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02/01/2018 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee(AC) February 1, 2018 Place and Time: Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: John Bartenstein, Chair; Alan Levine, Vice-Chair & Secretary; Ellen Basch; Eric Michelson; Sanjay Padaki; Andrei Radulescu-Banu; Lily Manhua Yan; Jian Helen Yang Member(s)Absent: Richard Neumeier Other Attendees: Bob Pressman, Community Preservation Committee (CPC) The meeting was called to order at 7:36 p.m. 1. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Bartenstein reported the following: • There will be a reception for retiring Selectman Peter Kelley on Thursday, March 1 from 4-6 p.m. This will not conflict with a 7:30 p.m. AC meeting, if one is so scheduled. • The Board of Selectman (BoS) were supportive of the warrant article proposed by the Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) to amend the Town bylaws governing the finance committees' activities to better reflect current practice. • An email from Suzie Barry, Chair, BoS, indicates that the BoS will likely support the track and field and lighting capital projects; and that it is not yet clear whether a majority will support moving ahead with an expansion for the Lexington Community Center at this time. • A draft list of Annual Town Meeting (ATM) warrant articles prepared by staff was included in the Budget Summit 4 packet; he has excerpted it and separately distributed it to members. Ms. Kosnoff reported the following: • The FY2017 audit has been finalized; she will distribute the financial statement. • The Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) biennial valuation was finalized this week. An actuary will hold an information session with staff at some point before the March town meeting, and up to four members of this Committee would be welcome to attend. Mr. Levine, Mr. Radulescu-Banu, Ms. Yan, and Ms. Yang expressed interest in attending, schedules permitting. Mr. Michelson volunteered to attend if any of these had a conflict. Ms. Kosnoff noted that while the projected OPEB liability is substantial, approximating $200 million, and the liability is still less than 5% funded, Lexington has appropriated more into its OPEB fund for future liabilities than most towns in the area. • Appropriations into the OPEB fund were approximately $1.5 million in 2016 and $1.8 million in both fiscal years 2017 and 2018. Those appropriations included $750,000 each year from the Health Insurance Claims Trust Fund, which had been created when the Town was self-insured for its employee/retiree health 1