2012-01-18-AC-min-summit 4 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Summit Meeting — January 18, 2012 advantage of very low interest rates and a favorable bidding environment. In keeping with these efforts, the cash capital recommendation for FY13 is around $2.9 million. Possible Excluded Debt ($42,783,546) assumes that the Estabrook, Bridge and Bowman School projects will go forward. Mr. Valente presented Total Projected Levy Supported Debt Service for the general fund projects proposed. In FY12 the amount of debt service is just over $5 million. In FY13 the Town is projecting the debt will go up to $5.3 million, assuming the debt exclusion vote is approved. And further, in FY14 the amount will grow to approximately $5.8 million. Next, Mr. Valente presented Total Cash Capital Funding (free cash and tax levy supported) and included the three prior year history. About a $500,000 increase in cash capital financing is proposed in FY13. Since we are facing the debt exclusion vote next week, Mr. Valente wanted to show the group the impact of the debt service for the Town's excluded debt. In FY12 our total Proposition 2 '/2 excluded debt is about $5.7 million. If all three projects are approved next week (Bridge, Bowman and Estabrook) the FY12 figure increases by about $900,000 in FY13 and by another $900,000 in FY14, and then starts to decrease in FYI 5. Capital Project Requests Requiring Further Deliberation Mr. Valente reported that there are seven capital projects that appear in the capital plan but are still being deliberated by the Board of Selectmen. Of the seven, five of the projects are funded in the White Book: White House Stabilization, Cary Memorial Building Upgrades — Design, Visitor Center Renovations, Town Wide Facility Master Plan, and Battle Green Area Master Plan — Parking, Traffic Calming and Safe Pedestrian Access Study — Phase 1: Conceptual Plan. The other two projects, CBD Streetscape — Engineering, and Estabrook Reconstruction — Off -site Street Improvements are described in the capital plan but not funded in FY13. Mr. Lamb noted that the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) voted $0 for the White House project and the Visitor Center Renovations project. Outstanding Budget Issues Mr. Valente went over the following open issues on the budget: 1. Health Insurance — The Town is in the process of negotiating a new plan design with our employee coalition for FY13 and is making good progress. Hopefully by mid - February will have concluded that process. 2. State Aid — The budget assumes level funding, but we have also set aside approximately $420,000 in case our state aid is cut. The first indication we'll have is when the Governor releases his budget on January 25, 2012. 3. Minuteman Voc -Tech Assessment — Minuteman School Committee had their budget hearing on January 17 and should have the preliminary assessment soon. The number that currently appears in White Book is probably larger than what our final number will be because the number of students has dropped.