2012-09-20-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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September 20, 2012 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee September 20, 2012 Place and time: Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members present. Glenn Parker, Chair; Joe Pato, Vice Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Alan Levine; Richard Neumeier; Jonina Schonfeld; Robert Cohen; Mollie Garberg; Rob Addelson (non- voting, ex officio) Members Absent: Eric Michelson Also present: David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee member The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. 1. Announcements Cost of Legal Counsel: Richard Neumeier reported that a position for Assistant City Solicitor in the City of Waltham was advertised in a recent Lawyers' Weekly publication. The compensation includes salary listed at $82,336 plus benefits. It was noted that Waltham's legal needs may vary significantly from Lexington's. Lexington is currently spending $800,000 - $900,000 annually on out - sourced legal services. There was Committee consensus around exploring the issue further, to assess needs and develop a fair cost for service comparison to other communities. ACTION ITEM: This will be discussed with the Town Manager and School Department staff. Water and Sewer Rate - Setting: John Bartenstein reported on a presentation made by Rob Addelson to the Board of Selectmen on September 10 as the first step in this fall's FY2013 water and sewer rate - setting process. FY2012 results were on target. Net profits were a little less than $1 million ($550,000 for water and $300,000 for sewer). Water and sewer costs for FY2013 are up 1.9 percent on a combined basis, but as a result of the vote at the 2012 Annual Town Meeting to reduce the retained earnings subsidy by $250,000 (lowered from $450,000 to $350,000 in the water fund and from $300,000 to $150,000 in the sewer fund), the required rate increase will be a couple of percentage points higher. Retained earnings as of the end of FY2012 were approximately $1.9 million in the water enterprise fund and $1.3 million in the sewer enterprise fund — after deduction of the $350,000 (water) and $150,000 (sewer) FY2013 rate subsidies voted at the Annual Town Meeting — compared with the Town Manager's suggested target of $1 million in each fund. • Capital Expenditures Committee: It was noted that there have been some membership changes on the CEC.