2013-08-30-Ad hoc Townwide Facilities Master Planning Committee (Final Report of Committee)

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Project Funding Sources There are three sources of funding, summarized below, that were considered in the preparation this financial model. General Fund Each year, Town Meeting approves the budget for the next fiscal year, the Board of Selectmen approves tax rates, and the taxpayers provide the majority of the revenue that flows into the Town's General Fund (GF). The GF also receives revenues from State and Federal governments and other sources. Excluding debt service from the limitations of Proposition 21/2 requires approval by the votes of the Town (see also "Prior Excluded Debt Service" on the next page). Community Preservation Act Funds The Community Preservation Act (CPA) was adopted by the Town's voters on March 6, 2006. Under the CPA, a 3% surcharge on property taxes, with restrictions, is collected for the purposes of Community Housing, Historic Resources, Open Space and Outdoor Recreational Use. A matching percentage of state funds, from the Community Preservation Trust Fund, is provided to the towns that have adopted the CPA program. As the Town has adopted the highest level of surcharge authorized by the CPA, the Town is eligible for more than the basic distribution percentage of state matching funds. The aggregate of the State match for the 6 years of Town participation is 46 %. These funds may be used to directly pay for an eligible project or project element, or they may be used to fund the bond costs in the yearly budget. For the purpose of this financial model, CPA - funded project debt was calculated for a term of 10 years for all projects listing the source as `CPF,' meaning Community Preservation Fund with the exception of those projects jointly and partially funded by the GE CPF funds available for CPF - eligible projects were calculated by the Town's Finance Department as available for appropriation in each fiscal year as listed in the model. The calculation by the Finance Department of these values is presented in the third spreadsheet in Appendix F. Massachusetts School Building Authority The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) provides funding for new school projects distributed according to a formula of need and building program. Based on the Town's recent experience with Estabrook School, these funds are calculated as 32% of the total project costs. While this may vary for the actual Maria Hastings School and High School projects, this is considered a conservative amount and appropriate for this model. The payments from the MSBA program are based on reimbursements for the completion of the project elements over the term of design and construction and TOWNWIDE FACILITIES MASTER PLANNING 39