2006-02-09-AC-summit4 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Budget Collaboration/Summit 4 February 9, 2006 Co A joint meeting ol'the Board ol'Selectmen, School mmittee and Finance Committees was held on Thursday, February 9, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. in Fstabrook Hall. Chairman Krieger, Mr. Kelley, Mr. Pagett, Mr. Cohen; and Mr. Manz; Mr. Valente, Town Manager; and Ms. Pease, Executive Clerk were present. fCo The Chairs othe School mmittee, Appropriations Committee and Capital Expenditures Committee called their members to order. FY2007 Budget — Open Issues Mr. Valente reviewed the projected available revenue ol'$5,792,746 million. He asked if everyone was comfortable with using $2 million From free cash and whether the state aid number he recommended is too conservative and il'it should be adjusted. The House Ways and Means Committee state aid number will not be available until alter the April school vacation. Consensus was to leave the numbers as recommended until we have more concrete information. for The group discussed reserves and wanted to know what to expect in the future reserves. Mr. 5 Valente presented a Reserves Analysis table for the period FY200 to FY2007. There was a discussion of the rising costs related to health care and special ed and that there may be a need for an override on a yearly basis. Ms. Guttag is concerned about attracting good candidates yearly - for teaching if the Town, on a basis, has to put together an atrisk list. Suggestion was made to reduce the free cash use from $2 million to $1.5 million. A majority of the Selectmen do not want to dig any deeper into services and programs and are comfortable with the Town Manager's recommendation to use $2 million from Free Cash. Mr. Pagett is not comfortable and said the goal should be to live within constraints of a balanced budget. The Town has never used free cash when considering an override; we are setting a dangerous precedent. Co The Capital Expenditures mmittee is not comfortable with using $2 million from free cash. The fr Appropriation Committee position is 6-2 in lavor ol'using $2 million from ee cash. The School I Committee voted 4 in support and probably in support. The group requested preparation ol'a 1~Y2008 prolorma to estimate the anticipated dap. Budget Collaboration/Summit 4 — February 9, 2006 Allocation of"New" FY2007 Revenue Mr. Valente explained the recommended incremental revenue split ($5,792,746 revenues minus $3,664,716 in shared expenses equals $2,128,030 to split between municipal and education. The Town Manager recommends the money split be $1,535,878 (72%) for education and $593,152 (28%) for municipal, which is based on the FY2006 revenue split. Mr. Pagett recommended a different split that would take into account the additional appropriation of already made to the schools in the fall Special Town Meeting. This would establish a split 70%