1996-04-01-AC-MIN.pdf - Laserfiche WebLink

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0 APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 1, 1996 COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE 6:00 PM Present: P Lapointe, M Miley, M Mairson, J Pagett, R Borghesani, R Colwell, J Ryan Absent: R Leone, M Hastings, L Peck * P Lapointe distributed a draft of the AC Report to Town Meeting * M Miley informed the AC that she attended a meeting on Friday, March 29th with K Dooks, R White, J Young, L McSweeney, and J Dini and indicated that nothing was resolved. J Young and R White are scheduled to meet again on Monday, April 1st. * P Lapointe will attend a meeting on Wednesday, April 3rd at 7:30 am with the group that normally gets together on Thursdays in an attempt to resolve the budget issues. * P Lapointe stated that the AC will make a report to Town Meeting on April 22nd(20 mins) and that J Young was going to give an overview on April 8th. * The 3 for 1 issue was discussed by J Pagett. The issue is extremely complex as to which teachers fall where in the salary schedule. The agreement was not made for cost effectiveness. The SC is concerned that they have not been able to hire the teachers they would like and have not been able to attract minorities. Most of the calculations are being supplied by P Crosby, President of the LEA union. It appears to be "done deal". J Pagett and R Borghesani support the request. Concern expressed that S Guryan has not verified the possible costs associated with the agreement. * P Lapointe expressed concern that the employees affected by this agreement signed contracts fully aware of the salary schedule and the need to retroactively adjust their pay. * P Lapointe posed the question, Does the AC wish to make a dollar cut proposal in order to close the gap? * M Miley stated that the class size issue was brought up last Friday but appeared to go nowhere. * R Borghesani stated that he thought the technology costs estimates were understated and that the actual costs will be greater than projected. The SC also needs to show how it intends to manage the technology costs. * P Lapointe discussed the increase in the Town budget request, 4% and the School Dept. increase of 7.9%. If the cost associated with increased enrollment was deducted from the increase there would still be a 5.1% increase in the School Dept. request. Should the AC recommend that the school request be reduced to reflect a 4% increase, or a $ 410,000 decrease. * AC need to attempt to show leadership in controlling expenses. * R Colwell discussed the possibility of a real estate transfer tax dedicated to support schools in an attempt to help deal with rising enrollments. * P Lapointe brought up the following for discussion in an attempt to resolve the gap problem: Bond the pumper Split the snow deficit between fy 96 and fy 97