2017-02-23-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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02/23/2017 AC Minutes 3. AC Report to 2017 ATM Articles were discussed as follows: • Article 4: Appropriate FY2018 Operating Budget —line item for Minuteman Technical High School (Minuteman Tech): Mr. Michelson discussed reasons for the 15% increase in Lexington's per student assessment. He is exploring options for mitigating the FY2018 "spike ". • Article 6: Appropriate for Senior Services Program: Mr. Bartenstein discussed the decrease in participation in Lexington's program that allows eligible residents to work for the Town in exchange for a credit on their local property tax. At existing levels of participation, the proposed appropriation of $30,000, plus carryover balances in this account, would be well more than is needed to fund the program. However, to bolster participation, the income ceiling and /or the hourly wage rate may be increased. • Article 7: Appropriate for Updating the Town's Comprehensive Plan: Ms. Yan reported that Lexington's last comprehensive plan is 15 years old; usually such plans are most useful for about 10 years. This technical document provides the Town with guidelines for creating policies and making decisions. It was noted that the plan could have financial implications; perhaps a member of this Committee should serve as a liaison for the project. • Article 21: Appropriate to Post Employment Insurance Liability Fund: Mr. Levine reviewed past practices regarding the funding of Town retiree benefits, which include pension and health insurance benefits. Pension liabilities are close to 100% funded. This article is requesting about $1.8 million for the Other Public Employee Benefits (OPEB) fund, which will be used to fund future retiree health benefits. While the Governmental Accounting Standards Board's accounting standards promote efforts to fully fund this liability over 30 years, Mr. Levine believes that a 30 -year funding program is unnecessarily burdensome. It was noted that this Committee's report for STM needs to be ready to go to print no later than March 13, and the ATM report must be ready to go to print no later than March 20. 4. Adjourn The Committee adjourned at 9:38 p.m. The documents used at the meeting are listed below. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Approved: March 2, 2017 Exhibits • Agenda, posted by John Bartenstein, Chair • Analysis of Minuteman FY18 assessment increase, prepared by Eric Michelson 2