Board of Finance - Minutes - 03/11/2024

FIFTEEN ROPE FERRY ROAD
WATERFORD, CT 06385-2886
Board of Finance
Budget Hearing Minutes *REVISED* Waterford Town Hall,
Present:
Absent:
Elected:
Staff:
Other:
PHONE: 860-442-0553
www.waterfordct.org
Wednesday, March 11, 2024
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Chairman Glenn Patterson, Ronald R. Fedor, Robert Tuneski, Degen
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Clerk Bill Sheehan, Michael Rocchetti
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Robert J. Brule, First Selectman; Susan Driscoll, Chairman of Retire rent Eom
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Kimberly Allen, Finance Director; Christine Walters, Director of Human Resources; Jeff
Robillard, IT Manager; Steven Sinagra, Director of Emergency Management; Rebecca Hall,
Admin Assistant Finance Office/BOF Recording Secretary
Marysia Koziol, Supervisor School Health & Wellness, Visiting Nurses Association; Paul
Mounds, VP Community & Corporate Alliance, Yale New Haven Hospital (L&M)
Establishment of a quorum and call to order:
A quorum was established and a call to order was established at 7:00 pm,
March 11, 2024.
Public comment: none
An opening statement regarding the budget process was made by Glenn Patterson,
‘Chairman.
Standing Motion: A motion was made by David Peabody and seconded by
Joseph Filippetti to have a standing motion by Robert Tuneski and seconded by Ron Fedor
to consider each budget as presented,
Vote: 5-0-0 Motion: Passed
Public Health and Nursing Services:
Marysia Koziol, Supervisor School Health & Wellness, Visiting Nurses Association and Paul
Mounds, VP Community & Corporate Alliance, Yale New Haven Hospital (L&M) spoke on
behalf of the Public Health and Nursing Services. Chairman Glenn Patterson opened
conversation by asking if the school care providers will now be moved to the home health
care side of the nursing services. Mr. Mounds stated some will stay with the school
systems and others will utilize the Yale New Haven network to find jobs.

Board of Finance Budget Minutes — March 11, 2024
Page 2
Robert Tuneski asked about the small increase in the budget request this year. Ms. Koziol
answered that increases in salaries and benefits for the nurses drove up costs this year.
Before dismissing the spokespeople, 1* Selectman, Rob Brule, acknowledged Paul
Mounds for all of his assistance and guidance to him and the Town of Waterford through
COVID. He remarked that Mr. Mounds was an essential advocate for the Town at that
time and he wanted to publicly acknowledge all of his help.
Motion by Ron Fedor and seconded by Robert Tuneski to tentatively approve the Public
Health Nursing Services budget request for FY24/25 in the total amount of $26,297.
Vote: 5-0-0 Motion: Passed
Human Resources Budget:
‘The Director of Human Resources, Christine Walters, began with a brief synopsis of the
past budget year and the accomplishments of the department’s two (2) employees. HR
managed numerous new hiring, the fillings of vacancies, and worked through three (3)
collective bargaining agreements this past year. Director Walters told the BOF she will
provide an updated organization chart before the Final Review meeting. Also, on page 4,
the justification should read “Human Resources Assistant” not “Administrator”.
Ron Fedor sought clarification on part time staff. Ms. Walters stated the budgeting
formula doesn’t specify exact numbers ~ the department budgets for part time labor are
based on hours worked not by position. Mr. Fedor pointed out that a document
referenced in the budget was not included in the budget packet. Ms. Walters was able to
supply copies to the board at the meeting. This document will be added to the budget
book.
Joseph Filippetti asked if the increase in the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is based
‘on the turnover of staff. Ms. Walters said the increased costs (noted in the newly
supplied document) represents increased rates to match the annual increases in salaries,
wages, and benefits per the new Interim Director at Solutions-EAP.
Motion by Ron Fedor and seconded by Robert Tuneski to tentatively approve the Human
Resources budget request for FY24/25 in the total amount of $264,204.
Vote: 5-0-0 Motion: Passed
Finance Department Budget:
Director of Finance, Kimberly Allen discussed how her department continues to work on
streamlining processes in Finance as well as assisting with other departments in town.

Board of Finance Budget Minutes — March 11, 2024
Page 3
She shared that Finance purchased new software for the Purchasing Agent which allows
for more bids to be submitted in a timely manner and they are already seeing an increase
in submittals. The Finance Department has also purchased a digital budget book creator.
This way the budget will take information submitted from the departments and translate
it into graphs, charts, trend scales, etc.
Chairman Patterson noted there may be a discrepancy between the grants section of the
budget and summary sheet. Director Allen clarified that the term she uses for grants are
those that are “competitive” grants, or those that the town must apply for unlike other
grants where the town is simply awarded money for being a municipality.
Director Allen continued clarification of a budget line item indicating that the budget
requests to lease one of two (2) leases for items requested by the Print Shop for FY25.
Leasing a new paper cutter is the only item requested while the backup shows both
items. Additionally, the “Dues, Conferences, & Education” line item has a slight increase
so that the new Purchasing Agent will be able to attend training off-site. This line also
reflects money being spent for an employee for continuing their education as offered by
the Town.
Motion by Ron Fedor and seconded by Robert Tuneski to tentatively approve the
Finance Department budget request for FY24/25 in the total amount of $767,856.
Vote: 5-0-0 Motion: Passed
Retirement Commission Budget:
Chairman Susan Driscoll spoke regarding the Retirement Commission's budget. She
stated that each year the budget is based on contractual obligation of the Town to past
employees. She is projecting higher contribution rates in next year’s budget - the new
rates will be released by the state at the end of March/beginning of April. At that time,
she will have new numbers to present to the Town.
Ron Fedor asked if Ms. Driscoll knew of other towns opting out of the state’s control of
retirement programs. She replied that she doesn’t know of anyone actually making that
move as there is risk associated. She added that several towns spoke about doing it but
the state has responded to rumblings with possible support for towns to “lighten the
load” of the acute increases in retirement costs.
Motion by Ron Fedor and seconded by Robert Tuneski to tentatively approve the
Retirement Commission budget request for FY24/25 in the total amount of $7,760,257.
Vote: 5-0-0 Motion: Passed

Board of Finance Budget Minutes ~ March 11, 2024
Page 4
7.
Insurance Budget:
Finance Director, Kimberly Allen noted that renewals are done annually in May/June and
the budget is based on industry trends. The department has separated the Stop Loss
insurance from Anthem due to a better rate with another company.
Motion by Ron Fedor and seconded by Robert Tuneski to tentatively approve the
Insurance budget request for FY24/25 in the total amount of $4,962,182.
Vote: 5-0-0 Motion: Passed
Legal Department Budget:
Glenn Patterson added an editorial comment: The Backup on page 3 “Professional
Fees/Legal Fees” talks about FY22/23 and should be updated for correct fiscal years.
Director of Finance, Kimberly Allen made a note of this.
Motion by Ron Fedor and seconded by Robert Tuneski to tentatively approve the Legal
Department budget request for FY24/25 in the total amount of $295,000.
Vote: 5-0-0 Motion: Passed
Information Technology Budget:
IT Manager, Jeff Robillard, gave an opening statement about the IT Department and what
the department does on a daily basis. As an example of the magnitude of what the
department handles, Mr. Robillard stated that in the first ten days of March, there were
over 200,000 attempts by outside sources from around the world to access our database
but blocked by our Firewall.
Chairman Patterson pointed out that the overtime budget is projected to be half of what
it was in FY24 and questioned why. Mr. Robillard answered by saying they are using more
of a flex time schedule to avoid overtime billing for his staff.
Ron Fedor stated that he sees many subscriptions and renewals for software in IT’s
budget. He asked about the approval and purchasing process if a department wants to
purchase new software. Jeff Robillard said that the departments basically research a
product and work with other departments like Finance to be sure the product is making
things more efficient or that there is a benefit for the Town. Renewals fall under IT but
typically the software initial purchase is funded by the requesting Town department. IT
discusses the purchase with the department to assess the value of the new product to
make sure it is worth the purchase. Mr. Fedor asked if we have a system that will disable
the devices that would be physically plugged into our network. Mr. Robillard said they

Board of Finance Budget Minutes - March 11, 2024
Page 5
10.
are looking at a new system that some of the largest industries in the country are using.
The town is close to purchasing this new cyber security technology. Robert Tuneski
inquired about the process to assess the value and need of a software purchase and how
departments could quantify it. He suggested possibly having a worksheet of sorts created
— a template — where the department could generate the worksheet and submit it to IT
for review.
Chairman Patterson noticed a “bulge” in expenses every three (3) years in IT’s budget.
Mr. Robillard noted that every three (3) years, the town purchases a renewal of a service
contract from a hardware company. By making this purchase, the hardware is provided
to the town at no cost.
{n conclusion, Chairman Patterson mentioned possibly updating the BOF Budget
Guidelines to have departments requesting new software justify the cost of that purchase
before the BOF. This would be to clarify that justifying new software purchases falls
under the purchasing department, not IT. This would apply to requests both in-budget
and outside of the budget season. This will be an item for future BOF consideration.
Motion by Ron Fedor and seconded by Robert Tuneski to tentatively approve the
information Technology budget request for FY24/25 in the total amount of $1,231,423.
Vote: 5-0-0 Motion: Passed
Emergency Management Budget:
The Director of Emergency Management, Steven Sinagra, opened with an overview of
Emergency Management Services. He shared FY24 purchases and projected purchases
for FY25. He shared staffing information and associated costs. He shared the number of
calls managed by his dispatchers: ~32K for Police and ~20K for Fire and Emergency
services (911 calls). Currently, there are eight (8) full time employees in this department
plus two (2) part time staffers.
Robert Tuneski asked what a typical day shift looks like in the department. Mr. Sinagra
responded saying that there are typically three (3) employees on the day shift and two (2)
employees on the other shifts. Friday and Saturday nights usually require three (3) staff
members to manage calls.
Ron Fedor questioned the need for one (2) full time Community Service Educator [for
$58,000/year} who is shared with Fire Services. Mr. Fedor mentioned that Fire Services,
who shares this employee, was questioned about this position and the answer did not
justify the need for the position. Director Sinagra responded that the duties of this staff
member are beyond that of simply a Community Service Educator. While they travel to
various events, this person is vital in the day to day operations of the department. This
staff member fills the void of any administrative needs of the department in addition to
their community outreach efforts within the 15 hours of weekly work at Emergency

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11,
Management Services. After David Peabody asked, Steve Sinagra advised that out of 15
hours a week for this part time staff member in his department typically anywhere
between 1-4 hours is spent at community events,
Chairman Patterson asked Director Sinagra about overtime in the budget. Recently, the
department asked for a transfer in funds to cover overtime costs but sees a decrease in
the FY2S budget for overtime. Director Sinagra stated that the new full time staff will
have completed their required training so that other staff will not be required to cover
their time for shifts in FY25.
Joseph Filippetti wondered about the decrease in the “Fuels and Lubricants” line of the
budget after submittal time. Mr. Sinagra, backed by information from Finance Director,
Kimberly Allen, responded that fuel rates were locked in after the budget submission date
so the summary sheet reflects the change, but not the original backup.
Motion by Ron Fedor and seconded by Robert Tuneski to tentatively approve the
Emergency Management budget request for FY24/25 in the total amount of $1,196,762.
Vote: 5-0-0 Motion: Passed
Adjournment:
Motion by Dave Peabody and seconded by Joseph Filippetti to adjourn the Budget
Meeting of the Board of Finance at 8:21 p.m.
Vote: 5-0-0 Motion: Passed
John Sheehan, Clerk Rebecca L. Hall, Secretary ©
Respectfully submitted