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Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee Meeting Date, Place and Location: 3/1/11, 8:00 a.m., Town Office Building, Room 111 Members Present: David Kanter; Shirley Stone; Charles Lamb, Chair; Bill Hurley Member Absent: Ted Edson Others Attendees: Glenn Parker, Chair, Appropriation Committee; Wendy Manz, Chair, Community Preservation Committee (CPC) Document Presented: Community Preservation Act Summary of Funds from the FY2012 Recommended Budget and Financing Plan (the "Brown Book ") Mr. Lamb called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. Minutes: Mr. Kanter moved to accept minutes of 2/15/11 as distributed. Mr. Hurley seconded the motion. Vote: Approved 3 -0 -1. Mr. Kanter will forward final minutes to the Town Clerk. Discussion of Article 17— Reduce Community Preservation Act (CPA) Surcharge: There was a general discussion that included, among other things, past State -match rates, how the Town has put into use matching funds from the State, whether the very -large CPA projects should be voted on by debt - exclusion referendum, and the 5- month — year -over- year— recovery in the Registry of Deeds CPA fees. The Committee discussed a reduction in the 3% surcharge by some number other than the 1 % being proposed to Town Meeting, the scale of the types of projects, and the existing exemptions from the surcharge —both in general and for low- income taxpayers. Ms. Manz described that those towns that elect a 3% surcharge are eligible for additional rounds in the State -match procedure. Mr. Kanter reported Lexington picked up an additional 1% in the last State -match rate as a result of being at a 3% surcharge and benefiting from those additional rounds. Mr. Hurley raised a concern regarding the taxpayers' freedom of choice on specific projects as well as the citizens' right to rescind a vote within 10 days of a Town Meeting. Ms. Stolz had been happy to try out the surcharge and initially wanted the rate set to 1% instead of 3 %; however, after having seen what has been accomplished under the CPA program, she is convinced of its beneficial uses despite that certain projects do not benefit her directly as a taxpayer. Her preference is to wait another year before taking any action on the surcharge level to see how the current program plays out. Mr. Kanter encouraged the Committee, for the purpose of this discussion, to view this as committee members responsible for making recommendations based on the capital needs of the Town, not as a Town Meeting Members or as voters. He is in support of keeping the