Finance committee approves $366,375 year-end transfers to balance departmental accounts

The PVD City Council Finance Committee on July 31 approved a transfer of $366,375 from various departmental accounts to cover year-end shortfalls and balance the city’s fiscal year accounts. Councilor Gould moved the measure and the committee passed it by roll call vote, 5-0.

Committee members said the transfer is part of an annual end-of-year balancing process. A city staff member, Gingras, told the committee the transfers are routine: in May the city projects revenues and expenditures, uses free cash if needed, and then completes a final balancing once all invoices and payrolls are posted prior to June 30 and again after mid-July invoices are paid.

Councilor Turco pressed staff on recurring differences between projected and actual overtime spending for police and fire. “We fight to approve the overtime and then we talk about how we’re going to try to reduce the cost of overtime. And then we’re actually not using it for overtime. We’re using it for other things,” Turco said. Turco asked whether a supplemental for police and fire overtime had already been approved and why the city requested more than ultimately needed; Gingras and another staff member (identified in the transcript as Jeeves) responded that the May/June projections covered remaining payrolls and that the $200,000 difference stemmed from projections made with five payrolls remaining.

The committee did not change policy during the vote; members asked that staff examine police and fire overtime projections next year so June numbers are more accurate. Council procedural actions: Councilor Gould moved the transfer; roll-call recorded votes from Councilors Turco, Gould, Gamache, Vinny Martin, and McGinn (all “yes”). The motion carried 5 to 0.

The transfer was described in the meeting as a balancing exercise rather than a new ongoing appropriation. No ordinance or new policy was adopted during the action.