Members of the Executive Board gathered for a 7:30 a.m. breakfast meeting in the Hale Room at the Balsams Grand Resort Hotel located in Dixville Notch.

Present were Patricia Woolsey, CDTC, President, presiding; First Vice President Joan Porter, CTC; Second Vice President Pat Tucker; Treasurer Joyce McGee, CTC; Secretary Brenda LaPointe, CTC; Legislative Chairman Jill Hadaway, CTC; Director of Public Relations and Chairman of the Certification Committee Kathy Seaver, Education Committee Chairman Cheryl-Ann Bolouk, CTC; Convention Coordinator Desiree Mahurin; Workshop Coordinator Joe Wiggett; Director at Large Blandine Shallow; and Vikki Fogg, CDTC (former Convention Coordinator) .

Pat W. started the meeting in earnest at approximately 7:50. She stated her initial impression is that the convention has been going well. A few small glitches have been reported but they are being chalked up to new management. The hotel staff has been most attentive and convention guests have stayed healthy. Vikki concurred with this assessment and said that most of the complaints were minor in nature and had to do with the facility itself. Blandine added that the negative comments she heard were about the food up at the country club. Pat W. mentioned that a lot of people were annoyed by the time between servings during dinner the first night. Kathy said that the reason for the delay was most likely the number of choices on the menu and not enough staffing. Joe's chipper attitude was, “So what if it took awhile, I wasn't going anywhere.” Most people felt that last night's banquet went much smoother. Jill had heard a complaint about “plate snatching”. People barely had enough time to finish their meals before plates were whisked away.

Relative to matters not associated with the hotel, Kathy said that many people were not aware of the raffle on the first night. She said that the publicity wasn't as up front as it had been in the past. Pat W. liked having the awards presented the first night as it did not make the night of the banquet run so late. Joe appreciated the name tags on the lanyards as everything – room key, raffle tickets, and even meal tickets fit nicely into the plastic holder. Vikki said that all of this input would help Desiree as she is passed the torch of responsibility. Desiree responded by saying that she will still refer to Vikki's expertise. Vikki said that Desiree will need to start looking for places to book for future conventions as reservations have only been set for the next couple of years. They will speak to management at the Balsams to reserve again five or six years down the road.

Pat W. filled everyone in on yesterday's luncheon with the County Coordinators which she described as lively and informative. They requested to be invited to more Executive Board meetings so the idea that she came up with was to have the them attend each month but only one per County due to the limited space. This is set to start after the usual get together in February. Jill added that many of the Coordinators expressed an interest in being able to add to discussions and felt that being at the meetings will improve communications with the Executive Board. Pat W. noted that many of the Coordinators seemed less concerned about missing out on information when they realized that there is not always a meeting every month.

Another matter of concern to Coordinators was the expense of having to supply door prizes for the convention each year. Community merchants are frequently approached for donations making it difficult to approach them for gifts. This then passes the financial responsibility on to the Coordinators. Jill agreed with this sentiment and said it has been difficult this year with the hurricane relief efforts already stretching many retailers to their limits. Some of the smaller towns do not even have any local businesses to approach. A few suggestions were made to remedy the situation which gave rise to the following motion by Kathy Seaver: The Tax Collectors' Association will provide an amount of up to $50.00 each year to each county for the purpose of purchasing gifts for door prizes at the annual convention. Cheryl-Ann seconded the motion and it passed by unanimous voice vote. Coordinator's will be apprised of this change in policy and instructed to keep receipts for purchases which will be reimbursed at convention.

The subject of meetings prompted Joan to say that the next meeting should be scheduled before the first of the year to discuss workshops. Since there is a possibility that tax rates will be issued later than usual this year, Cheryl said that it might be difficult to schedule a meeting that won't interfere with due dates. Tentatively, the next meeting will be held on Thursday, December 15 th , 9:30 a.m. at Plodzik and Sanderson's office in Concord.

Joe mentioned that he is still looking for a location to hold a Spring Workshop in the seacoast region. The difficulty is finding a place that might be willing to host a workshop for a reasonable amount. Kathy said that if the Association ends up paying more for one of the workshops it would be okay since some of the other locations will be charging less. Workshop locale will be discussed in more detail at the next meeting.

Pat W. said that the subject of vacancies on the Executive Board had come up and some people said that if they were aware of certain vacancies that they might have been interested. Joe said notice of vacancies should be put on the website and included in the newsletters. Even a short note on the bottom of all mailings might spark some responses and make the task of the Nominating Committee that much easier. He said the last thing that anyone wants is for members of the Association to feel as though the Executive Board is a closed society. The other option might be to have future nominations come directly from the floor of the annual meeting. Joan agreed with Joe's idea about putting notice of vacancies in the newsletter. Kathy said that the last mailing was relatively simple so even separate mailings might be possible in the future. Desiree asked if it would be possible to put a copy of the various job descriptions on the website. Vikki said that there should be enough room on the website to post them. She will work with Pat T. and show her how to update the information since that is now part of the Second Vice President's duties. Vikki will review all of the job descriptions and update for submission.

Joyce McGee asked if anyone had kept track of the people who said they no longer wished to continue as County Coordinators. She noted that quite a few had indicated this at the luncheon. Pat W. thought that most everyone had agreed to still be involved. Joyce said that she knows of at least two, one from Coos and one from Rockingham that want to step down. Joan is to double check and make sure that all of the counties have willing representatives. Vikki recalled that coordinators had recently been told that they did not need to have annual meetings. She thought perhaps it was time to change back to annual meetings. Kathy Seaver made a motion to require each County to hold one meeting each year. Cheryl-Ann Bolouk seconded the motion and it passed by voice vote with none opposed.

Kathy offered a suggestion for County meetings – her version of the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” game show. (She is willing to travel with enough notice.)

Moving on, Jill said the session about monthly balancing that broke up into smaller user groups, was well received. Most everyone likes the format but was disappointed more time was not allotted. Cheryl already has this on the schedule for next year and will make the appropriate time allowances. Someone suggested bringing computer printouts as a catalyst for discussion within each group. The size of the groups is conducive to the question answer format and allows for networking opportunities.

Kathy Seaver was disappointed by the attendance at the “Helpful Hints” session yesterday afternoon but thought that many people were under the impression it was a repeat of information presented last year. A change in the title of the program should keep this from happening in the future. Ways in which to oversee attendance were discussed but no concrete plan developed.

At 8:50 a.m. Joan Porter made a motion to adjourn. Joyce McGee seconded the motion and without further adieu, the meeting ended.

Reminder: Next meeting Thursday, December 15th , 9:30 a.m., Plodzik and Sanderson, Concord, NH.

Respectfully submitted,

Brenda L. LaPointe, CTC
Secretary