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12/13/2018 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) December 13, 2018 Place and Time: Dawes Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: John Bartenstein, Chair; Glenn Parker, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; Ellen Basch; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Sanjay Padaki; Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Member(s)Absent: Nick Nichols Other Attendees: None The meeting was called to order at 7:38 p.m. Announcements Mr. Bartenstein announced the following: • The photo for the Town Report is now available. • There is a December 17 reception, 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Lexington Community Center, to thank Michelle Ciccolo for her service on the Board of Selectmen. • The Residential Exemption Policy Committee (Ad hoc)held a hearing on December 11, 2018 to discuss and receive comments on options for reducing tax obligations for qualifying home owners. The principal options being looked at are the Residential Exemption, which may be adopted by the Board of Selectmen under existing law and shifts the tax burden between lower-valued and higher-valued homes; and a means-tested exemption, such as that adopted by the Town of Sudbury and several other towns, which would require a Home Rule petition for special legislation and could take a variety of forms. These special acts typically target low-income seniors meeting the requirements for the State Circuit Breaker income tax credit(i.e., whose annual property tax and half their water and sewer utility bills exceed 10% of their income) and are funded by a tax shift(i.e., by increasing the tax rate). However, Lexington would have the flexibility to seek special legislation establishing its own eligibility criteria and funding method, including funding directly from the town budget. It is unlikely that a recommendation would be ready for the 2019 Annual Town Meeting (ATM). Mr. Padaki reported that the Crematory Study Committee (Ad hoc)plans to solicit comments at a February 7, 2019 public hearing on whether to build a crematory at Westview Cemetery, and whether such a facility should be a stand-alone building or attached to a new cemetery building for which funding is expected to be requested at the 2019 ATM. Ms. Basch reported that there are many unanswered questions related to the possibility that the Town would enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with Minuteman Technical High School that would allow the Town to use the school's planned recreational facilities if the Town helps pay for some of the costs. Ms. Kosnoff added that a cost analysis is expected next Tuesday, which would provide data for deciding the split of costs. Other details that need to be negotiated include scheduling, revenue sharing, and maintenance responsibilities. 1