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June 12, 2013 Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee June 12, 2013 Place and time: Ellen Stone Room, Cary Memorial Building at 7:30pm Members present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Robert Cohen; Mollie Garberg; Alan Levine; Eric Michelson; Susan McLeish; Richard Neumeier; Jonina Schonfeld; Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance (non- voting, ex officio) Members Absent: John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary Other Attendees: Patrick Mehr, Town Meeting Member The meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m. 1. Liaison Reports: Mr. Levine reported that the Ad hoc Townwide Facilities Master Planning Committee met on Monday, June 10 to finalize its interim report to the Selectmen. They also discussed a financial scenario that will be included with their final report. Their goal is to complete the final report by the end of June. Ms. Schonfeld reported that the School Committee will be meeting in executive session next week to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining. 2. June 17, 2013 Special Town Meeting Report: Mr. Parker discussed his draft report for Article 2: "Approve TIF [Tax Increment Financing] Agreement(s) ". The current draft does not include the Committee's position on the article and serves primarily as background information about TIFs in Lexington. Mr. Addelson will provide some additional information regarding the Shire TIF agreement. Mr. Parker plans to submit the report for printing in the morning so it will be available for the Town Meeting Members Association information meeting being held Thursday night. Mr. Mehr asked this Committee to reject Article 2 for three reasons: Businesses already have a tax advantage because the sale prices for business properties exceed assessed values, and assessed values are used to determine taxes. He believes that the assessments need to be looked at in a formal way before the Town accepts such TIFs. • Facts about the building under consideration and the Hartwell Avenue area are being twisted. The property is described as decadent and the area around 95 Hayden Ave was called blighted, and he does not believe this is true. • Staff is spending an exorbitant amount of time negotiating a TIF, and this costs the Town money. This time should be spent on more important matters. Mr. Cohen said that the state has identified the Hartwell Avenue area as blighted; this is a legal term. Mr. Levine noted that sale prices of business properties reflect more than the value of the real estate unless the buildings are vacant; having tenants impacts the sale price. He added that the Board of Assessors handles these issues. Mr. Mehr expressed disappointment that this Committee is not looking into these concerns. Mr. Michelson suggested that they might be looked at after Town Meeting.