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03/19/15 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee(AC) March19,2015 : Department of Public FacilitiesBuilding,Room221, 7:30 p.m. : Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Alan Levine; Beth Masterman;Susan McLeish;Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Andrei Radulescu-Banu Members Absent:Mollie Garberg Other attendees: None The meeting was called to order at 8:05p.m. Announcements: 1.Mr. Parker reported the following: ththth Draft Minutes for February 26, March 5, and March10have been distributedfor future approval. rd This Committee will be meeting on Monday, March 23to sign the printed report from this Committee to the 2015 Annual Town Meeting(ATM). It will be printed first thing thatmorning; final edits need to be submitted by Sunday. AC Report to the 2015ATM: 2.There was discussion about the report’s Introduction and how some of the numbers have recently changed. An effort will be made to use the most current numbers available,although inevitably some numbers will change after the report is printed.Discussion, comments,and positions takenon ATM Articles included the following: Article 4: Appropriate FY2016 Operating Budget ATM:There was a review of each line item. Comments included the following: Mr. Levine expressed concern about the way the use of the Capital Projects/Debt Service Reserve/Building Reserve Stabilization Fundis being characterizedas mitigation; thereshouldbereferenceto offsetting the levy debt service. The Retirement Board is asking the Town to fully fund its pension liability by 2025 rather than by the State-mandated 2040; this seems to be overly conservative. Article4includes a supplement for the Recreation Department’s Enterprise Fund because there are new employees being hired for the Lexington Community Center. A motion was made and seconded to support Article 4. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0 Article 5:Appropriate FY2016 Enterprise Funds Budgets:Mr. Bartenstein noted that the water and sewer enterprise fundseach have retained earnings of approximately $2,000,000, and that approximately $1.0 million from the retained earnings of each fund will be applied to fund capital projectsin lieu of borrowing.The report write-up on this article suggests continued attention in the rate-setting process to usage trends that have been generating substantial surpluses, and that any long-term program to fund capital projects with cash capital be addressed explicitly in that process. A motion was made and seconded to support Article 5. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0 Article 6: Appropriate for Senior Service Program: This was previously approved. Ms. Masterman and Mr. Neumeier added theirvotes in support of this article. 1