11 5 09 Mins.


	Moultonborough Advisory Budget Committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, November 5th, 2009 Present: Advisory Budget Committee (ABC) Members Jean Beadle, Ed Marudzinski, Alan Ballard, Karel Crawford, Kathy Gary Public: Ken Greenbaum The meeting was called to order at 4:05 P.M. by Chairperson Jean Beadle in the Ernest Davis Room in the Moultonborough Town Hall. A motion was made by Ed Marudzinski, and seconded by Alan Ballard, to approve the minutes of the October 22, 2009 ABC meeting. The motion was passed unanimously. The minutes from the October 27, 2009 Informational Meeting were reviewed and a motion was made by Alan Ballard, and seconded by Ed Marudzinski, to post them as presented by the Chairperson. The quarterly school budget (three months ended 9/30/09) was reviewed. School financial results were reviewed and found to be substantially as budgeted. Specific items discussed included certain salary categories, Special Ed., transportation expenses, methodology and timing of payment of health care insurance, computer expenses, and other items. Areas that were significantly different were discussed along with the explanations provided by the SAU such as differences due to timing of the expenses. A summary review will be posted to the Town Web Site. The summary report will be present at the Nov 10 School Board meeting. Several members of the ABC plan to attend this meeting to answer questions from the Board and public. A lengthy discussion was held regarding the committee’s continued concern that the School Board should adopt a more proactive approach toward formulating long term contingency plans in the event of continued declining enrollment. Although the School Board is reviewing some possible developments that could have a serious impact on how both the MCS and MA operate in the future, the committee felt that these plans should be more comprehensive and formalized. Ed Marudzinski again mentioned his belief that the School Board would benefit from having a Board member participate in the Town’s Master Plan Implementation Committee. Jean Beadle stressed her concern that the issue of declining enrollment is an issue that needs to be addressed town wide. It is not an issue isolated to the School Board. The committee believes that the Town should form a task force of concerned citizens sponsored by both the School and Select Boards to assist in determining the future direction of the community which would help enable the School Board to better understand the issues facing the current and potential future decline in enrollment. The committee agreed that this recommendation will continue to be part of the ABC’s final report for both School and Town budgets. The next item discussed centered on the library budget. Jean Beadle and Karel Crawford attended the Library Trustees meeting this afternoon and reviewed the library budget draft. The operating expenses appear to be reasonable. Jean and Karel reported that the majority of their conversation with the Library Trustees concerned personnel costs. Karel explained that she informed the trustees of how she thought the BOS would be approaching this issue. She also promised to keep the trustees informed of future developments. Other areas concerned streamlining accounting procedures and places where there is duplication of effort. The next library budget will be made available to the ABC around December 18, 2009. A motion for adjournment was made at 5:35 P.M. by Ed Marudzinski, seconded by Jean Beadle, and approved unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Alan Ballard ABC Committee Member