2008-06-25-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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June 25, 2008 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee June 25, 2008 Place and time: Town Office Building, Room 111, 7:30 PM Members present: Alan Levine (Chair), John Bartenstein (Secretary), Richard Eurich, Susan McLeish, Eric Michelson, Mike Kennealy, Pam Hoffman Also present: Patrick Mehr. The meeting was called to order at 7:45 PM. Reports from Committee members. 1. Pam Hoffman and John Bartenstein reported that they had attended a meeting this afternoon where it was announced that the Town of Lexington would receive $1.1 million under the M.O.R.E. program from the State for infrastructure improvements at the intersection of Waltham Street and Marrett Road. This was one of four projects for which a grant was submitted to the State (total requested - $2.6 million). There was a brief discussion regarding the fact that the agreement with Shire requires them to cover any shortfall in monies received from the State unless the Town failed to apply for the funding promptly. Pam also reported on a meeting of the School Financial Review Committee (SFRC). At that meeting, it was reported that a position control system is being implemented as contracts with the various unions are finalized (this is the easiest time to implement). The system will allow the schools to gather and report data regarding classes of jobs and other metrics. Additionally, there was conversation regarding FTE’s and FTE reporting and the definition of such at the SFRC meeting – it varies for each bargaining unit and each position. The schools are also changing their chart of accounts to be consistent with the Dept. of Education codes. This will be done in time for the 2010 budget and they plan to go back to the 2009 budget to restate as well so there will be comparability in the data. Pam reported that the Financial Review Committee is doing very good work and that it has been very helpful. Alan suggested that when we receive the year-end report we should take 15 minutes to review it at a meeting in terms of the information provided (too much, just right…) and the format. We should also focus on the final disposition of the watch list. The third quarter report projected a $1.2 million surplus (in addition to the $350,000 that was transferred at the recent Annual Town Meeting to commence funding of a special education (SPED) stabilization fund). - 1 -