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December 7, 2011 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee Meeting December 7, 2011 Time and Location: Room G 15, Town Office Building, 7:3 0 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Joe Pato, Vice Chair; Mollie Garberg; Alan Levine; Eric Michelson; Jonina Schonfeld; Rob Addelson (non- voting, ex officio) Not present: Robert Cohen; Richard Neumeier Others in attendance: Mary Ellen Dunn, Assistant School Superintendent The meeting was called to order at 7:32 p.m. Minutes. Minutes of meetings held on 1015111, 10/27/11, and 11/9/11 were approved by a vote of 7 -0 -0. Draft minutes of the meeting held on 10/ 19/11 will be edited for review at the next meeting. LPS transportation fees and school bus contracts (Mary Ellen Dunn). Ms. Dunn gave an update. The schools will seek bids for a 5 -year transportation services contract, starting at the end of January, which would restructure the daily pricing for buses. Action by Town Meeting several years ago allows the Town to negotiate longer -term contracts, and the likely entry of new providers into the Massachusetts school- busing market makes the timing for renegotiation favorable. The current cost of the annual contract is about $1.2m. Lexington contracts for buses on a full -day basis, and there are 17 -18 buses per day. Research is being done to determine needs, costs and other options. The Committee discussed full -day vs. half -day bus rental costs, impacts on response time, Lexpress subsidies, inclusion of set fuel costs in contracts, equipment (age and safety) and capitalization, staffing and training, and routes. Reports by staff and members. Remote participation. Mr. Pato and Mr. Parker reported that a new regulation went into effect over the summer allowing towns to adopt a remote participation policy under the Open Meeting Law. Some other communities, including Arlington, have already done so. The Board of Selectmen has been asked to consider adopting a remote participation policy for Lexington. If such a policy is adopted, members would be able to dial in via phone or video conference, but any conversation must be audible to all participants in the meeting. Votes could be taken by roll call as long as there is a chairperson and quorum physically present at the meeting. Tax Rate: Mr. Addelson reported that the Selectmen set the tax rate for FY 12, with a 1.7 CIP factor, which is unchanged from last year. The Committee discussed past tax rates, how the CIP factor affects the allocation of the tax burden between residential and commercial properties, and the impact of the tax rate that was set on residential taxpayers. Net of new growth, the tax bill for a home of average value, $697,000, will increase 2.8 %.