there a middle ground between going all the way into cuts right now And instead just getting a computer for Lawyers to use instead of having to disrupt the staff We talked about it some and the thought was that the more you wait the more it's going to cost Well, that is probably true. So I think it will go a long ways in In morale for one thing to have This in the works. I think it's really important to them that this is something that's Happening because it takes so much of their time It's still a long way down. It takes all of it But if the computer if a lawyer if I come in as a lawyer and I'm using a computer that's sitting out here And I'm not interrupting them then in terms of research, but you still have to go in and out of the vault Yes, right that's distracting You're never going to escape the vault. No, you're not but everything is electronic Right, but I think we're on the road to getting there because I thought well, you know, we could put it off same as you And it was really important. I got the impression from them That we go forward. What was your take on it? Yeah, we had disgusted the Concern was Just that that okay that much more Cost would be incurred also just They said something the fact of They're even willing to hold off on this whole office redesign project in favor of con cuts That's good to know Right. I think what I think we still need to make some I don't yeah, I don't That's that's that's good to understand because what we want to do is make their lives easier So we so I think the tech investment is huge, right? And don't forget we're also The tech investment piece is having better Security better cyber security because we don't want to get hit with a lawsuit because my town's record to get compromised. That's really important So, I mean those two are like I said before those two are really big pieces the cuts And the it support more than the office redesign, right? That's good to know because we can do some office stuff that I don't think is going to cost as much Because we can get a grant for desks for better chairs We can get a grant through passive and already asked his office staff To put in a group request for these items through the passive grant, which will cost us minimal Looking at some other Support ergonomic things the phone system putting in that was already Cru beneficial and it's going to become more beneficial as we turn on all the functionality that system offers them The it services support was really a bone of contention What? It's the mice I know I'll snow off the roof. That's what it is. Yeah. Sorry the It services became a really huge issue over this past year because of all the downtime that was experienced as a result of these computer With the firewall not being compatible That I anything was going to bring anybody to the breaking point. That was the work I'm especially glad Sandra. She would spend And she it took her a while to figure this out, but She would put in like two or three hours worth of her time Putting in information into them record or whatever and then all of a sudden would disappear Yeah, so she had to do it all over again. Yeah, so this is why this it stuff is huge for that Right, that's the worst and getting a new computer for judy and We we may I think we still I don't want to say we're not going to do any renovations or we wouldn't They would buy different but we're we still we need to get the listers We're not we're not bumping out the kitchen and putting in a new. Yeah, right One other thing I want to show you guys Before we leave these cliff. Can you go back to the other set of spreadsheets? Yeah, scroll all the way over here So We were hoping to get some help from the staff, but All of but the the question didn't translate well. So this is just sound right for the right So this is just really high level But the two towns that are you know above us Slightly bigger than callous London Dairy and south hero I went in and looked at their budgets Again, it's just the bottom line. I didn't Figure out like how many graders they have And importantly, I did not figure out their roads But they are but you can see here that both of those towns have Um Overall budgets that are slightly smaller than ours. So I think that that's something Oh, you're right. Yeah And so so this is a good I think this is something to understand a little better You know with more time on it. I will look at The town budget versus our town budget versus the highway and then I will look for towns with comparable mileage In town But there's few They're out there. No, you decide Yeah, exactly. It's all there. You just do the math. They don't they don't actually show you No, they just tell you how many miles. Well, that's fine. Um, but that's two and but then you have to subtract out the state miles Right. So I didn't buy that state miles. Is that a column? Yeah, but you have to They don't have one. It's just the town's miles They have what I found has one two three And then every three three three So are the others two anyway So I want to look at town budgets comparable or similar five towns town budget only and then Similar mileage highway budget only as again as benchmarks For I have to say I think this year Because I'm in the office so much more and and so is cliff It's been really good. It's been a real learning experience and I really understand the numbers a lot better than what I ever used to And this whole Presentation, you know, we've gone over at like meeting after meeting after meeting I think we're all pretty well educated and informed So if we get questions, right and now we're going to benchmark, right? So we have questions. I think that perfect. Um, we're able to explain things better So I think I just want to you guys know, I appreciate how much time and effort everybody's put into this I think it's been really good. I think what's awesome We don't know what all the other what other income streams want to come into town Like one in area, I would expect they're getting a A host town fee from greek mount power for their for instance the winter bike project that I don't know what other commercial development No, and if that is the case, then they're actually really high of us because they're a hundred grand. They're high now In 2019 and if they have that additional In full of money outside of there's the standard But that's the question that they would not know about their budget income No, that's their budget on what they're spending, right? Oh, I see. No, I thought that's what they were raising in tax dollars. No, no, that's I'd include that But still if it does still right, so that's but that's not a question to ask me The question is how much generally it's the cost under an account, right? That's I mean, I think everything that we've all done Off the staff us everything is it's been really helpful. I think we've all I know I've learned a lot to say that much I just want to say can I make a comment man chair? I just want to say To everybody that this really has been Very very thoroughly digested researched I know I spent a lot of time today on the computer just reviewing all these documents and I just want to Give a shout out to you for this spreadsheet, especially Because I thought the wages in the town office were really high and You know, I value the people and I don't want to put the personalities into it But when you look or you try to look for some kind of cost savings to have this comparison is really really helpful and so My thoughts align a lot with what Sharon was thinking Maybe not so much with what John and Denise were thinking. So I just wanted to put that out there that I value everybody's input into this and this is Budgeting is really really tedious and it would be wonderful if we had all this information I think we've come to a good compromise and that's what we need to talk about if we take ourselves out Then then I I don't know what the math is with what we just did But if we take ourselves out, we can be if I take myself out I will be required to redesign the select board Why because my wife already doesn't want me running for the select board and so the justification is I get 500 bucks and That makes all the difference. I'm serious. That would be a Page for christmas presents or whatever at the right time. Well, I was prepared to take my 6,000 out Just to say I think we should look at what where do we land? What's the bottom line right because so I want to be able to go to the go to the voters It's really about being fiduciaries for the taxpayers money And these three thousand dollars or whatever it is. It goes to pay the select board is minimal Right, but if but if it but if we take our positions back to that it's a talking point that we We gave that up in favor of increases for the town staff To achieve a bottom line of I would rather take out I would rather take out If we're gonna have about half of what I get And in favor of in favor of you guys getting your site, you know, this is what this is the deal I will strike when we have a A broader cross-section of the people that live in this town Volunteering To help this town do its business other than the same 20 people Doing everything in this town for the last 15 years that I've been involved Then I will opt out but when I see I'm gonna be right out there real blunt when I see A number of people who don't contribute one iota to this town Fuck them nothing and they've got plenty of free time I see on their facebook pages. They're on vacation all over the planet all year round And then I'm going to subsidize Take my free time give up my free time And I give up a lot more free time than just a select board Well, you go to cvrpc cvrpc two subcommittees I work my tail off for this town and I'm not willing To do it for free unless I have other people Willing to commit more of their free time I'm talking about people don't do anything And and there's a benefit they receive They have the idea and if we're going to reduce their taxes I don't agree with that if we have I will do it if I know that it will go directly to the people who are struggling Then I'm all about it But I'm not subsidizing folks that are that with their million dollar houses. I'm sorry. I'm not doing it It's a it's a small amount just leave it in And I don't think anybody can argue with the small amount Like I said if it comes down to a budget problem I'm going to be right. I got tarps on my roof because I got to deal with myself because I can't afford to buy a roofer You know, I'm not giving up a dime Well, can I can I say then That I want to go I want to go back with the maybe tomorrow morning And put us back in and make the changes we talked about And I still I want this bottom right hand number to be no bigger than three percent Because that's what we said To the fire department fire department Is there so can you is there any way you can get it done? um the Not this but I can do tonight. Okay, because I would like to go over it as a courtesy With the office staff on wednesday. Yeah, I think we owe them that Since this was a surprise your spreadsheet, which I'm not saying it was it was great, but it was a surprise and They haven't had a chance to Absorb any of it. We're only talking about change Basically, great. I'm doing so great. The only but I think your treasurer combined. Yes. I just wanted. Yeah, I want to see where And that means that we get the assistant treasurer in my mind. Yeah. Well, hang on if I Hopefully do it. Yeah, and I think I can because otherwise justifying the assistant treasurer I think was something that was going to be could be an issue Well And you know this year Was a big one with a conversion to memric and getting rid of quick books and having the two Independent audits and now everything is in good order. So hopefully things will and just for the record rose I think you shouldn't I think that maybe you Not didn't hear What we were saying we were saying the same thing in a different way I don't think anybody was looking for a higher increase. So I kind of resented What you said As far as We were thinking of a higher percentage. I don't think that's correct No, it's rose said That she was struggling with the salaries out there that she sees them That's right. I don't think you can stand you up or something Well, I know I think you in general really on the same page I think we're on the same page of how we say it But I think we're all on the same page of how we get there. All right, so I just want to bring that out there Yeah, because we come from different backgrounds that You and Sharon were for private. Well, sort of private hospitals are considered private, but and we work and we work for We work profits. We work governments. Well, we work for we work for nonprofits. They're just big nonprofits, right? So I think it's just a different way of saying it. I don't think it was The different I don't think the bottom line was different. I think the way maybe you come across approaches different You know my view on all this is at the end of the day people need to be able to survive this economy And you know, there is a what they call this gets back to the livable wage discussion You know at the end of the day, you got someone who's just a Ditch digger There's a minimum that you can pay anyone If they're gonna, you know feed a family and pay their rent and pay their heat And and you know, whether we think that job is worthy of that given as in comparison to what I get paid You know, sometimes it almost seems inequitable, but there is a bottom To all this where below which people are not going to be able to make ends meet And there's huge societal implications to that Well, I remember he drives people into all sorts of bad directions and not to elaborate further, but I think we I'm always conscious of making sure people can If they're struggling this year, I don't want them to struggle more next year I don't want I want at least keep the struggle at the same level That's that's how I say and that's where I've always been on health care. Yeah I don't have the health care that these folks have so I don't use that as a reason to cut them down Right, right, right. I use that as something to aspire to and hopefully get my employers or Joanne's employers to move to that No, it doesn't seem to be going that way. I know it's that was the wrong word I don't know what the right word was but explain But also just to kind of based on one of the things that you just said when we talked about sending a letter to Janet with ideas that Are concerning to us about things in the legislature We can put in because we brought it up at that thing on saturday about the livable wage And she's in favor of that so I think it might be so we can support her on that we can support You know health care for all I'd like to see a study madam chair You know required you know legislative study performed on You know the level of need for fire service coverage statewide And you know we an assessment of how it's currently being funded across the state And how much the state contributes or doesn't how much defense contributes or don't And you know, I see that function as being no different than police And just as important And I think there should be they the state needs to really take a serious look at Because I still think we need to I think we still need to always are right I still think we need to do a letter to our delegation Representatives and senators With here are here are things that we would like you to address. These are the ones that we support You know kind of thing and I think that might help them really In the long run, so they know where we stand, you know, you need us to come to talk to a committee Let us know you know, you're we're gonna have you're gonna have our support as the leaders in town I think it might be 1.7 overall On this To give everybody Well, we're giving everybody Everybody is getting at least 2.7 now we didn't I mean That doesn't include like the town clerk. Are you guys okay with that? We didn't we talked about it. Well, we didn't land that Because that's that is it's proposed a seven percent increase Isn't I that's what she asked for right right, but I changed it to the 2.7 It's that's that's that's that's a seven is a seven percent increase include the increase in hours She's not gonna be happy with the 39 from 41 So if we went back to her original request Of 41, yeah And then yeah, I thought we weren't touching that amount. Okay. I'm in our discussion. I I just struggle with yeah I'm I'm hoping next year The hours are going to stay the same everyone we we've equilibrated we understand what it takes to run the office Because we're still we've been in flux for three years right trying to figure out now that we had that nailed down Now we got know what it takes to run this office that Then we we can do budgets based on that and it will be out of duty's But hang on so all right. I'm sorry you guys to beat this horse, but where are we on the treasure In the f y 20 proposed I can see it goes from 32 to 40 And the town's of an hour a clerk is supposed to have one hour I don't know but I'm looking at the one that you handed out to right, but if you look at this budget Yeah, yeah, she wrote plus plus 70 extra hours We're like all these do you know, I mean when she when she does these extra Elections which it sounds like we're gonna have a bunch of because of the school stuff It takes a tremendous amount of time. I I'm sorry. I really have no sympathy for a salary position. I don't That's what if you don't Compensate people To a level that they can live with based on the hours they're working. They're not going to do the job 70 hours across a year Is that's a total of additional 70 hours total in the year that's 70 plus 52 No, it's 32. She's 32 hours right now 52 weeks a year right 32 hours a week at 52 weeks a year Plus less 70 70 hours. Okay, but so it comes out to a total of 32 times 52 is 1664 hours a year plus an additional 70 Goes out to 1,734 But that but that is but that is a basically a one that's 70 divided by 52 is 1.35 hours a week. It's an hour a week 33.35 right So it's not really it's I don't 32 hours a week job It's a 33 hour a week job, but but it's but it's we have to we'd have to ask about if that was a typo it's a To me when it's a salary position at point eight and it ends up being you know 33 hours not 32 I don't think they're bubbling about an hour It's a seven percent increase that's that's what I'm well my question is how much of that percent is the increase of hours If you just ran the map on that Well, uh, if it's one hour Point three five one hour is what percentage of 33 Actually more than 70 hours. You know, it's 1.35 one hour a week though It's a 1.35 hours a week divided by 32 is In that d Four four percent. It's not gonna all happen probably. Yeah, the 2.7 that gets it's here right there That's where it is I mean, you know some weeks she works 32 some weeks. She's gonna work 50 I think these I guess I think that they realize that they're salary positions But at the same time there's still Usually an hour basis built in right you got a figure a little figure right that is I mean, are you you're totally are your salary hourly So if you work If you were scheduled to work 32 and they asked you to work 35 Would you work 35 to two hours out of the goodness of your heart? Would you get paid? No, I would get paid I mean, I punch a clock I punch in and punch out. She's an hourly employee I mean, I was considered hourly as a state employee Some weeks I put in 40 hours some weeks I put in 50 I never put in for the overtime I could have but I didn't So I worked for an environmental consulting firm two different ones And the first one was very good to me Um, and they paid me the overtime the second one Made all these promises and they put me on salary as a salary white collar professional And they worked me 60 and 70 hours a week Right and paid me 40 hours wage and I never got the bonuses My bosses stole my bonuses not to go the ugly details And that's what they did to everyone and so I can let you guess if there was a lot of term over That entire office the entirety of the of our brahman office Changed personnel within one year. I believe it everybody there was no any there was a chronic Problem until that company got bought out and then they closed the office. So, you know, if you want an office That's going to be constantly doing that and then we're going to have to volunteer more time You know, I mean and fill the gap show up take off from work and come in here run the office That's what we have to do by the way. No one shows up to work. Right. That's part of our jobs I mean, I think I'm not planning to do that. I'm hoping not to do that I want to make sure that we're mindful of the budget That we're mindful of taxpayers dollars that pay for all of this But at the same time, I want to respect the work that they do And the the enormous amount of time that you know when on the weekends gd gets phone calls email She doesn't charge us for that It's a salary position. You don't charge. What is the salary position these are elected But you arrive at the salary number based on On an hourly company, you don't say oh If someone if someone's working hourly, you know, I'm going to pay them 25 now, but the salary I'm going to make it I can get away with paying them 15. That's not what you did. You send the salary based on Actually, it's usually higher because there's an acknowledgement Have you always worked hourly and if you went on hourly and you didn't and you worked You were scheduled to get paid for 10 hours and you were 12 you didn't expect to get paid those extra two hours You know, of course, of course you do. Of course you do. So when you are out, when you are hours Salary positions are generally higher than salary if you count the salary position Based on 40 hours, right look at the people who are Um I'm sorry If you have people on Hourly wage and you run that number run the calculation based on 40 hour work week times 52 weeks a year 200 280 hours You run that number Every time People with salaries, you know in most cases in the business world Make more than those hourly wage earners do work work in a 40 hour week And and and usually if it works out to like, you know They earn what a person would earn in like a 50 hour week salary person. That's usually what it works out to As a full-time salary person. I never worked 40 hours I know what your wage is hot your total compensation is higher than what An average hourly person's total compensation would be always, of course. Yes. Yes. So so what happens is you so So if we're going Establish these people as a salary employee to see what the appropriate compensation is And it shouldn't be less than what an hourly person can earn That's where we're heading here with this conversation. I'm not I'm not going to convince you guys But help me understand how it fits that the town clerk actually sets her own hours and is elected It's by statute by statute sure sure So So it is it is by definition then a salary position. It's not an hourly I I really struggle with taking an hourly A salary position and translating it into well the other reality is unless we're talking like 55 or 60 hours a clerk that's independently elected could also Make a motion on the floor to town meeting and ask for more money. Sure, right because they're a separate office And we have no control. We have we have a collaboration. We have a Poor here. It's not it's it's fine. It's well, it's it's we could fight We could we could create tension between our two separately elected offices or we could work with them We've been working with our part of what we can control is Sure is the budget, but in my mind, you know, is it worth the Difference between 41 and 39 which is $1,600 It's seven percent increase, but I've said that 18 which is right. It's not seven problems. You have it seven percent Let's just stop We do need to How do you want to if we're gonna have to we need to finalize this? Yeah, we will finalize. We're gonna be done tonight. I'm not going to keep debating this It's it's it is what it is. You guys are all good with it. I I won't don't turn to me and ask me to defend it, you know the town meeting And you all I know you want I'm not saying that but I think I think we have made some compromises in some of the things You're saying just because you're not getting everything the way you want it I think we have made some changes based on this spreadsheet that you did I think it's a compromise. I don't think it's Well, she said no Yeah, I'm I'm I think you're both saying the same thing No, you're saying the same thing. No, I'm saying you're saying you have your opinion. You have your That's right. We are saying that and I think Sharon's acknowledging that she thinks she's out and voted as a kingdom But I think we've come to a compromise on the on the budget Total no, I mean overall in with everybody's input everybody Everybody's had equal input a chance to say we've come to a compromise through good collaborative Efforts, so I think that's the way it's supposed to work To me salary is is is a show on the respect they respect the work people have done And there's a big part of that and when someone says, you know, I'm Having a hard time here and I'm working my tail off and and they're appealing to us Look, I'm they're not asking for huge increases You know, not like private sector people ask for they don't get bonuses Really, they don't get you know this I just just think this and then we then we buy half a million dollar fire trucks And a million dollar to 1.2 million dollar fire stations and two fire apartments We're subsidizing and we're going to quibble over 1,600 dollars I mean, I think the real money is in let's look at having two fire departments And we do we need to have two fire departments? I keep coming back to this for 15 years now I just think it makes no Sense we know that discussion. So can I so my discussion could come up at town? Yeah So let me my final word on this is I want to say really really clearly this is not about me not respecting people You know that I do I respect them. Right. I value them. I like them It is so not personal. I would be taking this position. I think you guys know me well at this point to know that I'm just I'm just doing doing math And that's fine. And it's not it is not personal I guess we just like we've all collaborated with all that input. Yeah, but I think it's been a really good good process I want to bring better processes. We've done. I think for budget. Right. I mean, we've worked really hard And and we all I think we're not pushing if we don't if we don't hit some points of tension, right? right, so It's pretty easy to figure that Because I just want to know are we going to be able to sign off on this budget tonight So that we can give the information the figures to sandra. Yeah, I mean I'll multitask and and I'll come up with What is if that stays the same and then we'll know that this is where we landed as the Yeah, I'll just I'm just going to use my account. So I guess I do want clarification here. You're supporting the budget at the end. You just Well, we haven't decided on what the budget is in the end. Well with these changes This is what these changes we have to make a motion to Well, and the thing is I'm on this final number. We can meet again. We can meet next Monday night I know judy's getting antsy for us to give her pieces for the town reporter Well, I'd like to agree to this the changes tonight contingent on Staff input after your Wednesday staff meeting and if the staff feel like they we need another meeting or You come away with the impression The impression that we should have another meeting because New information came forward and we should have it And if if not We're good. I'd like to vote on this tonight And you saw with the contingency right you Check in with staff right and you saw the changes made to the highway budget which reduces the highway budget And the changes that I mentioned that Cliff and I made to the Three different items illegal town hall town fund county reserve fund Town hall, yeah, that makes 15,400 dollars change Plus the what was the 80 for the tractor taking the $80,000 off the board Take it off Um I think We do our best every year to be as fiscally responsible as we can be to the taxpayers because it all comes out of all of our pockets Noting that some of the bigger pieces the digitization and the Computer it support our pieces that are bigger because they really need to be we still have a choice Um So that your motion I said his emotion Okay, is there a second? Do we have a bottom line on what the percentage? What the bottom line is period do we don't we don't know do we? I don't want to I don't work that way I do the percentage increase based on cpi for salaries and I look at what our needs are We could Actually comes out pretty reasonable We could do a another meaning I couldn't Be here to live now to be here if close available And we could do it by the end we could do it by phone But we could do it during the day Oh Let's say a session of are you available by phone? No, no No way I never know I scheduled a meeting right two o'clock tomorrow afternoon and already three conflicts If you want to know why it's just so we could do we could continue this meeting to say Um Thursday night What's going on? Isn't there something over tonight? If I did the math phrase 1.8, but don't quote me increase 1.8 overall Does that include highway? No, that's this that's just this Um, it's not so are we taking that $80,000 truck out tractor truck? I think we just take it right off Come on. That's what we're talking about now That's no that's good um and that Okay, but that doesn't help this that doesn't have anything to do with this Right that only has to do with when we're looking at the bottom line if all the articles pass right? Um, it still leaves roadside mowing for two times the right and I'm gonna let Doug grout myself. I'm gonna let him know soon That we are gonna want Two times mowing and we need to decide when those are we need to let him know sooner or later Oh, but not five right the idea five that went out the window somewhere. All right. Um, But the problem last year was we didn't get to them early enough. Yeah, so So if this if this increase If this number is Just tell me the number it's lowered by Um, well, I'm doing add this take that away. So I'm a little nervous but If we want to just rely on this back of the envelope It's 1800 Oh, no, never mind never mind never mind. Don't listen to me All we did is change at four thousand that's all changed And the salary Yeah, yeah, I was making more complicated Oh, and we we We got rid of the uh, $10,000 line item, right, but we were added six of it into the other one So that was the net change the net is four thousand that's all that's all we did So then I put your bottom line is 17 25 And Which is Oh that they took this amount and subtracted 84 came and you come out with This figure here one seven, so instead of being the one eight But just what's the percentage increase But do you have something so I can do that now? I can do that Let me get all this out of my way We are catching it. It's one six seven last year. Is that where we are right now? Yes. Yes one six seven is last year, so Take Something just over three percent Of course math ends up the same as mine. I'm good with just over three percent Yep Just a little That is pretty dang good. Yes. Yeah, pretty good. You sure did a lot of haggling and I'm not but it was but that is really great Because that's so that will help us when we meet with their department. It is I mean and it does make sense that we should stick by our own Absolutely, you know if we're going to be consistent with what we're asking of them and then we do the same thing Yeah, that's right. It wouldn't be right if we didn't That's good. And so to these I think I'm not going to be here when we do the town stuff But thank them for working with us and let them know the success that they are contributing to Oh, we do by making their compromises and like we thank them. We went from 11.3 to 3.05 What else here Three point oh five percent instead of 11.3, which is what we had And that includes taking out the Tractor right about the tractor we Yeah, and it includes the savings in the highway department the toby came up with the ones that we did last stop meeting I mean it's been it's truly been a team effort. It really really has Yeah, so the overall bottom line is 3.05 percent and we're getting at least a 2.7 percent increase to staff Right, which is pretty pretty pretty darn good And I think we now have because of this It won't help us next year I will update it and Okay, keep it and share it with you guys, right? This is No, I like that. Yeah All right Now the last thing I'd like to do tonight All right, so did we there's a motion right? Okay All those in favor, please say I any opposed hearing none and Assuming that it all goes well. We'll like we'll let you know if it doesn't go well Wednesday. I can't Imagine that it's not going to I think it's been a real they know How hard we've been working because they look at the minutes They always look at the minutes like the next morning Because Katie gets them up right away contingency in there that we could revisit this if new information comes up or Right somehow problematic Yeah, like I said, I don't Or you know, we're gonna pretty much it's gonna be sold as kind of this is this is the way it is Unless there's a real significant change to it. I think it's been a really good compromise and working together Everybody's got to give a little Like here's a here's a situation. So this year Maybe being filming a tax collector is a breeze So say next year Donald Trump is successful in shutting down federal government for a year However, some other And there are all these people who are paying their taxes for them. We get settled with this huge school tax And there's a boycott protest. There are so many things that could happen Right, we can't anticipate and it might require our tax collector put in more time So that would be inappropriate Now this is an unusual year And we've got more than normal work going in and again and that If If that were salaried and and and we anticipate That person on average working, you know, some set number of small number of hours per week On this work and all of a sudden that's becomes a 40-hour early job Then you have I think we have that comes That would show we have a big problem One thing we don't have a special term. Well, one thing we don't we haven't talked about at all and is the concept of To keep in mind is when you have those blips Where it really is extreme, you know If you've got in my world if you've got a team that you're asking to work the way that we are saying 55 or 60 weeks hours a week for months on end They may not see a boost in their salary But they but they might get a bonus right and an acknowledgement and I like that way of doing it because you're not building the base That's right. You acknowledge a little harder to do in a government setting Something to keep in mind because once you've built it into a base Then even if even when it dials back, right, right, there's the expectation So the problem is with government everything's open. And so we have like a bonus fund It's definitely going to be like one idea of the bonus. Well, because we weren't working 60 hours a week Right, right? Sorry Yeah, yeah, but we have that's our job though is to manage that So are you know one more thing for tonight? Slapboard report Um, rosa's taken a couple. I read it. I read it. I don't think I gave I didn't have anything and you Oh, would you have the one I gave you typos? It might have been I'm going to go through I'm going to ask Barbara. I think who hasn't read it yet to read if it goes and grammar But if you're good with that, I'd like to get that off my plate. Yeah And I didn't like the section on technology. We need to completely revise it Okay, so you can do that by tomorrow morning, right? Right No, the only question I had Sounds like everybody did have a chance to read it After I sent it out, I thought, you know, maybe I should include that This will include adding a public Workstation for accessing the files. We could add that that would be a big change And then the other thing I thought about and I decided not to put it in there But maybe The sense among the board is it would be a good idea is I refrain from saying anything about how we could imagine something of a return on the investment in this technology Yeah, I don't know how you explain the return on the investment. I think the fact that There's going to be the cuts the people that know what that means are the people that use it and they will be happy Sounds like right That's why I decided Default to this is a necessary evening. The people that do the type of the touch the searches and the lister type people I mean if they read the town report, I don't even know how many people actually read it But they see the They see that in there. They know what that means So they know that that's going to be searchable, right? Right. Yeah. Yeah, we confirm that. Yeah That's the big piece of it, right Yeah, otherwise you So that that word Your word local just go down one more line and over to the right a little bit Inviting local it service companies to submit So are they local? We're talking about one more Yeah, yeah Are they local? Okay I'm not a big chocolate person at all I'm gonna have chocolate Like 80% we could take it out. We could change it to be more basic Oh, we just leave just the local out and just Area I mean when they say area it services, what do they mean when they say local? Um court that could be like from an answer, right? I think we just leave the word out Yeah, that was the only thing when I read that And then we're not stuck if we get somebody really good from the answer. Yeah, that's fine That's longer within a hundred miles That's the court definition. Oh, I wonder what the definition was. I was just asking Oh, what is the definition 100 miles no mission 100 was unofficial unofficial So we're just gonna take the word local out when you talk about local food You're usually 100 Do you remember Meryl again? I went to the AG's office because Schaus was advertising local corn, but the corn was coming from New England Right, but not from brahame. That's what started the whole how did you define local? Yeah, that was a big deal. Yeah, it was a big deal. One of us was right in one place. One of us might have seen some good There was 20 minutes Out of embarrassment but the AG's officer they couldn't enforce All right, so we're good with the select board report We'll check it for typos grandma That kind of thing Can you remove the word local? Okay, so I think we're good Are we gonna be on that one thing tonight or are we exhausted? Well, oh, what else we have? Um, we talked about the appreciation dinner, which is now going to You get us served by a public forum Um Can we not do that? Are we gonna do an executive session? I wanted to briefly. Yeah Let's do that and I wanted to talk about this two-step verification. Oh two-step verification. Go ahead while these guys are packing up So I got this email today from um, the registrar at dot gov dot gov And they added two new security features to the domain It's called two-step verification And so what does it mean beginning today? Um, and you have to sign up for this and you have to enable your account And it has to be before february 13th. And so it's a password that protects your account Um, and it adds another step to the login process and after you enter your password You're going to be asked for a passcode from your mobile device And then So So basically what it is is you need an authentication app to generate the security code And blah blah blah blah blah. So number one I have an old iphone. I don't have any apps on it. I don't know how to do apps I don't know how to do any of this and so I think that I don't need to be The billing point of contact anymore and especially Because we're going to pay for this annually now with the town's credit card Right So can you give us this and we'll give it to sandra on wednesday or do you want to email it to her? Tom clark is working on this because we received this email from website stuff She passed it around and I was equally confused about the whole thing But she had replied that It makes it sound like anyone who's involved with logging out the website needs to use it, but in actuality It's an administrator level. So she took it off Of my plate and other folks. Yeah, it's only me judy and roll Who can log on to this? I'm the billing point of contact rulf is the technical point of contact from judy as a administrator But this is the thing you were paying for on your personal credit card Yeah, and so I just paid for it for the last time. So I just need to So maybe I'll just talk to judy maybe for sandra Sandra would be the billing right so it sounds like judy. I would send it to both of them Yeah, send that email that you got and say, you know, how do I need to still be doing this or whatever? Yeah, I'm just gonna right give it up because um Yeah, I don't I don't even have cell service at my house. You know, I wanted to so Yeah, so that's our two-step verification. Okay, so you're going to take care of working with judy and sandra on that Yeah at the record reflect. Yeah All right, so can we have a motion to go into executive sessions so that jerome and katie can Pack up and we can discuss per the president section one three one three a three personnel matters Second