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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE-ATM 2018 Introduction The Appropriation Committee is appointed by the Town Moderator and serves as an advisory group to the elected members of Town Meeting. The Committee is required by Town bylaw to present its recom- mendations to Town Meeting prior to any vote with a financial impact on the Town. This report summa- rizes the Committee's deliberations and analyses as well as its recommendations regarding the warrant articles deemed to have financial significance, along with the vote of the Committee for each article. The Committee also gives oral reports and responds to questions during Town Meeting as necessary, or when important information has become available following the publication of a report. This report is distributed to the members of Town Meeting as a printed document and as an electronic document via the Town website. It was published on March 27, 2018, in the week prior to the session when financial articles are anticipated to be taken up at the Annual Town Meeting. Committee Membership In the past year, the membership of the Committee has remained unchanged. We are grateful for our members' dedication and continued service. The Town Comptroller is an ex-officio member of the Com- inittee. Carolyn Kosnoff, Comptroller and Assistant Town Manager for Finance, continues to fill this role ably and has provided invaluable assistance and guidance to our Committee and its members. Reserve Fund No Reserve Fund transfers have been requested to date during FY2017. As of publication, the full balance of the $900,000 originally appropriated to the FY-2018 Reserve Fund remains. Any funds in the Reserve Fund not expended before the end of this fiscal year will flow to Free Cash as of June 30, 2018 and will become available for appropriation in the fall of 2018 after the Free Cash balance is certified by the De- partment of Revenue. The proposed appropriation to the FY2019 Reserve Fund is again level-funded at $900,000. Developments Since Our Last Annual Town Meeting Report Major developments with a financial impact on the Town which have occurred since the publication of our report to the 2017 Annual Town Meeting are summarized below. The predominant focus was on cap- ital projects. Summer Capital Project Planning During the late spring, summer and early fall of 2017, a series of meetings was held among the major boards and committees to finalize plans and designs for three long-pending capital projects: (1) replace- ment of the Hastings elementary school; (2) construction of a permanent facility for the Lexington Chil- dren's Place (LCP) preschool at 20 Pelham Road, as well as consideration of other potential municipal uses of that property, in particular gymnasium, cafeteria and event spaces associated with the activities of the neighboring Community Center; and (3) reconstruction of the Fire Headquarters at 45 Bedford Street, together with the construction of temporary fire station swing space at 171-173 Bedford Street. These meetings were informed by design studies and other consulting work for which appropriations were made at the 2017 Annual Town Meeting and embedded Special Town Meeting 2017-1. As a result of these meetings, a decision was made by the Board of Selectmen and School Committee to replace instead of renovate the former Armenian Sisters Academy school facility at the Pelham Road site for use as a new LCP and to proceed with that project as soon as feasible, subject to voter approval in a debt exclusion referendum. A decision was also made to identify in a master planning process the poten- tial co-location at the Pelham site of additional gym and other facilities for the Community Center. How- ever, the consensus was to defer until a later time the design and construction of such additional Commu- nity Center facilities. 2