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April 20, 2011 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee Meeting April 20, 2011 Time and Location: Town Office Building, Room 111, 7:3 0 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Joe Pato, Vice Chair; Robert Cohen; Alan Levine; Eric Michelson; Susan McLeish; Rob Addelson (non- voting, ex officio) Not in attendance: Mollie Garberg; Richard Neumeier The meeting was called to order at 7:37 p.m. There were no announcements. 1. Minutes. Minutes of the 3/30/11 and 4/4/11 meetings were approved by a vote of 7 -0 -0. 2. Liaison Reports by Staff and Members. • Health Care Benefits Study (Joe Pato). Mr. Pato and Mr. Levine will be meeting with Denise Casey, Human Resources Director, and Carl Valente, Town Manager, regarding health benefits. There was a discussion regarding prioritizing questions for this meeting. Changes at the state level should be finalized in June and will not impact current contracts but will set the stage for next year. Coalition bargaining is set up under state law and will continue to govern contract negotiations unless it is negotiated away. The Committee discussed the financial implications of Clause 13 of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Town of Lexington and the Public Employee Committee, which provides that the current 80 -20 split between the Town and employees for payment of health benefit costs will revert to 85 -15 if the Town unilaterally implements plan design changes without collective bargaining. The Committee also discussed the implications of the new state law for retired employees, Medicare, and other plan possibilities, including an HRA (Health Reimbursement Account used for premium and funded by the employer at time of need) versus an FSA (Flexible Spending Account which is lost if not used). Bi- monthly reports include utilization and enrollment rates, not eligibility rates. There was a discussion regarding objectives, data collection and future enrollment possibilities to assist in strategizing for the current 92% enrollment rate. • Revolving Funds (Rob Addelson). Mr. Addelson distributed a Summary of Revolving Funds updated as of 4/19/11 showing the FYI spending ceiling for each fund. Mr. Addelson went over the summary and there was a discussion of the trends affecting each fund. The funds are monitored throughout the year, and if spending exceeds revenue the General Fund will absorb some of the costs. 3. Review of Actions at 2011 Annual Town Meeting. The Committee discussed improving coordination with other boards and committees, including the Board of Selectmen, the Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) and the School Committee. Budget Summits were addressed as a possible setting for these types of discussions in the future. Setting a schedule to