HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-03-17 Finance Committee Minutes � � � �� z�i,, �f am m� �;i � � w �� �m m � Finance Committee Minutes March 17, 2025 Council Chambers, 262 Harlow St. Councilors in Attendance (Committee Members): Fish, Fournier, Tremble, Deane, Beck Other Councilors in Attendance: Leonard, Mallar Staff in Attendance: Little, Low, Huotari, Davis, Hathaway, May Meeting Start: 5:15 pm 1. Bids/Purchasing a. State Contract— Patrol Vehicles — Police — Darlings Ford - $101,018 Motion made and seconded to approve purchase; motion passed unanimously b. Audit Services —Various — Runyon, Kersteen, Ouellette - $174,500 (Year One) Staff presented that the City received one response to the Request for Proposals (RFP) for Auditing Services from Runyon, Kersteen, Ouelette (RKO), the City's current provider. Staff recommended awarding a three contract to RKO. Councilor Beck expressed concerns with the proposed price increase, RKO's performance over the past few years, as well as only receiving one response to the RFP. Staff discussed that there are a limited number of auditing firms within the State that perform governmental audits so receiving only one bid was not surprising. Staff also shared that the audit delays also fell to the City not meeting the established timelines to provide information due to staffing shortages. Councilor Leonard also expressed concerns that the City receiving one bid creates a monopoly for pricing and suggested staff reach out to other auditing firms to obtain comparative pricing. Councilor's Tremble and Fournier commented that requesting pricing from other firms or rebidding for Audit Services would create an unfair advantage as RKO's price was now public. A proposal was made to table the item and for staff to reach out to other municipalities to obtain pricing and audit hours for comparison and bring the information to a future Finance Committee meeting. Motion made and seconded to approve tabling item; motion passed unanimously c. Stream Monitoring — Engineering — Stillwater Environmental Engineering - $233,360 Motion made and seconded to approve contract; motion passed unanimously 2. Order - Authorizing the Police and Fire Departments to Apply for a Grant of $183,384 from the State of Maine Public Safety Health &Wellness Reimbursement Fund for Cardiovascular Screening Motion made and seconded to recommend Order; motion passed unanimously 3. Order - Authorizing the Fire Department to Apply for a Grant Through the Maine Emergency Medical Services Stabilization and Sustainability Program in the Amount of $200,000 to Fund EMS Related Equipment and Training Motion made and seconded to recommend Order; motion passed unanimously 4. Various LDs — Property Tax Exemption Increases City Manager Laurie discussed upcoming LD's being discussed in Augusta that would increase property tax exemptions. The majority of the bills do not have a corresponding method or increase in the State reimbursement to offset the lost revenue. As such, the bills essentially create a tax shift as it would require an increased tax rate to collect the same amount of tax needed for services. Staff recommended providing testimony against the LD's with the recommendation that the State expand the Property Tax Fairness Credit program. The Committee agreed with staff's recommendation. Meeting Adjourned: 5:50 pm