2009-03-04-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee March 4, 2009 Place and time: Town Office Building, Room 111, 7:30 PM Members present: Alan Levine (Chair), John Bartenstein (Vice Chair), Richard Eurich, Pam Hoffman, Susan McLeish (Secretary), Eric Michelson, Glenn Parker, and Mollie Garberg The meeting was called to order at 7:40 PM. 2009 Budget. Alan reported that he attended a meeting where a discussion of a projected school budget deficit of $375,000 (it is now $428,000 and likely to change by the end of the year) was discussed. Dr. Ash explained that a portion is due to legal services as they are more serious in screening SPED cases, there is a deficit related to substitute teachers and a surplus related to teachers. Short of layoffs there is not a lot the schools can do to avoid the shortfall. Rob Addelson reported that the current estimate of what has been expended for snow and ice is $1.5 million through this latest storm. The 2009 budget is $650,000 and there is $300,000 in next year's budget so there is a shortfall of $550,000. We discussed the strategy for handling the snow and ice deficit and that it does not legally need to be paid for this year whereas a school deficit does need to be covered. We also discussed using the SPED stabilization fund for that and the AC reserve and free cash for other potential problems that could come up. Pam mentioned that she attended a recent School Committee meeting and indicated that it was not certain that they would be seeking funding for the $375,000 shortfall; they are looking for ways to save money in other areas. 2. Future Meetings. Tom Diaz of the School Committee would like to meet with us on March 10 to discuss the economic stimulus package (neither Mollie nor Pam are able to make that meeting). Ed Grant has also indicated that he would like to meet with the group to discuss the Beal proposal. Alan suggested that we meet with them in April subsequent to the issuance of our report. 3. Report. We discussed an approach for completing our report. Eric will draft and send the shell and others will send out articles as they draft them. We should shoot for a rough draft of a report by March 16. Pam and Mollie will conduct an editing session on Friday and Saturday March 20 and 21. 4. Article 30. Rob Addelson explained that the Town received reimbursement in August 2006 from the MA School Building Authority for approximately