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Selectmen s Meeting -5- January 25 1988 MWRA ISSUES Mrs. Smith referred to her memo to the Board and Man acier in which she raised two issues which had been discussed at a January 21st MWRA- Advisory Board meeting, and which would impact Lexington, over time. Mrs. Smith reported that the MWRA Board of Directors is now considering inclusion of full service towns such as Lexington in the Policy for Continuation of Water Supply, rather than covering onl :_ contract communities, as or i gi nal lV proposed. She was opposed to this action, noting that the full service communities had had no opportunity for input o n the formation of the policy, The second issue involved MWRA billing procedures which may be changed from semi - annuallV to quarterly billing to help mieet MWRA cash flow problems. Mrs. Smith pointed out the resultant loss to the To;f,In of interest, under this system, and recommended consideration of quarterly water/sewer billing of Lexington residents. Mrs. Smith had prepared a draft letter t o be sent t o+ Pau 1 � ev y , MWRA Executive Director, asking that the MWRA Board of Directors not vote to include in the Policy full service communities which had not participated in its formulation. The letter also requested that the Authority f ollot,,+ a strict policy of never voting to impose policies or rules and regulations affecting specific communities without firs t including them in the debate during the formation of such initiatives. The Board agreed to authorize Mr. Edd i so; n to send the letter, as prepared, on the Board's behalf . P� FY89 BUDGET OVERVIEW Mr, White reviewed his message on the Proposed Budget for FY89 with the Board. Among items h, i ghl i gh t ed were an amount of $54;1325497, for total operation and maintenance of Town government including schools and a -year capital imprc..rvements program. Total :�ece:pts of .& i 1?3 735 and an estimated tax i e vl of $3 ,3 .0,er were noted. f-4 r., estimated residential tax of $10.13 (a 3 . Yl increase) and commercial rate of $17.33 were anticipated to support the budget, The Manager noted that budgets have been reduced in order t o accommodate current financial limitations, but will remain consi stern t with the Board f s goal for maintenance of essential services with a stable tax rate. In addition to budget reductions, additional revenues will have to be used to attain a balanced budget and stay within the limits of Proposition t 1 r/3. Without the use of additional revenues Mr. White added, service reductions would be necessary. , He referred to the unresolved issue of the school budget, which exceeds the 6 by 3.58% There was brief discussion of water and sewer enterprise funds which will be discussed further a t a subsequent meeting. The Manager's proposed budget recommended a cautious allocation of "Free Cash" which he said is at a higher than usual level. Major spending variables which constitute the largest portion of the FY89 increase were listed as Town Payroll; Enterprise Accounting - MWRA; Health Insurance; Refuse Collection ; Debt Service; and Capital Improvements and Operational Articles.