2021-01-28-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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01/28/2021 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) January 28, 2021 Place and Time: Remote Participation: in accordance with the Governor's March 12, 2020 Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law; communication took place via a Zoom teleconferencing session that was open to the public; 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Meg Muckenhoupt; Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Member(s)Absent: None Other Attendees: Eileen Jay, Vice-Chair, and Deepika Sawhney: Lexington School Committee; David Kanter, Vice-Chair and Clerk: Capital Expenditures Committee; Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Mr. Parker confirmed attendance by roll call, reviewed the authorization for meeting remotely, noted that the meeting was being called to order at 7:32 p.m. on January 28, 2021, and stated that the meeting was being recorded for the purpose of creating minutes. He also noted that materials for the meeting were available on-line. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Bartenstein provided an update on the 2020 Town Meeting article that requested home rule legislation designed to delay application of the 16%interest rate to outstanding deferred property taxes after a homeowner dies. The legislation was signed into law by the Governor on January 13, 2021. Mr. Michelson reported that the Minuteman Technical High School budget had been approved on January 26. He also reported that the number of student applications from member towns is greater than anticipated, which has triggered discussion about ways to increase the capacity of the facility in regard to number of students including repurposing a facility on Mill Street in Lincoln, previously used for a preschool, to accommodate some additional classrooms. This is not in the current budget but is being considered as a future possibility. Mr. Levine and Mr. Parker reported that the Financial Policy Working Group had met with Dan Sherman, the Town's actuary who has prepared actuarial evaluations of the Town's liability for Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB). The discussion involved policies and strategies relevant to contributions to the Town's OPEB trust fund. A draft policy is being reviewed. Currently, funding for retiree health and dental insurance in the next fiscal year is directly funded through the operating budget, while funds are appropriated in a separate article into the OPEB trust fund, with the goal of fully-funding OPEB future obligations. The fund currently has a balance close to $20 million. Mr. Sherman agreed to provide a few alternative implementation scenarios and a"live" spreadsheet. The option to transfer the remaining balance of the Health Care Trust Fund into the OPEB trust fund was discussed, as was the idea of routing all OPEB payments, i.e., the sum of the annual obligations plus any payments for unfunded and/or future liabilities, through the OPEB trust fund. Annual obligations would then be appropriated from the OPEB trust fund instead of directly from the operating budget. Ms. Kosnoff noted that drawing on the OPEB trust fund could provide critical flexibility during the first few years of debt service for a new high school. It was noted that when 1