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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-04-29-CEC-min Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting April 29, 2014 Location and Time: Town Office Building, Reed Room; 8:00 .. AM Members Present: Jill Hai, Chair; David Kanter, Vice-Chair; Bill Hurley; Wendy Manz; Beth Masterman Members Absent: None Others Present:Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance; Glenn Parker, Chair, Appropriation Committee (AC) Documents Presented: Notice of Meeting/Agenda for CEC Meeting, April 29, 2014 (posted April 24, 2014) Flow chart from ÅA Guide to Financial Management for Town OfficialsÆ, Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) (found on the DOR Web site at http://www.mass.gov/dor/docs/dls/publ/misc/town.pdf), Page 10, Figure 1 Ms. HaiÈs e-mail to the Committee, April 20, 2014, with attachment containing Charles LambÈs e-mail, June 11, 2012, Subject: BoS \[Board of Selectmen\] Goal Setting Call to Order: Ms. Hai called the meeting to order at 8:06 .. AM Member Concerns and Liaison Reports: Ms. Hai polled the members about attending the BoS Executive Session tomorrow evening. Ms. Hai and Mr. Kanter said they couldnÈt; Ms. Manz and Mr. Hurley plan to attend; and Ms. Masterman did not know at that time. If three members should be in attendance, there would be a quorum and as the meeting has been posted to include this Committee, those attending can participate in the deliberations on behalf of this Committee. If less than 3 members are present, the Executive Session would be an information-only session for the members in attendance. Ms. Hai proposed that the Committee meet with the AC on the evening of May 7, 2014, jointly to discuss Committee members participating in campaigns for elected Town positions and recommendations for the BoSÈ goal-setting session. The Committee agreed and Mr. Parker will post the meeting for both committees. Review of the CommitteeÈs Role in the FY2015 Budget Cycle: Ms. Hai asked whether there were any recommended improvements to how this Committee accomplished that role that would help this Committee fulfill its responsibilities. The Committee and Mr. Addelson reviewed the current approach: Capital Improvement Project (CIP) requests from each department are distributed to this Committee and, where requesting use of Community Preservation Funds, to the Community Preservation Committee immediately after they are given to the BoSÄwhich is traditionally in mid-October. At that point, the CIPs reflect the departmentsÈ requests and do not reflect any Senior-Management-Team approvals. The BoS does not start to review in any detail the operating and capital budgets before December. Page 1 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting April 29, 2014 From late October to mid-December, this Committee meets weekly, with the TownÈs Budget Officer having scheduled a time for staff from each department to present their CIPs. Usually the CIPs from two departments are covered during a meeting, but Facilities (DPF) and Public Works (DPW) require at least a whole meeting each. The Schools Department usually comes to two meetings to address its own CIPs and also those proposed by DPF for school buildings. Starting in January, this Committee begins to build its report to Town Meeting to fulfill its responsibility to so advise that Meeting. By the time the BoS hosts the third Budget Summit, this Committee already has an understanding of the CIP requests and can give an overview report to that Summit. Mr. Parker commented that the AC doesnÈt follow such a bottom-up processÄeven for the Operating Budget. Itsprocess is more top-down as theybegin with the assembled budget; attending the Budget Summits without having yet drilled down into either the Operating or Capital Budgets. He shared a DOR flow chart that indicates finance committees participating in the initial build of the budget. Mr. Addelson suggested that approach tends to be appropriate for communities that do not have a Town Manager and a robust financial staff. The following considerations were discussed: CIP Distribution: Some members need paper copies of the CIPs. It would be helpful to have this happen automatically, especially when updated CIPs are distributed. CIP Edits: Mr. Addelson explained that the CIPs are internal documents that do not need to be perfected in terms of things like typographical errors, but items of substance need to be corrected as the CIP language is the basis for what will be included first in the Preliminary Budget (ÅWhite BookÆ) and then in the Recommended Budget (ÅBrown BookÆ). CIP Level of Detail: It was agreed that the CIPs have continually improved over the past few budget cycles. This Committee needs detail to be able to understand the big picture, and this is generally available in the CIPs or in answers to questions when the departments present to this Committee. Where applicable, inventories of capital equipment are needed, and these are currently being provided by the Recreation Department, Fire Department, and DPW. Providing Context for a Project: It is helpful when a department includes historical information about a project and/or an update on a project that is in progress; future plans are also needed for the five-year plan that this Committee submits to the Annual Town Meeting. Mr. Addelson agreed to provide an Open Money Articles Report concurrently with the CIP package as that report provides a use-of- previously-appropriated-funds status on all prior capital projects that arenÈt yet closed. Funding Information in a CIP: It is important that there is a consistent presentation of the funding sources for a project. Page 2 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting April 29, 2014 Staff Perception of the Process: It is not this CommitteeÈs intent to be taken as being critical when asking for additional informationÄwhether by its questions or requests for additional back-up materials. Mr.Addelson said that staff understandsthis CommitteeÈs role and respects its importance, and recognizes that this CommitteeÈs support of the projects at Town Meeting is to the staffÈs advantage. He added that having the departmental staff in attendance with the department head at the presentation of its CIPs provides a valuable opportunity for the staff to learn, first hand, of that aspect of the process and how this Committee depends on the information in each CIP. Process for Communication between this Committee and the Departments: Mr. Addelson said that this Committee should use its judgment when asking questions of staff. If the question possibly will require substantial staff time to answer, such a request should go through Mr. Addelson. Otherwise, the question can go directly to the appropriate department head or staff member, depending on the implications of the question. If specific questions are known before a departmentÈs presentation to this Committee, it is helpful to forward them in advance, but this is not required. This CommitteeÈs liaisons can also meet with the Department heads, but, as noted earlier, those discussions need to respect that positions have not necessarily been taken by the Senior Management Team at that time. Any requested changes to a CIP must be reviewed by Mr. Addelson before a revision would be released. The Committee noted that department heads may find it useful to review the Minutes from the previous yearÈs meeting when they made their presentation to this Committee. (This Committee is up to date with approving and providing all of its Minutes to the TownÈs on-line Records PortalÄexcluding one for an Executive Session that is approved, but pending release to the public.) Role of CEC: This CommitteeÈs intent is to provide an evaluation of each CIP that is independent of that of the proposing Department to help determine the credibility, priority, and marketability of a project. This Committee believes its efforts will enhance the capital program that is presented to Town Meeting. CEC and AC Overlap: As the AC is required to report to Town Meeting on all of the TownÈs financial programs, there is some unavoidable overlap in the work done by this Committee and the AC regarding the capital programÄalthough the primary focus of each committees is on different aspects of that program. (For example, the CECÈs is on the specific content of each CIP while the ACÈs is on the management of the debt service and the allocation of resources between the TownÈs capital and operational needs.) Mr. Kanter suggested that, as he had done during the FY2015 budget cycle, briefing one or more members of the AC early in that committeeÈs preparation of its report to Town Meeting, might assist in reducing the extent and depth of the overlap in the ACÈs work and reporting. Next Steps: This Committee will provide Mr. Addelson with a bullet list of things that staff could do to improve the process, citing specific examples where possible. Review the CommitteeÈs Contributions to the March 24, 2014, Special Town Meeting and the 2014 Annual Town Meeting: No separate discussion was held on this topic. Page 3 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting April 29, 2014 Approve a Version of the CommitteeÈs Report that Consolidates all the Updates & Errata for Submission to the Town Archive and to Simplify Future Reference to It: Mr. Kanter advised that he had not yet prepared a draft of that version so the matter will be addressed at a later meeting of this Committee. Mr. Hurley left the meeting at 9:27 .. AM Begin the Discussion of the CommitteeÈs Input to the BoS Goal Setting (Currently Scheduled for that BoardÈs Meeting on the Morning of June 19, 2014): Ms. Hai asked the Committee to review her earlier e-mail that had provided a prior-yearÈs input by this Committee of topics for potential BoS goals. The Committee agreed that each member would provide suggested topics for this yearÈs input just to Ms. Hai. At a later meeting, those topics will be discussed and each of those endorsed by the Committee would be assigned to a Committee member to write upin more detail for subsequent approval by the Committee as a whole. Adjourn: A Motion was made and seconded at 9:39 .. to adjourn.Vote: 4Ã0 AM These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its joint meeting with the Appropriation Committee on May 7, 2014. Page 4 of 4