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01/23/2020 AC Minutes important(e.g., sustainability decisions) discounting is a useful tool to evaluate monetized costs and benefits, which may show that the project is worth doing even without the other factors or at least to narrow down how important those factors would have to be to justify the project. Mr. Nichols presented a handout with two examples from the past two town meetings. In the fall, the Town voted to approve the replacement of existing streetlights with LED lights, which entailed initial capital costs and savings in electricity and maintenance costs over the 20-year life of the lights. The analysis showed that the present value of the savings was far larger than the cost at any reasonable discount rate. He noted, however, that the proposed budget for FY2021 shows much smaller savings, although that reflects conservative budgeting in the face of uncertainty about a new technology. He suggested it would be important in the future to see how the actual savings compare to those estimated, both for this project and others. The second example was automated meter reading from the spring 2019 ATM. In that case, the monetized benefits do not appear to justify the project at any discount rate (even zero), but there are potentially significant nonmonetized benefits. However, the analysis narrows the decision, showing how large those nonmonetized benefits would have to be to justify the project. Mr. Nichols recommended that discounting be discussed in the Committee's report and applied to projects analyzed in the report where appropriate. The need to move on to other issues precluded Committee discussion of these recommendations. 2020 ATM Financial Articles and Report Planning Mr. Parker reviewed his preliminary article assignments for this Committee's report to the ATM and made adjustments based on the discussion. This included making assignments for the Community Preservation Committee projects. It was agreed that, for capital projects that will also be reviewed by the Capital Expenditures Committee, there needs to be more discussion in the report if an article is not supported unanimously than if there is unanimous support. The Committee also discussed how the report should address projections of future revenues and expenditures. Members agreed that the Committee's past practice of preparing independent projections makes little sense now that Town staff do five-year projections. The Committee could review and comment on the staff s work. Ms. Kosnoff agreed to share an electronic copy of the Town's five-year plan with Mr. Michelson and Mr. Nichols, who will review it and suggest how to reflect that review in the Committee's report. Ms. Kosnoff reported that a Community Preservation Act funding request for the Farmview Housing project was pulled, and it is not yet clear where the funding request would be included. Mr. Parker reminded members that a list of items for the consent agenda for the ATM must be prepared. Future Meetings This Committee is scheduled to meet on January 30, February 5, and February 12. Mr. Parker agreed to contact representatives for the following articles to invite them to an AC meeting: • Article to Authorize Special Legislation—Development Surcharge for Community Housing: Matt Daggett • Articles related to the School Department—operating and capital costs: Dr. Julie Hackett. Questions for the School Department should be forwarded to Mr. Levine for him to share with Dr. Hackett in advance. • Articles associated with the Department of Public Works: Dave Pinsonneault 2