2011-02-03-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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February 3, 2011 TaxDeferral and Exemption Study Committee (John Bartenstein). There is an article on the warrant to change the income threshold for seniors seeking property tax deferrals. At a recent meeting, the TDESC voted to propose an increase from $51,000 to $60,000. CommunityPreservation Committee (Glenn Parker). Glenn attended the CPC's recent public hearing on its updated needs assessment document. One issue addressed was the possibility of using CPA funds to acquire historic sites. • School Committee (Al Levine). Al attended the School Committee's public hearing on the School Department's FY2012 budget held last Saturday. Few people attended and the meeting was fairly short. The superintendent proposed several changes to help balance the FY2012 budget, including the consolidation of certain positions in areas he has concluded are overstaffed. There has been no official School Committee vote yet regarding the cuts nor has there been a status update as to whether they will come in on budget. There has been discussion of performing a study to help determine whether the proposed staff cuts would be detrimental as well as what would occur should enrollment increase. 4. Staff Reports. Rob Addelson reported to the Committee on the highlights of the Warrant for the 2011 Annual Town Meeting, which he had recently circulated. Article 4 (FY2012 Operating Budget). The Summary of Revenues and Expenditures contained on page 4 of the Warrant contains a change from the White Book. There has been a recommendation for a decrease in expenditures for benefits and insurance by $548,000 because the Superintendent of Schools will be proposing to use a portion of the second year of federal stimulus funds to underwrite a portion of the FY2012 health insurance for teachers. Details are set forth in footnote 1 on page 26 of the Warrant. The issue, including possible strategies for filling the budget gap this use of one -time funds will create in future years, will be addressed at the Budget Summit next Thursday. • Article 7(RevolvingFunds). There is a proposal to create a new revolving fund to handle income from neighboring municipalities and expenditures relating to a regional cache for emergency equipment to be located at the Hartwell Avenue DPW facility. Article 14 (Street Acceptance). This is in regards to improvements for Frances Road proposed to be funded through a betterment assessment. The Town borrows funds to bring the road up to standards required for acceptance as a Town street, then recovers the costs through charges on tax bills of the affected residents for a period not to exceed 20 years at an interest rate of 5 %. • Article 17 (CPA Surcharge). This is a citizen's article seeking to reduce the CPA surcharge from 3 % to I%. 2