2007-10-10 Appropriation Committee Report

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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE REPORT, OCTOBER 9, 2007 TO STM The Appropriation Committee unanimously supports this Article. Article 3: Amend FY2007 Operating Budget Funds Requested Funding Source Committee Recommendation See Text GF Approve (9 -0) This Article seeks amendments to the FY2008 Operating Budget (Article 21) approved at the 2007 Annual Town Meeting. The amendments are necessary to account for (1) additional revenue which was not anticipated at the time of Town Meeting or which, although known, was inadvertently not presented to Town Meeting for appropriation and (2) additional unanticipated FY2008 expenses. Revenue Adjustments Overlay Surplus Each year the Town's budget allocates a certain amount of funds to what are described as Revenue Offsets, to meet anticipated expenditures of the Town. Included in these funds are sums for the Board of Assessors Overlay Account, to be used to meet real estate tax abatements or exemptions which will be granted with respect to that fiscal year. The process involved in determining whether abatements or exemptions will be granted can extend over a period of years, involving proceedings before the Board of Assessors and, sometimes, appeals to the State Appellate Tax Board. Whenever an abatement or exemption is granted, the Overlay Account for the involved fiscal years is appropriately charged. At some point, the Board of Assessors may determine that the amount remaining in a particular fiscal year's Overlay Account is more than sufficient to meet remaining potential obligations. When that determination is made, the Board of Assessors acts to release the surplus funds to the Town. Those funds are then available to the Town as revenue, and are part of the calculations used in setting the tax rate for the fiscal year in which they are released. Prior to the 2007 Annual Town Meeting, the Board of Assessors voted to release a combined surplus totaling $100,000 from the FY2000, 2001 and 2002 Overlay Accounts. Although the funds have actually been released to the Town, they must still be appropriated for FY2008 for purposes of tax rate setting. They were inadvertently overlooked, and thus not appropriated, at the time of Town Meeting, and adoption of this Article will correct that oversight. State Aid The amount of State Aid anticipated in the FY2008 Operating Budget presented to Town Meeting was $8,994,407. It turns out, happily, that the total amount the Town will receive is $9,064,275, an increase of $69,868. Adoption of this Article will result in the Operating Budget correctly reflecting the total amount of State Aid. Expense Adjustments Town Clerk - Personal Services & Expenses Subsequent to Town Meeting, Sen. Robert Havern announced his retirement from the State Senate. His resignation will require the holding of two elections (primary and general), not anticipated at the time of the Annual Town Meeting, to elect his successor. It is estimated that these elections will Page 8 of 18