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2022 ATM,2022-1 STM APPROPRIATION COXMTTEE 21 MARCH 2022 Introduction The Appropriation Committee is required to create a report with a review of the budget as adopted by the Select Board, including an assessment of the budget plan and a projection for future years' revenues and expenses. This report includes the Committee's analysis and recommendations regarding all anticipated appropriations of funds at town meetings, and other financial matters that may come before Town Meeting. This report is distributed as an electronic document via the Town website. The Committee also makes presentations during Town Meeting, including recommendations on appropriations and other matters for which the Committee's formal position was pending at the time of publication. The Committee's goal is to publish its report at least one week prior to the start of the Annual Town Meeting (ATM),with the understanding that financial articles could be taken up on the first night of the ATM. Previous reports from this committee were created using Microsoft Word. This report was authored using Wdesk, a cloud-based application from Workiva that the Town licenses for use in producing financial documents. This allows the report to be integrated directly with the Town's internal finance database, so that budget figures and projections are updated and presented in a timely fashion. Committee Membership Anil A. Ahuja was appointed to the committee shortly before the start of the 2021 Annual Town Meeting. Vineeta Kumar was appointed to the committee at the same time, but unfortunately, she was unable to serve due to a conflict with the Town Meeting Member Association's bylaws for its Executive Committee. The Committee presently has eight voting members with one vacant seat. Reserve Fund On March 16, 2022, the Committee approved a transfer of $174,000 from the Reserve Fund to the Recreation Enterprise Fund to accelerate repairs at the Pine Meadows Golf Club. The balance of the Reserve Fund is currently $576,000, but adjustments to the FY2022 operating budget under Article 21 will request a matching transfer of $174,000 from the Recreation Enterprise Fund back to the Reserve Fund. The end result will be that the Reserve Fund balance is unchanged from its initial appropriation at$750,000. As always, any remaining funds will revert to Free Cash at the end of the fiscal year. Zoning Articles As is frequently the case, the warrant for this annual town meeting includes articles that request changes in commercial zoning. There are requests from the Town seeking to update the regulation of commercial development, and there are requests from commercial property owners seeking rezoning. Zoning changes are often predicted to boost the tax levy in the future, which would in turn affect the overall finances of the Town. In spite of the potential for financial impacts, this committee does not generally report on zoning articles. The future financial impact of zoning changes is speculative, and the committee is not equipped to validate such predictions. In addition, zoning changes often involve tradeoffs in quality of life or personal property rights that are impossible to quantify in monetary terms. There are some exceptions to this rule, for example when a property owner agrees to make payments to the Town, or to provide in-kind support for Town needs, such as shuttle services. Developments Since Adoption of the FY2022 Budget The Committee has continued to meet virtually using the Zoom application. At the November 2021-1 Special Town Meeting,the following appropriations were approved: • $870,000 for Police Station Architectural Design and Swing Space Construction. • $310,750 for CPA projects. • $770,000 in supplemental funding for construction of the new Westview Cemetery building. • $570,300 for the Capital Stabilization Fund. • $200,000 for the Transportation Demand Management/Public Transportation (TDM/PT) Stabilization Fund. With the exception of the TDM/PT, these appropriations used funds derived from additional "new growth" in the tax levy above the initial projection in the FY2022 budget. The TDM/PT is funded by commercial property owners under agreements with the Town to support traffic-related work. 2