2018-01-22 BOS-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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71-159 Selectmen's Meeting—January 22, 2018 Vote the 2018 Annual Town Election Warrant Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 5-0 to approve and sign the 2018 Annual Town Election Warrant. Review the Annual Town Election Mailing to Households Ms. Rice, Town Clerk, reviewed the draft of the mailing of the Annual Town Election which includes, the required Notice of the Election and, at the request of the Board of Selectmen, supplemental information including the Preliminary List of 2018 Annual Town Meeting Warrant Articles and the List of current Town Meeting Members and Town Meeting Member Candidates for election. The Board of Selectmen made no changes to the draft of the annual town election mailing document. Town Manager's FYI Preliminary Budget and Financing Plan Mr. Valente reported that this is a balanced budget, it maintains current levels of service with limited service enhancements recommended, and it continues a strong capital program. The recommendation provides some flexibility in case there are state aid reductions or state aid less than what was is projected, as well as unanticipated expenses. Lastly, it proposes to set aside additional funds into the Town's Capital Stabilization Fund to be used to help mitigate the debt service impact of future capital projects. Mr. Valente presented the following key recommendations; address key capital projects; appropriate $3.5 million into Capital Stabilization Fund; appropriate $380,000 from Capital Stabilization Fund for within-levy debt service; appropriate $3.6 million from Capital Stabilization Fund for excluded debt service to provide property tax relief and provide unallocated revenue of$371,000. Mr. Valente stated that it is projected that the Town will have an increase in general fund revenues of$7,715,137 in FY2019 over last year which is an increase of 3.6%from FY2018. Proposed new revenue sources are an adjustment in plumbing and ZBA permit fees and to consider visitor/tourist based fees and fundraising options for the Visitors Center. In the proposed FYI operating budget, Mr. Valente discussed several financial/budget priorities established by the Selectmen. He stated the continuation of the plan for financing capital, both within the tax levy and excluded debt; to limit operating budget increases and to continue funding of the Capital Stabilization fund. The continued funding of post-employment benefits liability remains a priority. Mr. Valente said the preliminary budget includes two reserve recommendations. The first recommendation is to add $1.8 million to the other post-employment benefits (OPEB)trust fund, which currently has a balance of about $12 million. The liability in that account over the next