2013-11-04-STM-AC-rpt - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE REPORT TO THE NOVEMBER 2013 STM liminary look at the department's workload by the new Assessor had indicated that a new employee could be tasked with inspection work currently being contracted out, and also be available for some additional tasks. A significant portion of the anticipated position was to be funded by reducing the amount budgeted for contractor expenses. Further analysis, however, has concluded that the position is not warranted at this time. The requested adjustment would return $40,000 to expenses account so the Assessing Department can continue to use private contractors to supplement internal staffing. Schools The School Committee is requesting a supplemental appropriation of $86,554 to the Lexington Public Schools operating budget, originally approved under Line 1100 of Article 4 at the 2013 Annual Town Meeting. This supplement is necessitated by the loss of funds in several Federal and State grants due to sequestration at the Federal level and to enrollment changes, as outlined in the table below. During the FY2014 budget process this past spring, $750,000 was set aside as unappropriated funds to cover possible decreases in grant funding from the State and Federal governments during FY2013. Those funds were not needed in FY2013, so when the fiscal year ended on June 30, 2013, they closed to and were eventually certified as part of the Town's Free Cash. The funding for this appropriation is General Fund revenue de- rived from upward revisions of revenue estimates used in the FY2014 budget. Grant FY2014 FY2014 Change %Change Budgeted Actual Title I $170,260 $151,274 ($18,989) - 11.15% Title II $91,217 $86,954 ($4,263) - 4.67% a� 94 -142 $1,549,196 $1,514,322 ($34,874) Early Childhood $40,116 $38,408 ($1,708) 4.26% Special Education Entitlement $74,562 (est.) $47,842 ($26,720) Total Anticipated Cuts ($86,554) Water and Wastewater Enterprise Funds The MWRA component of the original FY2014 Water and Wastewater Enterprise Fund budgets was based on preliminary assessments issued by the MWRA in February 2013. The MWRA's final FY2014 assessments issued in June 2013 were slightly lower than the preliminary assessments, resulting in re- duced costs to the Water and Wastewater Enterprise Funds ($10,427 reduction in the water assessment and $24,966 reduction in the sewer assessment). The FY2014 water and sewer rates set earlier this fall were based on the final assessments. The proposed budget changes are minor bookkeeping updates to re- flect the change in anticipated costs. Community Preservation Fund This request will likely include an increase in the appropriation into various reserve funds of the Commu- nity Preservation Fund (CPF) originally made under Article 8 at the 2013 Annual Town Meeting. Due to recently enacted State legislation, $25,000,000 will be deposited in to the State's Community Preserva- tion Trust Fund. As a result, the fall CPA trust fund distributions to participating communities will be higher. In order for Lexington to access to this additional revenue in FY2014, an appropriation into the CPF must be made prior to setting the FY2014 tax rate. If this appropriation is not made before the FY2014 tax rate is set, the additional CPA funds will be received, but they will be unavailable for appro- priation until after the close of FY2014. 2