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03/04/2021 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) March 4, 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 (arrived 8:08 p.m.); 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 (CEC); Matt Daggett, proponent of Article 36; Anil Ahuja, 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 7:35 p.m. on March 4, 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. Parker reported that copies of the FY2022 Town Manager's Budget&Financing Plan (Brown Book) are available in the Police Station, and if members drop off their FY2022 Town Manager's Preliminary Budget& Financing Plan (White Books) when picking them up, the White Books will be recycled. The School Budget is expected to be available tomorrow. Mr. Parker reported that he had attended the CEC meeting that morning. He also recognized Mr. Ahuja, Mr. Kanter, and Mr. Daggett's attendance. Committee Report to Annual Town Meeting 2021 (Report) Mr. Parker introduced Mr. Daggett, who used slides to share new information regarding Article 36: Authorize Special Legislation-Development Surcharge for Affordable Housing(Citizen Petition), which proposes linkage fees for commercial development to support the creation of affordable housing. He provided the following updates: • The motion now includes language that provides a fee exemption for the housing portions of mixed used developments. • The surcharge fee per square foot of development should be sufficiently small for Lexington to remain competitive in attracting building projects. Based on a Somerville study, this would be $8-10 per square foot, with an exemption for the first 30,000 square feet. • Modeling using 2021 dollars has been used to determine revenue based on assuming all 33 properties on Hartwell Avenue are developed. • Modeling has also been used to project the number of affordable housing units that could be built with this funding. • Creating a housing trust fund for holding such fees would better facilitate the support of affordable housing projects than using the Affordable Housing Stabilization Fund. 1