2015-02-12-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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02/12/15 AC Minutes include design work for some projects that are constructed and some that are not. 3. Announcements: Citing some examples, Mr. Neumeier reported that area cities and towns continue to advertise for attorney positions. Published salaries are less than $100,000 while Lexington is spending $800,000 to $900,000 annually for outside counsel. It was suggested that this be brought to the attention of Town officials when they are developing the operating budget. Ms. McLeish reported that the Tax Deferral and Exemption Study Committee(TDESC), with support provided by Mr. Radulescu-Banu, made a presentation on Monday to the BoS on the residential exemption and concluded that it would not be well-tailored to remedy hardships resulting from the recent revaluation process. The TDESC also made a presentation on an expanded senior tax exemption program, similar to the State's circuit breaker, recently adopted by the Town of Sudbury that is funded by a surcharge on all taxpayers. The BoS voted not to pursue this concept further, which means that ATM Article 33 will be indefinitely postponed. The TDESC announced that it will not be recommending any changes this year to the eligibility limits for the senior tax deferral program, noting that no applicants have recently been turned away for lack of eligibility. This means that ATM Article 32 will also be indefinitely postponed. Ms. McLeish noted that members of the BoS expressed strong support for the tax deferral program as the most fair and effective way to afford senior tax relief, but acknowledged that it is underutilized and could benefit from additional publicity. 4. Preparation of Committee's Reports to the 2015 Town Meetings: Specific funding requests were discussed, as follows: • School Building Capital Projects: After extensive discussion, the Committee agreed that it was premature to take a formal vote on Article 2 on the warrant for the first Special Town Meeting, "Appropriate for School Facilities Capital Projects,"but that it would be useful to poll Committee members' current views and take a straw vote. Seven members expressed support for the appropriation request in its current form, one was a"maybe," and one preferred to abstain at this point. Mr. Parker discussed the impact the school projects, as currently envisioned, are likely to have on the taxpayer. He has suggested that the Town evaluate a 30-year debt model as an alternative to the traditional 20-year debt model. A 30-year model would help to smooth out the tax increases, avoid the later-year spikes in the 20 year model, and match more closely the expected useful life of the projects to be funded; however, it would involve a higher interest rate, could potentially affect the Town's bond rating, and because it would take longer to retire could potentially complicate the bonding of future projects such as replacement of the high school. • Fire Engine Purchase: The write up for the new fire engine funding request will be revised to take into account a non-disparagement clause included in the settlement agreement that was reached with the manufacturer of the existing fire engine that was returned. • Cary Memorial Building Sidewalk: More information will be available after the Historic District Commission has an opportunity to discuss the project. 3