2008-01-16-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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January 16, 2008 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee January 16, 2008 Place and time: Town Office Building, Selectmen’s Meeting Room, 7:30 PM, followed by meeting in Room 111 Members present: Alan Levine (Chair), John Bartenstein (Secretary), Deborah Brown, Richard Eurich, Pam Hoffman, Michael Kennealy, Susan McLeish, Eric Michelson, Rob Addelson (ex officio, non-voting) The first part of this meeting was held in conjunction with “Summit III”, i.e., with the Board of Selectmen, School Committee and Capital Expenditures Committee. The Selectmen’s minutes for this part of the meeting are incorporated herein by reference. At the summit, the A.C. Chair called the A.C. meeting to order at 7:36 PM. After presentations on the budget and much discussion, the question arose as to how to use $461K of Free Cash that is the only portion of Free Cash whose use was left open by the Town Manager. The Board of Selectmen proposed putting the entire amount toward the operating budget in order to reduce the gap, and asked what the position of the A.C. is on this issue. After a brief discussion the A.C. moved out of the general meeting room in order to caucus for further discussion of the proposal. Two alternatives were of particular interest, i.e., (1) putting the amount toward the operating budget, and (2) putting the amount toward SPED reserves. The Committee decided that it wants to look into a number of aspects of the budget in greater detail before taking a position on the use of this $461K. The A.C. returned to the Selectmen’s Meeting Room and the Chair reported that we would defer making a decision. The Chair asked the Board of Selectmen if they would be open to use of funds from the main Stabilization Fund if, during FY 2009, there are SPED overruns that are larger than can be handled through the Reserve Fund and the SPED Stabilization Fund. The Board Chair and one member answered in the affirmative (but the Board did not vote or take an official position on this question). The next summit was scheduled for January 28, 2008, at 7:30 PM. After the Summit ended around 10:00 PM, the A.C. moved to Room 111. Also present in Room 111 were David Kanter, member Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC), and Patrick Mehr. Rob Addelson requested a transfer of $40,000 from the Reserve Fund to be used for line 521 HR Legal Services to fund labor counsel expenses incurred by the end of January. The expenses are associated with the dismissal of a police officer and an arbitration matter. Rob indicated that he would be coming back to the Committee for additional Reserve Fund transfers as the fiscal year progresses as there are 3 matters ongoing – the - 1 -