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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE-2019 ATM Fiscal Year Wastewater Total Budget Debt Service Debt Service Ratio 2014 $1,131,673 $9,257,354 12.2% 2015 $1,220,843 $9,517,618 12.8% 2016 $940,679 $9,103,316 10.3% 2017 $981,220 $9,441,980 10.4% 2018 $1,034,904 $9,682,514 10.7% 2019 $1,211,165 $10,132,360 12.0% 2020 $1,278,322 $10,525,382 12.1% Because the appropriation proposed this year for wastewater system improvements, unlike that for water system improvements,is level-funded from prior years,it does not present the same concerns of artificially deferred rate pressure as the large increase in annual capital improvement expenditures proposed for the water enterprise fund(see the discussion under Article 17). If new debt for the ongoing improvement pro- gram is added at the same rate that old debt is retired, annual debt service costs, which must be borne by the operating budget and recovered in the rates, should not continue to grow. Nevertheless, an alternative would be to return to at least a partial cash capital program and raise part or all of the funds needed for each year's capital program needs in the rates, while continuing to include excess retained earnings in the mix if, as and when they are available. However, since making such a changeover in a single year would result in a significant one-time rate boost, the all-debt proposal is a reasonable one for this year. The Committee recommends approval of this request(9-0). Article 19 Appropriate for School Capital Projects and Equipment Funds Requested Funding Source Committee Recommendation $1,019,812 Free Cash $724,088 GF Debt Approve(9-0) $1,743,900 This request addresses the District's strategic goal for enhancing the capacity to utilize technology as an instructional and administrative tool. The request will increase student access to devices to allow for inno- vative learning methods that integrate supportive technologies,problem-based approaches and higher order thinking skills. We note that the funding strategy for school technology requests is transitioning from debt to cash capital, which seems reasonable given the shorter lifetimes of the hardware. For a more detailed discussion of the items in this request,please see the Capital Expenditures Committee Report to the 2019 Annual Town Meeting and the Brown Book pages X1-10 and X1-11. The Committee recommends approval of this request(9-0). 39