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Select Board Goals The Select Board established the following five strategic outcome areas for FY2022&FY2023 to use as road map to help guide the collaborative work of the Board,Staff and Committees. Community Compass Lexington is a visionary and sustainable community that values and respects all people, history, and community assets, by: • Celebrating and fostering our differences in belief,culture, and ability • Creating effective,respectful two-way communication • Continuing opportunities to create and share history • Maintaining and improving our physical assets Livable Lexington Lexington provides opportunities for all people to participate in community activities and benefit from Town services that are affordable, accessible, and responsive, by: • Increasing opportunities for and utilization of safe multimodal transportation • Actively seeking development of affordable and accessible housing • Providing financial opportunities and support to enable lifelong residency Quality Services Lexington delivers quality municipal services, infrastructure, and amenities for all by: • Ensuring the health,safety, and well-being of our community • Balancing the financial impact of existing services and infrastructure with planning for future needs • Valuing and respecting Town staff • Effectively engaging Boards and Committees • Maximizing sustainability and resilience while mitigating negative climate impacts Fiscal Stewardship Lexington is committed to fiscal stewardship, which includes: • Long-term capital and fiscal planning • Responsible financing and debt management • Providing staff and resources necessary to deliver quality services • Ensuring strategic priorities are met Budget Challenges FY2024 and Beyond Developing the FY2024 budget for the Town of Lexington presented several challenges for the Select Board. One of our primary concerns was balancing the needs of the community with the available resources while also addressing critical infrastructure and capital projects. We are committed to ensuring that the budget we develop reflects the priorities and values of our community, and we worked closely with Town Departments and Committees to identify areas where we could make strategic investments while also controlling costs. One of the major challenges we faced this budget cycle was dealing with inflation and the resulting increased expenses in the areas of energy costs,waste management increases, and employee health benefits.We continue to budget cautiously and conservatively,taking these increased expenses into account.Given our limitations,we allocated funds toward a few new initiatives this year including funding to support our public access television,LexMedia, due to decreased Public Educational Government access channel (PEG) revenue, ongoing maintenance for the new Center Streetscape and 2