2018-02-01-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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02/01/2018 AC Minutes benefits. The current balance in the Health Trust Fund is about$3.8 million, and that fund will eventually be depleted. Ms. Kosnoff noted that when the Pension Fund is 100% funded, it may be feasible to increase the annual appropriations into the OPEB fund; and that due to recent stock market gains, the value of the pension fund increased by approximately 20% in 2017. • A report on the recommended OPEB appropriation for FY2019 is currently being prepared. Mr. Levine commented that the rate of return used for estimating future growth is a critical component in estimating the amount of the future liability • The debt issuance will be finalized next week. The Town is issuing approximately $48.0 million in long term bonds and approximately $11.7 million in Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs). The long-tern bond request is influenced by capital project expense schedules. The $48.0 million bond will cover about 35 items, including $9.0 million for the Hastings Elementary School project that could have been issued at a later date, but was advanced to take advantage of the current favorable interest rate environment. This decision also avoids paying issuance costs twice, first for BANs and then for long term bonds. In explaining the process for issuing bonds, Ms. Kosnoff reported that the Town uses a financial advisor who prepares an offering document, known as an official statement (OS), that is comparable to a prospectus. The OS goes to the rating agencies which, after review, assign a bond rating for the Town. The bonds are then issued for sale, and financial institutions submit bids. Bids may include premiums (an up-front payment), in addition to an interest rate, but bids must include the True Interest Cost, which is used for comparing submissions, with the lowest bid being selected. The bidding results could potentially result in changes to the assumptions regarding tax increase mitigation that have been used in the Town's modeling for funding large projects. 2. Review of FY2019 Budget Issues • Community Preservation Act (CPA)Funding for Center Field Track and Field Reconstruction and Athletic Facility Lighting: In response to questions about the amount of CPA funding being used for recreation projects (about 80% of available CPA funds), Mr. Pressman said that the CPA funds were originally available for historic preservation, open space, and affordable housing. Eligibility for recreation projects was added later. The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) is supportive of the recreation projects that have been presented. He added that the Center Track and Field project and the Athletic Lighting project will need to be debt-financed over five years. He also noted that the track was originally constructed in 2000 and has been resurfaced twice, in 2006 and 2012. There was discussion about the possibility that future reconstruction/renovation of the Lexington High School (LHS) could impact the track, field, and athletic lighting projects. It was agreed that this was a possibility,but a LHS project has not yet been defined enough to determine the potential ramifications. During discussion, it was noted that the athletic facilities involved are heavily used resources, making it undesirable to close them until further information is 2