2010-12-06-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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December 6, 2010 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee December 6, 2010 Place and time: Town Office Building, Room 207, 7:30 p.m. Members present: Glenn Parker (Chair), Joe Pato (Vice Chair), John Bartenstein, Mollie Garberg, Alan Levine, Eric Michelson, Richard Neumeier, Rob Addelson (ex- officio) The meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m. 1. Minutes. The revised minutes of the 8/26/10, 9/14/10, 9/24/10, and 10/13/10 meetings were circulated prior to the meeting. Motions were made and approved to accept the minutes as circulated. It was suggested that draft meeting agendas be circulated to the committee prior to submission to the Town Clerk so that committee members can have a chance to include additional items. 2. Recap of the Special Town Meeting. Glenn Parker led a short review of the committee's work in preparation for and during the recently completed fall special town meeting. Committee members' reactions included: it would be nice to have the report done earlier; the editing session was effective; and our presentations were efficient yet effective. 3. Recap of Budget Summit 2. Joe Pato reviewed with the committee his notes from the 11/18/10 Budget Summit 2. At that meeting, Carl Valente reported that the revenue projections had increased $2M from Summit 1. At the end of the meeting, Carl highlighted, and sought the group's input on, the following policy issues relating to the FY2012 budget: • OPEB Funding. Medicare D reimbursements are dropping to $380K from $440K. However, Carl's budget still calls for moving $500K into the OPEB Trust Fund. • Free Cash to Support the Operating Budget. Carl has reduced the amount of free cash applied to the FY2012 operating budget by $80K compared with FY2011. This is the first year of a series of gradual reductions that he feels would be prudent as some recent sources of free cash may not recur. • Snow and Ice Budget. The snow and ice budget has been increased by $100K to $800K, compared with FY2011. The budgeted amount is still under the five -year historical average, and Carl will continue the practice of setting aside $300,000 in revenue to help close any potential deficit. • Potential Reductions in State Aid. The current budget assumes that state aid will remain at FYI levels. Carl is again setting aside a portion of revenue as a hedge against additional cuts to State Aid. He is also prepared to ask to fill -1-