SPECIAL MEETING
COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTS, ENROLLMENT AND REVENUE ADMINISTRATION
June 2, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Chairman O'Neil called the meeting to order.
The Clerk called the roll.
Present: Aldermen O'Neil, Terrio, Goonan, Burkush, Vincent
Messrs.: Mayor Ruais, J. Pelletier
- Communication from Julianne Pelletier, Independent City Auditor, regarding potential cost savings related to data destruction and office supplies.
Chairman O'Neil: Juli, thank you very much for your efforts. Why don't we stick with the recommendation on the shredding and then you're hoping we can go to WB Mason and you can talk about the school district.
Julianne Pelletier, Independent City Auditor: I was interested in rolling out Absolute Data Destruction citywide for paper shredding or document shredding. Right now, as you saw in the document that I put together, most departments are using Iron Mountain, and the pricing is all over the place. Absolute Data Destruction has agreed to $11 per bin per day per pickup, which would be a huge savings. Just one item that will be a savings that we spend money on every month.
Chairman O'Neil: And departments are currently in agreements, so they can't just change?
J. Pelletier: I'm not sure that they are. I know Matt said he can cancel Iron Mountain. Finance said also they can cancel Iron Mountain. They're not locked into any time contracts or anything.
Chairman O'Neil: If all of you had a chance to take a look at it, why don't we entertain a motion just to encourage the departments to use Absolute Data Destruction at the rate that's identified here?
On motion of Alderman Terrio, duly seconded by Alderman Goonan, it was voted to encourage all city departments to utilize Absolute Data Destruction per the recommendations of the Independent City Auditor.
Chairman O'Neil: So, W.B. Mason?
J. Pelletier: I called them and they did some analysis. All the different departments were on different pricing structures. There wasn't any one set pricing. So, they went through did some research, and we had 20 plus accounts across the city and they went in and adjusted the pricing so that it was more standard as best they could. So, they sent over a preferred pricing list, which doesn't incorporate everything. It's just sort of frequently purchased items. And there'll be more standard pricing. So, across the city, we were paying between $4.50 to $6 per ream of paper and they got it down to $4.19 for standard copy paper. Which is pretty good. The school district goes out to bid every year just for copy paper and she has a price with them for $3.09. But they wouldn't agree to that price for us.
Chairman O'Neil: I think on this one, we should just make a recommendation to encourage them where applicable to use W.B. Mason if the pricing is good. Talk about the one department that talked to you about how they found discounts by buying through Amazon.
J. Pelletier: The Health Department actually reached out and said that some of the things they can get better pricing at Amazon. And asked if we would lock them into using W.B. Mason. I'm not trying to do that. I'm just trying to get better pricing for the city. Most departments use W.B. Mason regularly. But they can still use Amazon or Staples if they're finding better pricing through those companies. I am just trying to streamline things.
Chairman O'Neil: Julie, do you know, do all the departments have that preferred list?
J. Pelletier: I sent it to all the directors.
On motion of Alderman Terrio, duly seconded by Alderman Burkush, it was voted to encourage all city departments to utilize WB Mason preferred pricing for common purchases such as paper, pens, and other office supplies, per the recommendations of the Independent City Auditor.
Chairman O'Neil: We do not have a vote on the school district work that Juli has done, but it is here for our information if anyone has questions.
Alderman Vincent: The procurement process sufficiency, under the budget allocation, there's a paragraph that you mentioned that the supply budgets, and you gave an example about West High School and Memorial High School, the numbers don't match the personnel needed for the dollar amount. This is something the district themselves is going to fix. You pointed it out. I mean, this isn't complicated. If West is getting more money than they should be getting, I would assume the district would balance that out and figure that out, correct?
J. Pelletier: When I met with the schools, they went over their budget structure with me. And then when I went back, I presented it back to Karen and she gave me a spreadsheet and showed me how it is tied to the student enrollment. The principals didn't think it was, they thought that it wasn't an amount calculated that way.
Alderman Vincent: That's what I understood by your example.
J. Pelletier: I went into her formulas and everything, and it's completely tied to the enrollment.
Alderman Vincent: So, they're going to fix that.
J. Pelletier: It already is.
Chairman O'Neil: They're going to fix it based on enrollment?
J. Pelletier: They've already done that. The principals were misunderstanding how it was calculated.
Alderman Vincent: Good. Now the next one, you said in the non-rollover of unused funds, it was unbeknownst, I'm sure, to a lot of people, that unused funds actually go back to the district level. What's the average unused amount of funds we're looking at? I mean if it made this paper, is it big? Is it across the board? Is this something you saw at one school?
J. Pelletier: It's maybe a couple of thousand dollars at a few different schools. Most of them don't have enough by the end of the year to purchase anything.
Alderman Vincent: Which is why I wondered why you even put this on here, because if nobody has any money for supplies, why are we in the position where there are unused funds?
J. Pelletier: They had purchased enough earlier in the year and they didn't use it. It wasn't large dollar amounts.
Alderman Vincent: So, we are not breaking the bank. But it goes back to the district.
J. Pelletier: It does. They reallocate it if there's a need at another school or something.
Alderman Vincent: But again, this will be something that the district themselves takes care of?
J. Pelletier: Yes.
Alderman Vincent: Under structural improvements, 6 to 12 months in the same section, the first one says reassessed true budget needs. What do you mean by true budget needs? What is entailed in that statement when you say reassess true budget needs? On that last page, 6 to 12 months structural improvement under the same section. The first bullet says reassess true budget needs. That's a pretty powerful statement.
J. Pelletier: What I meant by that was they look at what their historical purchasing is and what their historical needs are, but they're not including what teachers are spending out of pocket because they don't have enough supplies. So, that would be what are the teachers all spending and what are the needs of the school.
Alderman Vincent: Okay, so you're incorporating both?
J. Pelletier: That would be your true actual needs.
Chairman O'Neil: It's well known that teachers take money out of their own pockets across the city for decades. Does the district require them to report it if they do it, or do the teachers just do it, not looking for reimbursement? That's my understanding, they just do it.
J. Pelletier: That's my understanding also. One of the elementary schools that I met with, he said if he has extra funding, he'll try and reimburse them. But it's $250 or something like that. It's not covering what they've spent. Some of them are spending up in excess of $750. But they should report it all so that it's transparent for what the needs are.
Alderman Bonilla: I'd also add that when our teachers do like donors choose there is a policy and procedure in place so that when they're utilizing the Manchester School District logo, we understand and they recognize where these funds are going towards so there is that trail system available. So again, it is all intentional. There's a policy and procedure for that, too.
Chairman O'Neil: What's going to keep you busy for the next few months?
J. Pelletier: I'm not sure which one I'm going to; I think I have to wait on Fire. Possibly Fleet and then DPW, then Fire. Maybe some contracting. I have to look at the checks that have been done from January till now.
Chairman O'Neil: So, we could expect a report maybe mid fall or something?
J. Pelletier: I can do that.
Mayor Ruais: Thank you for all the work that went into this, and thank you to the school district as well for working with you hand in hand on this. The committee did a great job with outlining the 12-month plan. I think it was Fire, HR, benefits and payroll, especially with the transition to a new HR Director and the kind of the turnover we've had there, making sure that especially with MUNIS coming online in July, it's essential. So, the committee can revisit that with you. The vote that they took for the next four departments to look at, it was the big ones, right? DPW, MFD, MPD, and HR benefits and payroll.
J. Pelletier: Fleet.
Mayor Ruais: And Central Fleet.
J. Pelletier: Fleet, Fire, DPW, HR, and then we're finishing up FY 25 audit right now.
Chairman O'Neil: I want to echo the mayor's comments, I appreciate your work. One of the things I enjoyed it was detailed, but not boring. The aldermen sometimes get these very detailed reports and they don't do anything, but certainly I'll speak for myself, I could understand very clearly what you were talking about, both on the school district and on the shredding services and W.B. Mason. So, thank you for making it so that the aldermen can understand it. I'll speak for my colleagues on that, including myself.
There being no further business, on motion of Alderman Terrio, duly seconded by Alderman Goonan, it was voted to adjourn.
A True Record. Attest.
Clerk of Committee
Meeting Start Time: 4:45PM
Meeting End Time: 4:59PM
Minutes Prepared By: Michael Intranuovo
If there is no further business, a motion is in order to adjourn.