HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-11-01-AC-min
November 1, 2005
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee
November 1, 2005
Members Present: A. Levine (Chair), D. Brown (Vice Chair), R. Cole, J. Bartenstein, E.
Michelson, D. Kanter, R. Eurich
Additional attendees: M. Young (Town Budget Officer)
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM by Al Levine in Room 111, Town Office
Building.
1. Rod C. agreed to take minutes.
2. Discussion of when we knew that the $1.8M from interest on the school construction
bonds would appear in free cash. The existence of the money was known to some from
back around the time of the spring Town Meeting, however there was an expectation that
the money would stay in school capital, or perhaps be used to pay down the bond interest
payments. Michael Y. was surprised, but DOR insisted it be closed out to free cash.
It was noted that as things sit, putting this money in free cash amounted to moving capital
money into the operating budget. The idea that perhaps town meeting should vote to
place some or all the $1.8M in the stabilization fund was raised, and generally supported.
3. Discussion of draft AC report to the special town meeting. It was noted that we needed
to do a better job of spelling out the plusses and minuses in the budget situation that have
taken place since the spring town meeting.
4. Budget projection discussions. It was noted that about $400K of the increase in local
receipts was due to late billings and should really be considered part of the FY2004 local
receipts. This needs to be accounted for in the out-year projections.
The question whether or not State aid is recurring revenue was raised. It was decided that
State aid was recurring, as are local receipts, although both are somewhat variable.
There was a discussion of the definition of “outstanding liabilities”. This is the sum of
special revenue deficits and accounts receivable.
5. Discussion of what Paul Ash has said regarding how he would spend or not spend the
$847K proposed for Article 5. It was not clear if his position was that he would not use
any of these funds to fund any program that ran into difficulties if it was not on the list of
programs projecting a deficit going into the special town meeting, or if he was taking a
less restrictive position that he would not use the money to fund programs not in the
reduced budget. Clarification would be sought.
November 1, 2005
6. It was decided that we needed to strengthen our statement in the report to the special
town meeting of our displeasure and dismay at the school overruns, while still approving
Articles 4 and 5.
7. Discussion regarding how much we should include in the write-up on Article 4. It was
noted that $240K of the $528K in unpaid bills from FY 2005 was due to unpaid FY 2004
bills carried over into FY 2005. It was also noted that, given the information at hand, we
couldn’t conclude what happened to any particular budget line item.
8. Revoted Article 5 to include vote of David K. The revote was 8-0 to approve the
article.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:58 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rod Cole
Approved December 15, 2005