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12/14/2017 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) December 14, 2017 Place and Time: Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: John Bartenstein, Chair; Alan Levine, Vice-Chair & Secretary; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Sanjay Padaki; Andrei Radulescu-Bann; Lily Manhua Yan; Jian Helen Yang; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex-officio) Member(s) Absent: Ellen Basch Other Attendees: Joe Pato, Board of Selectmen (BoS); David Kanter, Vice-Chair and Clerk, Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) The meeting was called to order at 7:31 p.m. Mr. Bartenstein shared the Committee's condolences for Mr. Michelson's loss of his father and noted with sadness the Town's loss of a valuable contributor to Town affairs on many levels, for many years. 1. Announcements and Liaison Reports • Mr. Neumeier reported on a court case recently heard by the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) involving the Open Meeting Law. Wayland's BoS had circulated in advance to its members an amalgamated set of performance evaluations in a manner that prompted citizens to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office that deliberations had unlawfully taken place outside of a public meeting. The Attorney General ruled that the BoS action was lawful. In a subsequent court action, Judge Curran of the Superior Court ruled to the contrary. There will likely be a final decision within 180 days; however, Mr. Neumeier is uncertain the outcome will have an impact on Lexington as it may turn on a narrow procedural issue of a court's authority to override action by the Attorney General. • Mr. Bartenstem reported that he had attended a meeting of the Association of Town Finance Committees (ATFC) at which Open Meeting Law issues were discussed. He indicated that the Assistant Attorney General responsible for enforcement of the OML provided surprisingly restrictive interpretations of the law, in particular what constitutes a "deliberation." The AAG said in discussion afterward that he would be willing to meet to discuss these issues further, and also mentioned that a bill had been filed in the state legislature that might allow for more flexibility for inter-meeting email communications among board and committee members provided those communications are posted in real time to a publicly accessible web site. • Mr. Pato reported that, following the receipt of feedback from a working group, the Board of Selectmen is continuing to explore options for providing residential tax relief for those who have limited financial resources, including the creation of a committee to further explore the residential exemption. The Residential Exemption Committee is expected to begin meeting in January and produce a report by mid-June. Mr. Pato added that the BoS is also concerned about the tax burden carried by small commercial enterprises, the burden of the existing 3% CPA surcharge, and ways to increase personal exemptions for the neediest, subjects that will be explored as well. 1