2023-10-05-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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10/05/2023 AC Minutes 2 Ms. Kosnoff joined the meeting at 8:15 p.m. Article 9 Ms. Kosnoff noted that Article 9 would call for a home rule petition, which would, in turn, require action by the state legislature before RCV could be authorized in Lexington. As such, it is unlikely that any funding would be needed in FY2024, but this could impact the FY2025 operating budget. There was some further discussion about how RCV might be implemented in Lexington. Mr. Parker asserted that it would be very premature for Town Meeting to vote on any specific implementation details for RCV. He expects that the Town would form a committee to study the range of possibili- ties if the home rule petition is approved, after which the Town could begin to meaningfully weigh the use of RCV and any related expenses. Mr. Parker stated that he would be responsible for writing up Article 9. Article 3 The discussion returned to new growth revenue and an appropriation into the Capital Stabilization Fund (CSF). Mr. Bartenstein wanted to clarify how current policy is allocating new growth revenue to the CSF, and whether the Select Board retained the ability to adjust this policy in the face of other budget needs. Ms. Kosnoff stated that the current policy allocates portions of new growth rev- enue each year for recurring allocation to the CSF. In practice, this creates an allocation that grows larger every year the policy is used, and this limits the use of new growth revenue for other areas of the operating budget. The cumulative allocation from FY2022 and FY2023 is approximately $1.7 million, and the alloca- tion for FY2024 is expected to be approximately $2 million. Once appropriated into the CSF, the funds are legally constrained to be used for capital projects, but this is not strictly limited to the high school project. Ms. Kosnoff reminded the Committee that in order to include new growth revenue in the tax levy, it must first be appropriated. The CSF is one way to satisfy this requirement, but the Select Board al- ways retains the ability to direct revenue to other needs. The policy has been reviewed at past Budget Summits and will be a topic at the next Budget Summit on October 18 as well. Mr. Padaki requested that Ms. Kosnoff send him preliminary numbers for this article since final numbers might not become available for a week or two. Article 4 Mr. Parker asked Ms. Kosnoff to discuss changes to FY2024 budgets under Article 4. In regard to the operating budget, Ms. Kosnoff stated that the Town was incorporating the maintenance of sev- eral small existing buildings into the Department of Public Facilities (DPF) budget. This includes a shed near the water tank that houses Town radio equipment, the pool houses at the Center Recrea- tion Complex and the Old Res, a recently rebuilt structure adjacent to the high school track, and one other small building. Some of these buildings have suffered from deferral of maintenance, and the Town seeks a supplemental appropriation of approximately $85,000. The responsibility for seasonal opening of these buildings will be transferred from the Recreation Department to the DPF. Funding may be drawn in part from the Recreation Enterprise Fund, with the rest coming from the General Fund. Mr. Kanter asked for confirmation that no CPA budget adjustments were expected, which Ms. Kos- noff confirmed.