 Meeting to order. We do have a quorum So before we start let's do the introductions. Hey, I'm Shabbat. Come on. I'm delegate from Orange And I'm Bob Klein Delegate from my pillar Rom a Schneider delegate from Williamstown, and I'm Alan Gilbert. I'm a delegate from Worcester For a better straighter. I'm the clerk so the first thing is Agenda revisions, I kind of got the one of the things I'd like to do is I kind of got the impression that people were interested more in a 90-minute meeting in a hundred and twenty minutes so After thinking about the agenda that as I sent it around just because of the topics is everybody comfortable with just going for 90 minutes Which is fine by me. I mean because I rewrote the timing on this to you know I'd still try to fit everything in there I just a few more few less minutes on different topics, but if we need more or less anyway, so I will work very hard and Sometimes I'll be a little overbearing, but I will make sure we get out of here at 2 30. Okay, that's great Well, that's okay. Let's try 3 30 Why not I'm maybe I was out west a little further Okay, so is there any any other agendas other than timing that people are interested in agenda revisions? I wonder about the budget Okay, I that should be a separate item and whether and and maybe it's covered by something already in here. Yeah, I See which one the preparation for audits and compliance that that one comes under that section I thought but we'll find out because there's also the In other words, yes, the budget fits in there somewhere. Yeah, you know all that budget discussion. So the note-taker Expectations I Don't mind taking notes You know that that's it's fine by me. I I'm used to taking notes to meet the legal requirements, but I also think that we also need to you know What's we discuss and drop list or we have concepts or ideas that we want to bring forward to the full board They should be included in the minutes just to make sure that they get meant. Yeah Why don't let me suggest this and see if people will go for it I think it's a fair thing to actually rotate note takers Okay, and it might be good for you to do first set So we have some sense of what your expectations just chair are what you want minutes. Okay, does that make sense? No, that's that's fine. Okay. Yeah, I don't mind at all because actually I had planned on to be a regular thing on the agenda to take a couple minutes and Pick a note taker for the meeting. I think I mean, I I don't mind just worth getting ready People are only gonna do that seems fair and all that kind of stuff. All right, so I'll take it. I'll take it tonight Today this afternoon So any other any other thing else for note taker expectations? If it's beyond a motion made Essentially, you know just to quickly outline the fact that we maybe discussed an item I'm not going to put in extra in less as a group. We feel that it needs to get passed on to the full board And there you know there there's some minimal requirements on Committee meeting norms So we're moving along pretty good here. I was actually quite generous with some of the minutes I left on some of these things. So the committee meeting norms I don't know if people feel that there needs to be a discussion on those or not basically when I wrote a meeting My job as chair is to make sure everybody gets some input to make sure we come to conclusion on decisions that need to be made Make sure we stick to an agenda and we get out of here on time and The X my expectation on myself and everybody else is that we're gonna sit here and be civil and have civil discussion regardless Just one quick note. Does anybody need Wi-Fi that doesn't I would like Wi-Fi. It's Vermont It's BCLF guest is the network So then a lot of networks Well, you were done I was over in the coffee shop. So I'm not even seeing It's sometimes pretty far down because it's the the routers actually downstairs, so it's You think it would be the strongest signal since you're here, but it's not necessarily the strongest. Which one am I looking for? And that was I'm sorry, I'm gonna make you repeat it. That's what it was Vermont That's you're allowed to be Okay, so this is this is one I'm think it's good kind of decides like where to put the budget and stuff in this discussion the committee charge And the what I have here is just to Review the committee charge and as we feel that we need it to develop a common understanding of what our realm of action is and possibly any questions that we need to Bring back to the board if we have any confusion about it. So the committee charge was, you know, kind of simple Oversight overfunding bank account research and preparation for audits and compliance And the agenda I broke them down into oversight of funding Bank account research and preparation of audits. I interpreted that to mean oversight only applied to funding You know, we weren't overseeing bank account research We were supposed to do bank account research and we weren't overseeing the preparation for audits and compliance at this point But we were actually going to do the preparation. I Could see that last one changing if we go to a Regular treacher And what's actually meant by compliance? Are you thinking it means? Are you thinking it means compliance with requirements for reports? Or just financial matters general financial matters or I Mean is there a formal definition in the financial world of what the word compliance means? Well, I think yeah, it depends on What you need to be in compliance with Right as a and what you're doing. Yeah, what rules apply to our particular Entity financial rules or all kinds of you well, whatever I would think we would be oh Yeah, good question because I mean a statute has all kinds of rules in it and we can't be responsible Yeah, I would say just the financial rules relating to But district if that's the case and we need to let others Yeah, no that we're only looking at that sliver and then somebody else think that the policy committee would be tasked with the broader compliance with the other parts of the statute. Yeah, we're the executive committee one of the two of them Yeah So I just worried about that when I saw it because compliance is a huge word. Yeah, so I'm going to just put down committee is looking for precise guidance Institutionary responsibility I can't even spell guidance anymore GU what GUI, right? Thank you, and that's where I was missing. I've tried to spell it how I pronounce it precise guidance What is meant by? Compliance Anybody have any otherwise have any Questions as far as you know, I mean the areas that we're Oversight over funding we don't have any funding so I'm not really I don't know how would what that would look like, but I'm not even sure that would end up staying with us. What do you think would it? But it's there now. I I don't think it means what I originally thought it meant Which was that we were being tasked with fundraising I think what it means is work supposed to watch to make sure what people say is Supposed to happen and does happen is consistent with the way we have agreed to raise funds So I I didn't Because if you remember there was that there was a conversation at the board meeting about what's the difference between the finance committee and a Development committee and usually a development committee that that fund raises, you know and the finance committee typically is in charge of making sure that That everything the development committee says is happening really is happening and make sure money is coming in like it's supposed to How would you say that if you were gonna break that down into one short sentence? You're an attorney. You must be able to I'm not attorney. That's me. No, you're not that's right I'm sorry. I shouldn't keep calling you that not that I'd like attorneys I'm forgetting you're not because of your position you held with the ACLU for so long I mean, I can't decide if it's a problem or a plus and not be an attorney Test the committee with oversight over the organization's finances With with with ongoing review of the organization's finances Yeah, I'm just trying to make sure because so oversight of funding It's being interpreted So does that make sense to anybody Because I do better on examples so to understand So say somebody decides they want to Give money to the organization to help Find something that they're not doing it as a promissory note or a loan that they're actually doing a gift to the organization But they've got a stipulation on it that it only be spent in say callous Then it would be our responsibility to ensure that set of money went to callous development Not somewhere else that we'd had a separate bucket for that I mean, I I think the way it's usually done in the nonprofit is the pressure or somebody else prepares in a regular report for meetings of the finance committee and on the board and it would detail stuff like that, you know balance sheet Revenue that's been coming in since the last report any stipulations about conditions or That makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, I would want to make sure that that all the items that are audited or Pre-audited in a way. Yeah by the finance can make sure that that stuff is actually happening the way it's supposed to That's why I said I'm going to review because I I mean an audit should be relatively easy for an auditor to do If you have all the stuff right prepare the head of time for the person I've spent a lot less money on it Which is really important So If I leave it at oversight of funding that's being interpreted it's ongoing review of organizations finances Does that meet everybody if we take it at least that way when fight You know, we report back out at least we all know what we're talking about so we can explain more detail Yeah, because I think too like as far as we're working with the development committee For if they want to go out and they need a letter, you know that they're trying to get donations They need a letter approved about something. I think that we would do as a committee and that would be somewhat under the funding oversight, but more probably under the compliance, right as part of our job to make sure that whoever is out there raising money is doing in accordance with the statutes And it's actually doing it or when there's a when there's a grant and they're soliciting a grant It would be our responsibility for reporting and stating. Yes, we have met, you know, like we've been paying our bills This is proof that we've been paying our bills Because some grants want to know the financial performance of the organization or funding who pays the bills I wonder the treasure pays the bills That's it and until we get money coming into the organization. It's a personal expense, right? I'd be willing to Front shavon her Two hours or two hours apart So You just have one question were 501c3 by definition of being a municipal Is my understanding? Yeah that Does that mean that every time there's money given to us a gift? We have to determine No, I guess it's the responsibility of the person who wants to take this attack to Report whether they've got anything in return It would be on us to provide a correct receipt So if maybe part of the money was for something that they received Then it would have to be itemized. So maybe they give us a hundred dollars and fifty dollars of that is for Building a line to their house. Yeah Then that would be itemized as so that it would be not deductible And then it would be $50 donation and that nothing was you know, there'd be a tagline on there that nothing No goods or services were received in but that would come from us, right? So in some sense, that's an example of our doing compliance, right? I shot it with Carol Bonmer the other day I think she mentioned that some of those people who early on you know put down a thousand dollars or whatever it was Still have not received internet access Okay, so then the last two just to see if there's any questions on let's try to get through this pretty quick so Bank account research is pretty self-explanatory, right? But and preparation for audits is okay. You're about a bank Think about a bank if we're gonna somehow split that up that that will come that will come as part of the agenda Yeah, we I think need to come up with a list of items or questions or data that we're going to So we're all the same questions. So that yeah, we're all the same thing That yeah, that'll definitely come up as part of the agenda item Should we also be staying bank or credit union account because I mean the bank people Point out a credit union. It's not a bank, right? We should just Just asking about now just making that change and we can just assume it Yeah, I think everybody would agree we should make some yes that reflects are seeking something maybe beyond the bank From bank account re so assume change from bank account research To something more expansive Have a financial account research Right. Yeah. Well, yeah something more expansive that we can get to at the general meeting and then we'll yeah I'm gonna tell them we're assuming that change That's what I'm just gonna say we assume That's why I put the word assume believe me what I write is what I'm gonna tell them and I Do not I try not to use a lot of adverbs and adjectives. So if they're there, that's because I intend them to be So and then Preparation for the audit I think even if we have no idea what it's about at this point We don't need to really worry about it. Although I think that's self-explanatory at this time Yeah I could listen I could do our audit right now Are you an auditor? Okay, so Committee charge and what I got to pass on is oversight of funding that's being interpreted as committee ongoing review of organizations finances Assume a change from bank account research to something more expansive financial institutions, etc And committee is looking for precise guidance on what is meant by compliance and preparation for audits and compliance Anything else we should be passing on from that Okay, so moving on then to oversight over Funding So and on these so what I did is I The next three items here. I took the committee charge of three items oversight over funding bank account research Preparation for audits and compliance as I broke them each out into their own agenda item and At this point, I guess, you know Whatever discussion we need to have in any if we have to develop any first steps And if we have any more specific items, this would be items specifically about oversight of funding not so much about our charge, but Things that might have to do with oversight over funding That we want Well, I mean short of probably each of us could grab a Monthly report from a treasurer of a nonprofit we've worked for anybody ever wanted examples I mean all the nonprofits I've worked for somebody has done that Um, so I I think people will understand that the only one review is usually a written report that's submitted for a meeting of the finance committee and or the board Um And it will show You know balance in the account revenue Liabilities Money paid out You know one thing we should do I um We should Once we get a checkbook And have an account We should have some sort of internal review of all checks that are written, right? Is that required now actually that somebody other than There has to there have to be two people who essentially approve Well for for us We have to have Two signers on checks I want to say over Um, but I mean it kind of depends so Like for us if we're if it's a loan check or a request from operating funds or something like that That has to be signed off by two Directors and that doesn't mean board directors that means staff directors um And then Um, but like like our phone bill Our bookkeeper just pays that so that doesn't require Like additional Is your bookkeeper separate from your paid staff? Is it somebody you've hired you've contracted with? No, she's staff. Yeah We have a three person finance department Wow I think what i'm remembering is when there was that whole spate of embezzlement within nonprofit organizations The number of people pointed out you only had one person who had the authority to write a check for you know A thousand dollars and nobody else looked at it Yeah, we definitely have more checks and balances than that. Um, and I don't know I think To we actually now that I think about it with um our regular bills like the phone bill like the rent all those kinds of things Lynn prepares all those payments, but then they're signed off by the executive director So I don't think there's any transaction that happens here. That's not seen by at least two people Yeah, well, we should try to figure out a system for having the same safeguard I think that's important We don't want to even get near the idea Things happen when you have software that you use specific software for tracking like bookkeeping and stuff like that I I don't know a lot about bookkeeping software. Um, I am not on the finance department but um So, yeah, I'm trying to remember what the name of it is but No, no, it's something different But it also so it interfaces with our loan management software and all that and like we're pretty complex here But uh, but I would imagine that quick books are I know like sage is a popular one for nonprofits There are a couple others for nonprofits that I haven't There's also a separate quick books for nonprofits It's a separate version. So yeah, I'll have to figure something out Maybe a list We probably want to have I mean we can't really buy it until monies come in We kind of want to have it when the money comes in well, we are and this is one area where I'm not totally familiar yet um, so is everything the same as it would be for 501c3 with us as a communications union district I think so, okay Because one of the things that we can do too is um, we can get a tech soup account That would be really good. Um, and they have so they offer they basically manage Donations or discounts from a bunch of different software providers Very cool. Um, and so you just apply and then you can get, you know, like microsoft office for You know, 20 bucks a year for a user or something like that It's one word Very modern All right, I'm assuming they spelled soup correctly Yes Yeah, and so all we would need to do for that that's where I would Just have to do a little research on what they need because usually what tech suit needs is your letter from the irs saying that you're 501c3 I don't know that they I'm it would probably just be our certificate from You know, they might not let let government entities. Oh, okay, you know, I've never yeah, I threw a government entity for it But it's worth a try. Yeah, see what they say. Yeah, where's the condo say no, yeah, and then we plead poverty and It's just true Well, I know I'll tell you and some of these because having experience with doing a little more of a hat job on bookkeeping for a Non-profit and it's William Sound food shelf, right? I was just picked off the streets to be their treasure and this was even before we became our own nonprofit Simply because I was one I could kind of balance the checkbook, you know, I mean, that's what they were looking for First that's all we needed but as time is going on and then people have asked for a little more Detailed bookkeeping that I was using I've been using GNU cash, which it's you know, it's open software solution and it works Well for what it's advertised for working and it works as advertised. It just isn't You know, it's it's all It's just not the adequate solution for what's needed. I can tell you right now. So we really should look I I know having research for the food shelf some of these other options that They offer right out of the box, you know full setups with full support as far as how to set things up And you're not left with somebody like me sitting there guessing how to set up an account system Yeah, and then not setting it up very well and having to redo it and yeah But as long as I'm the only one looking at it, I can redo it to my heart's content The scary part is someday I'm going to have to hand it off to somebody And they're in trouble You know, it might be worth it asking her if Tomei what they've done that at ecfiber Do you do you have a way of contacting him? I don't but I probably can get On that app is a procedure. Let me see Because they they must have figured this out Mm-hmm. I think so we used a quick book for non quick books for nonprofit When I was the executive director of a much smaller nonprofit in Iowa and I think certainly At least at this stage, it would be plenty that would be plenty robust for what we need now For the next year or so at least You can set up all your vendor account. So if we have you know, like regular bills You can set that all up in your chart of accounts and that kind of stuff, but same You know, like when I was a treasurer for a much smaller nonprofit That basically we were just doing, you know, four or five things. I just did that in excel. Yeah In quick books is popular and up and well known enough that even if we end up moving to something else Transferring from quick books to something else should be Comparatively painless I have a question about this bank account Business, I think we're next Hold on to that. That's the next agenda item. We are coming on bank account researchers number seven I want to make sure we get through this one first But here we're still trying to talk specifically about oversight over the funding right So right now what I have to take forward is to let him know his policy. We need to develop some policies And procedures for financial checks and balances, right? I put process I should put procedures Well, that that's a good question. I think we should probably but uh We need We could make some suggestions, maybe I mean, it'd be great if they would do it, but I'm not sure we really that's the best way to do it We might have some really weird policy right being a member of the policy committee Well, yeah, I think it's important that it be kind of coordinated in the sense that We don't want to develop a policy that's going to contradict something that gets created in the Policy or it just doesn't make sense. You know because people aren't as familiar with I mean you two probably know as much about finances any of us and it's got to be more than The other people in the policy committee I don't think there's any really, you know, oh now you have the superintendent there Well, Jim bar. Yeah, and Jim Barlow sort of knows some of this just by being an attorney who worked for leave citizen towns But still better for us to think this through I think So that we we could we could develop that we could be given the policies with input from us And we could develop the procedures for implementing those So, okay, I'll put that suggestion in there I'll see you and bylaws develops policy we can you know bar I can certainly Bring some templates and samples and that kind of stuff. We want advantage of Being here is that we do have investors here in addition to grantees or grantors So You know, we do all of that kind of stuff And we do our investments as promissory notes, so And I I've been for The better part of the last decade I've been Involved in just this sort of a process First it was the Orange North Supervisory Union in the Williamstown school district now It's the because of the mergers the central Lamott Supervisory Union and Pay Mountain School District So this contact we actually go to three people and it's something I really push very hard at that we have So we have a bookkeeper that's entered. Well, actually the bills get okayed by the Business manager in some cases a superintendent. I will not let the business manager sign off for himself But so the bills get okayed by the business manager They get entered into the the Warrants get created by the bookkeeper And then a board member and it's usually has been me sent by choice actually because I really get interested in this stuff Goes through and but I'm not really there to question the bills as much to make sure There's a bill. There's a corresponding charge, right? Or there's a charge as a corresponding bill to make sometimes I Look at the bills, too But that's more out of personal interest my job in that part is not really to okay the bills They've been okay My job is to make sure that what's reflected in that warrant list and the bills lit pile Are the same and then they go in the case of the school district. They actually goes down to the town treasurer Who signs the checks and in the case of the Central amount supervisory union The warrants then go to another board member who signs the checks so that we end up with a minimum of three people involved But you know, we did we did too for a while there I was I was doing that final check on the warrants and signing the checks for the supervisory union But I really I fought against that. It's just we didn't have people to do it. You know, it was an absolute But it's not a good way And I tell you when it comes the reason I like to talk about the school districts on that When saman was still the auditor He did a state he went out and did an audit of school districts My feeling was he was expecting to find all sorts of waste and fraud in the system And he came back that over a 10-year period is like something I calculated it out to be like a point zero zero zero zero three percent waste and fraud and that's because Just about all supervisory unions just about all school districts have multiple people involved, you know You don't have the same person saying oh, yeah, I can write this jacket. It's okay. Yeah, man. Let me sign it you know So Yeah, it's actually quite rare when you see a school district getting in trouble I think it does have a lot to do the number of eyes that we have on bills Yeah, I think it's smaller nonprofits with with a limited number of people involved in the operation and have the problems I mean the thing that I've been thinking about is The way that irv described how they set up their Revenue coming in and how they were expending it was was a little bit complicated for For who for who they were I mean they they were getting money in different ways including promissory notes and essentially bonds and they were redeeming bonds early and All that kind of stuff and then they had contractors who were actually Providing the labor they needed to build the system and it just sounded it got complicated pretty quickly I think it's better to have more oversight than less oversight But without being cumbersome. I mean we have to trust a contractor. I think yeah So anything else anybody wants to Anything else I should put in to bring forward to the board for oversight of funding very specifically You still have a few more minutes on that Do you do you guys have insurance? Do you have to get liability insurance? For a community I think so. I mean I assume so are we going to have to do that for this communications union district? Once we Uh, I would think the contractor would carry For the yeah for the installation and the workers who were doing the installation I don't know what our liability would be Yeah, I don't know Making we would need to make sure that they were bonded in sure We need to figure out the lines of responsibility are you right? Yeah, because I think in that sense this is This is different than what I would think of as a nonprofit. So like our liability insurance Is well, I mean we have things like coverage for if people are You know driving in their cars For work purposes and that kind of stuff Um, and then we also have dno. So directors and officers insurance um I don't know that we have liability insurance beyond that um I don't know that I don't I don't know what else we would need it for For what we do here um, I mean there are enough things that we have to Do correctly because of what we do in terms of the lending and There are regulations in place, right? But we don't have insurance for those and then we have employers insurance, right? beyond workers comp so Employment practices and and those kinds of things so which would kick in if we get staff, right and we're not contracting If we're not contracting everything So we're in all those three different charges where would insurance fall under if we were going to ask that question I would think it would be compliance as part because it's It's making sure that you're operating Legally and that you're I'll put a note in there just for us anyway I mean, I think it's yeah, it's kind of two different questions like Do we need to be insured what what insurance do we need to have if any as the kind of body that we are and then Is there any other insurance that we would want to have? Beyond that So I don't want to skip ahead too far here. So getting back to the oversight over funding here anything else here So what I have to bring forward we need policies and procedures for financial checks and balances Policy and bylaws develops policy finance develops procedures. That's just our suggestion bookkeeping software Sage quick by just wrote down what we did for the example sage quick books texu What is ec fiber or others done other? Anything else? and we're uh, so Okay, used up a lot of 20 minutes on that one. So 20 minutes now for bank account research Financial institution account right Let me just type in here so I can keep track of the timing that we got So So I I guess so okay. So first let let's let me miss make note of that bit about that we begin at Should be right financial We're a nonprofit institution research I can spell institution, right? and then So Becca if I could because you circulated the email I'm thinking about how to divide the stuff up if you've had any more thoughts about it About which and what you were thinking. Um Well, I think you know, certainly we can look at like a td or something like that, but I would think we would start with institutions that have That are are located within the region that we serve um, and maybe somewhat Don't necessarily go beyond that a lot. Um Although there are certainly statewide things that are That could be useful, but um You know, I think just for for practical purposes for one um If you're talking about You know when we're starting out Treasurer is going to be a volunteer position They're going to have to be you know going physically to make deposits and those kinds of things I want to bring something up about that but later because this isn't a particular time, but just so You're aware of it I'm going to ask you to actually step away the tape from the table for the moment You can stay in the room Because I am going to seriously suggest that we bring forward to the board the possibility of trying to find Some money up front so that we can pay a treasurer when we Have a treasurer because I get but we we go into that later So I just just so you understand what I'm saying there. I don't want to like I'm not the treasurer yet. That's right But because it does involve possible you As soon as we mentioned money, yeah, I have I have turned in my resignation as the second alternate Okay, so but I so I just mentioned because of what you said there is I so I you know, I think we need to talk about that one Yeah, what kind of Where will we put the limits on institutions that we'll get so like td is like a federal there's they're all over the place So that that's kind of an obvious one, but is say the Is it union is union bank union bank just have Morrisville actually, right? Yeah, so that is that within our region that we serve I think There's the federal credit union new england federal credit One's credit union now because they're they're taken over by that credit union now that is based out 11 on new hampshire, but Do they they have an office right up in each barrier? We've been using them for 20 some ideas Where do we where do we go with that? That's what do we care? I mean, well, I think too like you don't want I don't think we're necessarily obligated to Find information from every single possible institution that might qualify either. I mean, I think if you because we're I mean, we are looking at I think we're looking at two purposes here in Doing this research one is that we want to find an institution that has an affinity for You know local organizations local economic development Vermont Values those kinds of things and then also straight up costs Comparison would that be correct? I'm hoping that there's people that have more experience at higher levels of nonprofit finances than me that can give some Guidance as to what questions I would walk in and ask I mean I have some general ones that I know to ask such as how much would it cost You know, what kind of services do you provide? But I don't know if there's specific questions we need to ask walking in I had when I opened the williams town food shelf account I walked in and opened a checking account And it was just a simple basic checking account. They gave us, you know, I think we get free checking or something You know, it's not even because we're non-profit. It's just they're standard checking. So that's just No, that said what is now lake sunopee? It's they've got a branch of williams town there, which also is another I mean, is that considered, you know serving our area, right? What what was it called before did you say? What was it before? You said it was in east barrier barrier or something. Oh, that's the credit union there. It is now called one credit union Uh, it was called I forget what the name of I can't even remember. It's just a member of it for so long Okay, but it was an east barrier and and they they merged with the credit union over in new hampshire Yeah, I've been a member of vcq since we moved here in 93 So I don't have you know, I've got some very limited experience with some other banks one of the things that I was thinking is It would be nice if they had a decent online banking presence So that it kind of is supporting kind of what we're talking about here No, you have to go to the bank Yeah, great. Um I know we uh Here at vclf we use peoples for most things They they have a special they have special rates for nonprofits Then personally we're members of the Vscc also and we have our mortgage through northfield because we bought our land before we moved here So we couldn't be members of the sec Although we've been very happy with them, you know For our personal stuff and the other thing too is that we don't have to do I mean our main checking and savings should be at the same place But then once we get into you know, looking at cds or you can go anywhere You don't have to have everything all in one place And in fact, you know, once we get over the fdic and shirt amount You don't want everything My comment about this was with that we think about checking accounts. This is really about more than checking accounts You know, eventually we may want a credit card, you know when I get stuff at amazon It goes on my credit card. I don't send amazon to check And the other thing that occurs to me is that We're going to some lengths to find a local financial Institution that we feel we can work with Is cdi going to institute the same kind of policy same kind of thinking with respect to buying things And in a way purchases Have a much bigger impact on profitability that I think then who then A banking relationship And it's finance committee supposed to the kind of a guiding policy that we try to stick local Or again, it seems fair that we do that. We're asking people buy local from us. Yeah It seems appropriate to keep the money in the community Nice you you I think Becca mentioned fiduciary responsibility or did you mention fiduciary? I said the word fiduciary. All right, okay So how does a nonprofit Deal with fiduciary responsibility when You're not trying to look just at the bottom line, but you're trying to do what bob just suggested Which is to favor say the local economy. Does that one counter to what your fight fiduciary responsibility is as I say It can I suppose if it costs you more right to do it that way, right I know from the legal standpoint, I think it's okay to some degree That you can You don't always for instance when when you're on a municipality is you don't always have to take one of the lowest bidders But you have to be within range of the lowest bidder and you have Generally you need to have some decent reason. I know we have and school district and williams town we Occasionally have picked something that's slightly more expensive because they're a local vendor Over somebody that wasn't seems like we could as as a matter of policy as as our fight in within our financial arena is set A kind of rule of thumb as guidance not as a this is what you'll do But as a as a guidance of say If the local option is say 25 or more higher than this other option We need to review it or something like that, but otherwise, you know what within a price range of Because most of the stuff we're probably gonna price a ream of paper. I don't think we're going to go Pricing around a lot, but some of the stuff that we might end up having to obtain We probably price it before we bought it. And and so it shouldn't be too complicated to Try and meet just a guideline so that we're we're owning that we have a local responsibility But we also have this fiduciary responsibility to not overspend because to spend responsibly because We want the the organization to remain Afloat and we are in a competitive situation right Right and so so like, you know, we may not be able to Hire a local ISP to roll out wire on the roads Because who we get Okay, I think at this point we're getting a little far field from the financial institutions By the way, this is what I meant that I can be I can be a bit of a pain in the ass on this But otherwise we're smart people and there's a lot of stuff we could talk about all day long So I just worry about some stuff like this because you can really get into very long discussions I mean to go on forever. Well, this is why to start with the you know discussing it and start the questions We start the the best thing about discussion I have found in these committees is we get a feel for what people are what we're each thinking and what's possible to move forward as a group with So what what I put down there for that was how should policy regarding choosing fine financial institutions work in conjunction with policy regarding Other service and product purchases I also have the should be financial institution research and quotes make sure we bring that That seems to be something we need to do And I think that's a good question to take back to the the board as a whole is is that balance of Do we do we want to be looking at things on the straight cost or do we want to prioritize local and to that extent And there's a good play. Do you know the banks would Financial institution would be a good place for us to stretch our legs on that and see how it fits Our vision, you know, they could be CUD vision so Uh So we should start now. I I don't know if I should keep this in but start with institutions that serve our region Should I leave that in there something to bring forward? I believe so yes, I think so I mean serve our region really kind of leaves it open because Yeah and then This is a real short list. I was just because the conversation things to look for and and by the way at this at this moment we still have Another almost 10 minutes to spend on this so if there's more so things to look for Online access special rates for nonprofits primary checking and saving should be in same bank not necessary for investments, etc a credit debit card availability Anything else that should be thrown in there right now? I mean, this doesn't have to be the end all but if we're going to plan on I guess my next question is are we planning on leaving here? With each of us with with our own with a mini charge from the committee to go out and do some research on this I think we need to list questions first. Okay, we're quite ready to talk to the institutions yet because we haven't agreed on What are we going to ask them? And I think we need to ask them all the same question because otherwise we'll come and go like you'll do this one You do that one and oh, I should have asked that question Yeah, we really should have a good list of questions Okay So maybe then what to give us time on that so rather than sit here and just spend a lot of time trying to think up questions If you guys Sit down spend a few minutes some point thinking about this and say geez you know I just thought I'll send me an email and I'll just keep I'll just keep tagging on And have a list compiled that you know will come forward at the board of whatever anybody sent me You know, I'm not going to filter it or anything. So be careful. So I have a board look at it And they can say no don't ask that question. Yes ask that question Suggest another question I like that I like that idea because then we're getting information that some of them Yeah, because I don't necessarily think like the rest of them and so we're at least getting some If we give them examples it may encourage them to think of other things that we haven't thought of Well, it gives us feedback and and actually I hadn't thought about it in those terms, but I think that's an excellent point My primary my initial reasoning on doing this and making sure we bring some stuff forward is so they understand what we were thinking You know, but but yeah, I I think you know in the avenue of two-way thinking that it works So do we want to move on from bank account research or does anybody have anything else to add to that at the moment? Good, okay And also along with the list of things to look for if you think of specific institutions that you think would be good You know good starting places send those along to I'll build those up We're back for recess now. So That's good that that only took us a minute off So we're actually still within schedule that That's the 90 minute meeting there. So we're on to now. This is preparations for audits and compliance And I did already include about what type what about insurance? What types when do we need it, etc? So that's already here, I um just had wrote and written some notes and This is where I had how to approach subject of salary for CUD treasurer. However, I think that should be moved I'm going to move that down and Bring it up under the committee round table because it will I just want to make sure we have everybody to discuss audits and compliance here And I don't want to chase anybody away from the table at this moment so So this is where we kind of need to review 30 vsa 30 70 30 74 and 30 75 these are all parts of the CUD law There are other parts that deal with finances and as bob was very kind to point out that, you know, we actually have work Something to find you work for us, right? Yeah, and so 30 75 is the budget. That's where the bulk of the Work comes out 30 74 Deals with our fiscal year, which unfortunately does set it at january 1st through december 31st and 30 70 just talks about the audit, which is I think at this point the least Pressing a bit of business for us because even if we Had an audit to do it wouldn't be done until well 2020 at this point right the spring of 2020 because we'd have to get through 2019 To have anything auditable in a year. It's horrible So So that the audit requirement starts out once the district becomes operational When we now operational, you know, or is there Every operation only after we can start taking it and spending money That's a good question What's the difference between organization, you know, data organization versus data operation I mean the fact that they say something like that suggests to me it's when you Aren't doing what we're doing now, which is planning how to run things. It's when you actually get up and running Can't really audit This is development and testing we're not we're not in production yet Yeah, maybe we can just say that our understanding of the audit is we're not really operational to the point of an audit being necessary for fiscal for 2018 Is everybody comfortable? I'm comfortable with that. I don't know what else we do Yeah, is there a point at which we report to the towns or supply the audit to the towns is that to find Not to toms is it it's the budget is but I would think would be foolish not to Because we're dealing with select boards and city councils and that are all used to seeing them and probably having a built-in expectation of one But I I don't think in 30 The only thing that I remember seeing that were required to present are are the The initial estimate of budget that's the october report and then At some point we have to present an actual budget We're supposed to have a public hearing and present an actual budget, right? It says together with a financial statement of proposed district budget for the next fiscal year and a forecast Presenting anticipated year-end results I don't know if they mean year-end of the current fiscal year or the next fiscal year And then it would have to be the the next fiscal year because you can't forecast the current fiscal year because you're doing it Right, but you can have a forecast event of your balance Yeah The other point I wanted to make about this is is that at least in the ninth in nonprofits I've known about There wasn't a narrative that went along with the budget that would say For example, you know revenues are at you know 75 percent of our year-end Number we expect to make that number because Here's what happened with revenues and in december takes a jump Um, so that's the it's a combination of you know a narrative plus Explaining plus an estimate And then there is Coincident with a regular meeting or other board should hold a public hearing on it before november 15th of each year to receive Comments from legislative bodies of district members and hear all other interested persons regarding the proposed budget At least we only have to hold one Yeah We have to give notice of such hearing to the legislative bodies of district members at least 15 days prior to such hearing The board shall give consideration to all comments received and make such changes to the proposed budget as it deemed advisable And then the budget has to the board has to adopt the budget by december 15th That seems kind of mean we're like most of select boards meet the first like we give the month So we're giving them over 15th we're saying okay We're having this meeting and then they you have two weeks to get this decided on And get your comments back to us That's their problem Well, if you think about it though if we do our job Because we're we're actually that's just in a way some ways it's a little bit different and We're I am sitting on a board and this is the first time i'm on a board where i'm representing Another board in other words, you know, I serve at the williams town select boards Pleasure So i'm i'm representing them and presumably williams town through them This is as opposed to being on the school board where i'm directly You know, i'm just accountable to the voters. They're the only ones that can move me out of office So that has kind of colored my thinking on it and that you know, we we do need to I My approach has been to talk to talk to the williams town select board and to set up a just a Time where so that we'll have a steadily steady give and take on it. So that as these things come up Hopefully short of emergencies or you know things that Unexpected circumstances that At least people have some awareness of what's coming on the world so that if they see a budget of you know, let's 25 million dollars They're not going to be totally surprised because i've been telling them we're looking at somewhere between 20 and 30 million Well, and I think plus the fact that we're not Asking for town funds Yeah, I take some of the you know, I mean the not that they're going to rubber stamp it, but it gives them an opportunity to You know, they're weighing in philosophically more than financially I think Yeah Yeah, it would be odd if they would have control over our finances where we cannot get any of our financial back Yeah, it's a little bit, but I I guess they're representing the people in our districts, right this lightboard. So that's legitimate Yeah, I was kind of curious as to why they have such a tight connection, I guess they were thinking along the lines of regional waste disposal You know the environmental play the act 250 processes all based on regional things. Those are all things Regional planning, etc. Those are all Select board appointment based Well, maybe to just you know protecting people like when you look what just happened with the What was it called coverage something coverage the rural cell phone coverage So let me We I guess our question I think we should ask and I don't know or maybe we should just make a statement that we're going to but our Something you had mentioned when we were sitting down over at Bob's place down there that Should we be asking do they want us to prepare an October report this time around? No, I think uh, Jeremy said he was taking that on this time around That he was going to prepare the report for the select boards. Yeah I do remember that yes, and I suppose if We care we could make sure that Jeremy says something about financial statement budget forecast, etc. If if it's best Mentioned in that report in his report So that we don't have to do it separately process. Yeah I'm sure any reporting We want to do is another related issue too, which is that It's a little awkward now Because we're just getting started, but at some point this organization should have um A schedule at that's home that that says okay budgets are due to select them in October to reverse Therefore the board needs to start discussing budgets in free picketing. Yeah, um and And then the finance committees to do x y or z Just so that we are on top of it next time And with auditing too and then we we don't need to do a 990 like other nonprofits do right? Nobody's being paid No, so Well not yet You know, we should just not pay anybody for anything. I mean because We're yeah as far as the taxing and you know payrolls all that stuff to reporting whether it's by Because I I don't think if we hire if we appoint a treasurer and pay a treasurer, it wouldn't be on a 990 you'd get The 1040 or not the 1040 the w2 right? Right, so the 990 is what the nonprofit turns in Oh, that's like your tax a nonprofit's tax return. That's right. Yeah Is the 990 that lists, you know, you're you're bored and I bet they must I've seen tax notices that the school districts for it before Well, that's a good question that school turn in or a town turn in 990. Yeah That's a good we could just ask a town clerk, I guess Maybe we don't want to ask That is a good question. I'm gonna put for town clerk to on that because I Now why the town clerk? Who would we ask about that? Who would be a good one? Treasuries I know I'm gonna ask I'm gonna ask chrystal caron on our business manager Because yeah, he would he knows this stuff really well And he's you know, he's used to working on a big nonprofit With employees You know the other thing I'm doing I'm I'm making a list of things I could ask her of tome about And I can just ask him if he see fibers ever filed a 990. So he says I I know Everybody's still having no actually I've I've been losing it and it's coming back. So he's been That's anthony so He is So what I've got to this point I'm trying to wrap up this section by 310 Which is right now So what I've got here at the moment For preparation for audits and compliance our understanding of the audit is one isn't due until 2020 after fy 19 What about insurance? What types? When do we need it? Include narrative and october budget report and propose budget Make sure any reporting we want to do is included with report hansen has had said he'd do the october report Board and finance committee schedules must reflect necessary dates And I should get a little more expansive on that I issue I'll just bet you that when I used to work for the nature conservancy and when we when we would be the subject of the audit They would look not just at You know financials, but they would you know want to know that You know everybody's using their assigned vacation time That travel vouchers are signed off on by supervisors, you know, blah, blah Basically they looked at all the policies That's that stand behind The not just the financials but running the organization And we need to be clear about Whether it'd be useful to know whether when we say audit we're talking about a financial audit Or an audit of the whole kid in caboo You know, maybe I'll what I'm going to do too. Yeah I'm going to just sunday general email to the state treasurer's office and see if they have any guidance to offer on that You know as far as to say, yeah, this is a checklist of things you need to do Yeah, great. Yeah. Yeah, because I know You know, they have both the I'm pretty sure the treasurer's office and the Secretary of state Secretary of state and the attorney general all have kind of you know guides for nonprofits and that kind of stuff, but I don't know You know, because we're weird I don't know if we you know, we definitely follow all the you know, because we're a municipality We function like a municipality, but we also function like an on-profit and it's just kind of um I don't know if there's specific items out there for Exactly what we are You know who might be able to help us Jim borrlow and ask me lct because we're essentially like a city or a town Right. We're not allowed to be a co-op. Right. We don't like the word co-op cooperative I mean, we are a communications union district. So I don't know if that that's a different thing Yeah, it is. Yeah, that's that's toward a creation Cool, but then you can act like a co-op but technically we're a cudd Well, if you hadn't said it I would have So I added in there then contact state treasurer. So I'd now take this one I'm just I'm going to it's going to be simple. I'm going to start with just sending them an email But to contact state treasurer's office secretary state's office and the attorney general's office regarding guidance on tax and other filings required required of a CUD I just love it that we get to sit in vermont and chew our cudd Anything else somebody anybody wants in there or any other comments before we move on What does the you stand for union union? So community communications Union district. That's all right. It took me a while to I had to see it in a number of times. I kept saying community too Okay, so We could just so we're at quarter after here. So let's get out of here and no more than 15 minutes Maybe a little less. So future meeting dates and locations mostly what I'm interested in here is just you guys have preferences I 90 minutes seems to be a preference. Is that right? If possible, okay Yeah, no, I I understand if possible is always there and anything I say, but if I'm the type I'll sit there for hours, you know So 90 minutes is preferred Any specific locations? I always think it'd be kind of neat if we could I mean there's five of us here Are we each from different communities? No, we have two east mom feel here. Well, we're from four different communities You know, I mean, they'd be kind of fun if we if we had the opportunity to kind of move them around Uh, I know in williams town. It'd be easy. I would either could I definitely make these of either the person the What do they call it the public safety building? You know, that's the fire department ambulance You got to call it public safety. We put in a little room for the sheriff's to use Which made it a public safety building which made a like A couple million dollars worth of federal money and available to help build the structure And and of course up to schools and the schools have some really great places to go To be able to have a comfortable meeting I think the orange town hall is nice, but it's kind of out of the way from everybody else That's a hike Especially in bad weather, right? Yeah But So I mean I'm flying on Central point. It seems to be Montpelier Yeah, I work in Montpelier So and you work in Montpelier. I don't know where y'all work You're I try not to work, but I I live and I work in Williamstown. Yeah, I yeah, I'm retired, but I If I hang out anywhere, it's here in Montpelier So Montpelier seems good and there are locations. I mean obviously here, but there's also library. There's schools You know, we allowed to use national life State offices. I'm sure they have space available. I can grab them because that's where that's where I work Is that a state office? I'm sure I I know they have spaces they make available for public meetings up there. I don't know what the rules are I don't either Is this space is it okay to use the space or is it a pain for you to have to arrange that? No, I asked well and he's fine and I we all have access to our conference room schedule and so I mean there are certain times It's not heavily utilized so Unless and until we get to a point where We've got people. We've got people. Yeah, you know large public interest or the committee gets a lot larger or whatever Obviously, this is a little bit limited Well, we could other than that It's if we focus on the general location then and the days and the times that are best And then especially in Montpelier if we're focusing on Montpelier is being the general location There's enough meeting spaces that we can find a place to meet our meeting right So Yeah, I grab pretty much anything at national life if I've got notice. Okay, so I know 90 minutes is preferred Days of the week are there any preferences I can tell you right now Wednesdays right now Basically, I think the second Wednesday of the month is about the only Wednesday The second Tuesday wouldn't be good for any of us. Tuesdays are generally bad for me. Okay, and what time of day are we talking about? That too along with the days that's going to be a little tricky for me because we have one car Okay, we work until 4 30 And then I have to get my husband home in orange and then I can go out And so, you know, I usually I get home to orange about five ish But you don't want to have to take your husband home and then come back here Oh, I do that all the time. That's That's a slip. I have a lecture card. Okay There we go, yeah, it's like 25 minutes of stuff at that So are other people okay with evening meetings? I prefer evening meetings Because otherwise I have to take leave time and and that's that's a hardship I mean because we have chronic health stuff and so I'm always short on leave But I could make leave time work if I had to Especially if we were up at national life You could just schedule this meeting So do we Well, that might wait, that's just one on the record. I didn't say that maybe Alternating, I mean evenings are are possible for me, but they're But they're hard also because I have kids And oh, yeah So what works best for you during the day at the end of the workday kind of thing four o'clock or something? What about early morning? Define early Well, I'm thinking for something like this early would be eight or nine o'clock You know, but I'm thinking I'm keep catching whoever has to go to work somewhere You know catch you guys on the way to work Um, I could do as early as eight Because by that time I have everybody Where they need to be Yeah, and if I've got notice I can flex my schedule So I could like add some time to a telephone day or something like that and my boss is amenable to that if it's not too frequent Because I can do mornings with notice like an eight to nine thirty. Yeah, but they actually be good for you It'd be good for you, but it would depend on the day But yeah, and I think if we really tighten if we tighten up the agenda and make sure that we stick to things That have to be dealt with and you know, we could probably do an hour meeting Yeah, I think we could after we get I don't know if you feel up to driving down a Worcester from Worcester for an hour, right? But you're not I don't mind driving out. Williamston isn't that bad. It's only 20 minutes. So, yeah Oh, is it eight eight? That's fine. Yeah So I'm gonna try it and if it doesn't work for somebody you can choose So eight a.m. And uh, so do you want to do this monthly? Or is it How do you guys want to try to do it? I do you want to try to set up a monthly day of the day of the month? Or do you want to just try to buy here again? And I'll just circulate a series of possible dates and let people pick it up I think we ought to give the eight a.m. Meeting time at fry without locking yourselves into a specific Just in case there's something we're not thinking about so I'll circulate a set of dates to pick from Just so A menu of dates I'm I'm going to be out of the country the 16th to the 28th of september That should be okay because yeah, I don't think so. Yeah, I don't think it'll be a problem. So what days though? Me yeah, I am leaving on the 16th and I am not getting back until the 27th And then that's september. You said september. Yes Otherwise I'm around that's one of the reasons I have such a tight leave time So we're taking two weeks to go to england And I'm out town for work the 12th and 13th of september Actually, I could do The 12th because I leave that afternoon so for doing early morning. I could do the 12th But that's like only two weeks away I mean you're looking for either very end of september beginning of october, right? Yeah, I mean that would be it because in our next meeting c 11 for the full board so Yeah, the 28th would work the 27th would not work for me because I'm beyond airplane Okay, the 28th. I could make work I'll I'll after that. I'll grab a list of dates and just pass them around, you know Pick which ones work and we'll send them back right You know generally listen my experience is it takes usually a couple emails to pin down a meeting date You know you you send out a bunch of the things for people to choose from they choose Some number of them and then you just look and you say well Who's how are we going to be able to get a working number of people together? Because we're not all going to be able to make every meeting. It's not going to ever happen I'm gonna try yeah, but I wanted a word We will print out gold stars I want a gold star too. I haven't gotten them since kindergarten. I miss this room would not be available on mondays At that time. Well, we have a meeting that starts in here at nine o'clock every monday, so we can join them We're here. All right, so uh, so there are 14 of us so you can imagine We're outnumbered All right So for future meeting dates locations and times then I will be looking at 90 minutes I'll schedule, you know the schedule will be developed for 90 minutes We'll be looking at trying to start at 9 a.m. And I'll pick a series of dates that will be after the 27th Of september All right, so now we're up to the public comment Do you have anything good? So now the committee member roundtable and this is something I'm also planning on keeping in the agenda Even though it'll I'll keep it down to five minutes or even less if that's all we need But I think it's important that we all Especially to give me feedback to let me know if the meeting's being run right My job is not here Like I don't view my job as a chair to be everybody's leader My job is to run the meeting make sure we have an agenda The agenda is taken care of in the business that we have that we've all agreed that we have to take care of get taken care of So I need to be told if I'm doing what you guys expect And the other thing is there may be things that people want to bring up for future meetings Or just want to mention so in in light of that I I want to mention two things real quick one thing is I have been introduced to a third way of board voting here in Vermont with the the CUD and the statutory primary way of public body votes you have to have a Quorum to have a business meeting and you have to have a majority of a board In order to make to make a decision has to vote to approve a decision So if you have a five-member select board You'd have to have at least three of them to conduct business And in order to have any action taken all three of them would have to vote yes They have to have a majority of the board, which is five regardless of whether or not they're there Schools title 16 changes that for schools. We still need to have a quorum A majority of the board to have a quorum So a five-member board school board you'd still need three to have the quorum But you only need a majority of those present To take action so on a school board You could have three people there for a meeting on a five-member board And you only need two people voting yes in order to take action Got the distinction there two out of five. Okay So now a third way which is introduced that it is not At the committee that first way applies to us by statute At the at the CUD board level there is a third way now which is defined in in that uh in that statute for the CUDs We have to have a majority of the board and the board being defined as you know having primary or an alternative So you have to have a majority of the board to have a quorum And but in order to have an actionable vote You only need a majority of those casting a vote So that word casting Presents somebody abstains right they're not counted not casting there as long as we as long as they're part of a quorum Right. So if we have a quorum And all but three people of the quorum abstain for some reason those other three casting a vote It would take two of them to make a decision And that's at the governing board level you said that's only at the CUD board. Yes at the committee level. We need uh a Majority to right. We're a five-member committee We'd need three of us to have a quorum and three of us voting in favor of something to take action So we'd have to agree if right essentially So just so you're assured that he's not making this all up When he first told me this I said get out of here This is 30 61 quorum for the purposes of transacting business the presence of delegates or alternates representing more than 50 percent of district members Shall constitute a quorum however a smaller number may adjourn to another date Any action adopted by a majority of the votes cast at a meeting in the board At which a quorum is present shall be the action of the board Except as otherwise provided in this chapter which has some other weird Exceptions that I don't think apply to what Rob's having about right now It was just kind of weird because it's you know you cast a vote and it's it's interesting So if you abstain you've sort of thrown things into a weird right So then because one of the things that I was thinking about too was if If I am the treasurer or whoever's treasurer is presumably going to sit on this committee There are probably going to be things that the finance committee votes on that the treasurer would abstain Yeah, because you conflicted right personal. Yeah only having to do with your personal finances You wouldn't be abstaining from the business financing part of it. Well Yes, except like I could see so So like one of the one of the things we do here and again that We're not huge, but we are fairly complex like our director of finance prepares the budget Then the finance committee Votes on it but she Well, she's a member of the finance committee. She doesn't vote on it because she's the one that prepare it Does that make sense? Yeah I understand No, I I do I understand what you're saying makes sense in a sense that I I know what you're saying As one individual I disagree with that interpretation because I think just because you prepare a report now I I tell you I I work in a slightly different world from some of these other municipality laws in schools But even here is supplies to select boards. For instance, there was There's already been a Vermont. There's been Vermont supreme court cases and us supreme court cases It kind of deal with this issue that for instance when school boards acting in an extra duty or in an extra judicial role where we have to have a Official hearing for maybe a teacher appeals a firing by the superintendent or something And for years, I have been told that, you know, oh, no, no You can't know anything about that before you have that extra before you have that hearing because it'll be prejudicing you But as it turns out when I went looking into it, there are supreme court u.s supreme court and Vermont supreme court decisions that say no, that's not true You are allowed because you are It's it's anticipated the way the laws are written that you will be involved in certain steps in order In other words, you might get initial for in the school board thing We might get initial information from the superintendent saying And then going into executive session and saying listen, I'm having such and such trouble with this educator And I you know, it hasn't worked. I put her on remedial training, etc And I think we're going to try to go through the process of getting her out I just want to give you a heads up because it might lead to some issues and Then for the teacher to come back in front of the board to have a here or in the supreme vermont supreme court case He even went further it was a principal that was appealing a decision of the board prior to them having that extra judicial hearing She was saying well They couldn't have done the extra judicial one because they were prejudiced because they had rendered a decision prior to that on the exact same case Sitting as a school board just dealing with it from the policy point of view and the vermont supreme court Stated no, that's not so that's anticipated in the law and that's fine That doesn't mean they did that does not mean that they were prejudiced in the decision That is why I'm saying that just because you write a report Doesn't mean you don't get to say so on it Because you might look at the report and say this really sucks seriously Yeah, but but that's just my that's just one person's interpretation of the world and You know don't use me as an attorney somebody at the meeting might convince you Yeah I have to think about this. I think that You might want not to have to vote Simply to not be put in the position of having to express an opinion about your own work I mean, you know, you might have developed a budget that you didn't agree with But somebody And I'm not sure you should have to Well as long as we keep This number and have enough people there it wouldn't be a problem For me to abstain right or the other alternative is for the treasurer to become and what's that term x official member Where you're not actually a voting member But you're a member in the sense that you have every right to participate in the discussion and all that everybody else on the board has And to bring so that's another right So what what do you do here the person who prepares the budget is is a member of the committee and does have voting rights I don't know that she does have voting rights I don't actually I don't because I don't go I'm not on the finance committee. Um So We are very When our executive director has been the executive director for 13 years Our board is Largely for very big 30,000 feet oversight and governance We do A lot of stuff At the staff level And you know the board delegates a lot of authority to to will But I don't I don't know if she's a member of the if she's a voting member of the committee or not Um, because I think all the nonprofits I've worked with the the person who developed the budget Is usually like the financial manager an employee of the organization, right? And that's what our finance director would be. Yeah, and that person we do have a treasurer also, but again, that's kind of a you know, big High-level is that a board position the treasurer the treasurer is a board position See but in this case the treasurer is a district position. I know this is a little bit different. Yeah Well, so I How would people think about that one? I mean as far as well give give it some thought That's how one we really have to answer right now All right, I have the question I want to ask real quick about pain the appointed cd treasurer But before I get into that does anybody else for round table or anything else they want to add here? I just want to give you guys copies if you go to the bc fiber paid web page Budget this is what you get and Just some comments about it or it's very sophisticated And the category some of the categories I couldn't imagine Um, and so I think we have we need some help. We we have a long way to go All right, so I'm my g and you cash What's the matrix loan? But also the But also I think that categories are important because that's what allows you to compare This year's mother budget with last year's budget with the budget the year before And performance financial performance along the way So they have welcome liabilities at 44 a million dollars Slows yeah, I know That's that that was they said they were paying off their promissory notes. Yeah I I just I didn't realize they had We're dealing with that much money so quickly So that brings up another question here. Is there a Does this state have A required, uh, what is that chart of accounts? All right, well, we can take that home and read it. Yeah, this is round table And also in terms of the meeting I was happy to see you focused on You know the particular agenda agenda items with the timing, you know in keeping track of that and being strict Because I I will be like that um Well, yeah, you know this whole thing this whole experience so far I mean not just this committee but everything that we've been doing as a communications union district Makes me feel like you're being walked to the edge of a cliff and you're gonna have to Put out your hang glider wings in a few moments So the question is how well are you prepared? And I think this was a meeting that was I mean, it's hard to slog through some of this stuff But I think it's impossible to avoid it It's it's good preparation for Getting our wings ready to fly And we have to have them flying before we head over the cliff. Don't right That's the idea. Okay. I I would Becca you feel free to stay in the room I'm just going to really ask you to just actually to Physically move away from the table and the only reason I do that is to make sure that there's no ambiguity here as far as Improper influence and this is just short and my content and this is just disgust Paying an appointed cd treasurer and more is I just do we want to just ask the board The full board if we want to try to find a way if if assuming we appoint a treasurer Regardless of who it is Do we want to really work hard at finding a way to Have a salary and which would mean we would have to raise some funds, of course for that salary And my thinking is that the treasurer's job Is involved enough both in expertise and time That asking an individual to do it Especially startup can oftentimes be even harder, you know, but to ask an individual to do it on a volunteer basis I think is Unfair to them and I don't believe that the district would get What we're hoping to get on a purely volunteer basis just you know I think it's a a good precedent to set That we care enough about the work being done That we value it to the extent that We're willing to put some money behind us to support it because we can't people can't eat Air they they need money and this stuff takes time and time has value I agree that we should be paying people for their time if we can at all manage it And any other thoughts? I mean because right now as I'm just thinking let's and I that that's a question We need to sit down talk because it's going to involve two sides, you know One is paying out but in order to pay out we got to have come in so there's various ways I imagine to approach that and So do you want a recommendation to come from this committee or do you want A permission to raise the question at the board meeting whether we should compensate the treasure I would like to raise the question and I personally would like to recommend that we Find a way to pay the treasure and and you know, I'm right the the amount Can be a comparison with other municipalities But but you don't want that to be a personal recommendation You want it to be a recommendation coming from the committee if I'm not going to type it in unless it's from the committee Yeah, I think that's the way to do it. I think the committee I feel comfortable You know, if you want me to move to the committee recommend the board explore financial compensation for the treasure second Okay, all in favor say I But I do have maybe I should have Oh an amendment said a discussion But if I were the board I would say That's a good issue. It's a good question. Let's figure out what what You know functional officers we need what staff we need And and who among those people will be compensated needs to be compensated That's supposed to just say treasure. That's it Yeah, right because then the development committee comes along and says, you know, the really important person is the fundraiser Right and he or she should be compensated Yeah, it's not it's really not on to say well, you'll be raising your salary I mean to a certain extent. Yeah when you're starting out, but Well, and I I would rather not When we bring it up I would rather not ask about other positions simply because you can start coming up with an awful lot And I would rather for for the purposes of this committee. I'd rather focus on the treasure And yeah, I mean with the acknowledgement she said I'm being presumptive here They Aren't to the only ones that will deserve to get some salary, you know, so and Well, I would say that that's not Our job is a committee to decide the range of people But the point you bring up is a really good one, you know, it's we're not saying that the treasurer Exclusively should be the only person hitting compensation, but we think from our perspective the treasurer should For reasons, which I'm sure you can and we can make that plain in discussion any one of us too. Yeah All right, so what I got there from I just wrote down for public power from the round table Where would a treasurer who's also a finance committee member have to recuse themselves? Just to kind of deal with that issue a little bit more Does the state have a required chart of account for CUDs? And that's actually something I'm going to put in because that email I'm going to send to the I'm also that'd be good one for the treasurer too and Then with the board discuss paying appointed CUD treasurer in the motion the committee recommend to the board that we Pay the appointed district treasurer an appropriate sum if that's okay. If that's an appropriate interpretation of the Motion that we approved and then also just a question. How does this apply to others just to make sure it comes up? Any other anything else? All right We're here. We're all done. I don't even need your position No, uh by roberts rules of order once You