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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-03-02-AC-min 03/02/2023 AC Minutes 1 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) March 2, 2023 Place and Time: Remote Participation: in accordance with An Act Relative to Extending Certain State of Emergency Accommodations, signed into law by Gov. Baker on July 16, 2022, communica- tion took place via a Zoom teleconferencing session that was open to the public; 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Anil Ahuja; John Bartenstein; Alan Levine, Secretary; Eric Michelson; Sean Osborne; Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Fi- nance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Other Attendees: Nikki Andrade, Assistant Business Manager, Minuteman High School (MHS); Judy Crocker, Lexington representative to Minuteman School Committee; Dr. Kathleen A. Dawson, MHS Superintendent Director; David Coelho, Lexington Public Schools (LPS) Assistant Superin- tendent for Finance and Operations; Dr. Julie Hackett, LPS Superintendent; David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC); Deepika Sawhney, Lexington School Committee At 7:35 p.m. Mr. Parker called the meeting to order and confirmed attendance by roll call. Mr. Levine agreed to take minutes and recorded the meeting for the purpose of generating minutes. Mr. Parker also recorded the meeting for the purpose of editing the minutes. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Michelson reported that a follow-up to his research on Article 10(p), which includes installing solar panels at two LexHAB properties, he had received information on who pays the electric bills and who is credited for the value of solar power in regard to LexHAB affordable housing. The resi- dents at LexHAB’s units at 34 Lowell St., which currently has solar panels, do not pay the electric bills. LexHAB has found that the solar panels on the two buildings do not generate sufficient power. A plan to add solar panels is part of their request. The tenants in the LexHAB single-family home at 454 Marrett Rd. pay the electric bill and their bill will be reduced by the value of the solar power generated by the panels which would be installed.. Minuteman High School Budget Dr. Dawson gave a slide presentation on the MHS budget. A similar presentation with the same set of slides may be found on the web pages for the 2023 Annual Town Meeting. She first reviewed MHS’s goals, and then delved into the budget. The overall budget for FY2024 is $30,316,325, which 4.5% higher than the FY2023 budget. Ms. Dawson outlined special objectives of the budget. Of particular note is the fact that the enrollment from the member towns is increasing to such an ex- tent that there are no new spaces for students from non-member towns so tuition and capital fee rev- enue from non-member towns is decreasing. Additionally, enrollment continues to exceed building capacity so MHS is looking for ways to expand the capacity of their facilities without issuing any new debt, especially by making use of a building on the east part of the campus that was formerly used for day care, and by working on a metal shop building. The school is proceeding with the de- velopment of its athletic facilities complex, and expects to receive rental revenue from both the ath- letic and its other building facilities within a few years. MHS expects to close out the MSBA- supported project by August, 2023. 03/02/2023 AC Minutes 2 Particular budget drivers include increases for compensation, limited staff increases to service the enrollment increases; inflation in the costs of health insurance, supplies, and energy and other utili- ties; contributions toward Minuteman’s OPEB liabilities; and building up of a capital stabilization account that will be used, e.g., to expand the facilities. The preliminary total assessment for Lexington is $3,501,977. This is about 8.6% higher than the assessment for the current year (FY 2023). The four-year rolling average enrollment number used in the calculation of the assessment is increasing by just over 10% from FY2023 to FY2024. The number of applications for freshman slots has increased to such an extent that only roughly half of the applicants from member towns will be admitted. This applies to Lexington, i.e., only about 20 of the 40 or more Lexington applicants will be admitted. It seems unlikely that any students from non-member towns who applied will be offered admission. In most previous years, all of the quali- fied applicants would typically be offered admission. MHS seeks out grant funding to supplement the revenue from member and non-member towns. In FY2023, grants made up just over 10% of the total revenue. Other non-assessment revenue, such as Chapter 70 aid, also typically makes up about another 10% of the annual revenue. In response to a question, Dr. Dawson noted that MHS does not obtain health insurance for its em- ployees through the state GIC, but rather through a smaller trust. They will look into joining the GIC. MHS is currently negotiating union contracts. Regardless of the outcome of those negotiations, the Minutemen School Committee has voted its budget for FY2024 which cannot be increased. MHS has changed its admission criteria to ensure diversity among the students who are admitted. The students who are admitted are representative of the racial diversity of the nine member towns, but the overall racial diversity of these nine towns is not representative of the diversity of the state. MHS allows students to earn college credits while in high school, and will be working to facilitate this further, since, for many students, this can lower the financial barriers to going to college. Phase 1 of MHS’s athletic facility development is done. An RFP was issued for Phase 2, which in- cludes stadium seating, concession stands, locker rooms, and six tennis courts, and which is esti- mated to cost in the range of eleven to sixteen million dollars. A bid has been received in response to the RFP. The bidder would pay for Phase 2, and in return would have the right to lease the ath- letic facilities at some agreed upon nominal rate. The term of the lease agreement would be ten years with options to extend it by two additional 5-year intervals. MHS would realize additional revenue-generating opportunities after the lease agreement expires. Ms. Kosnoff stated that the Town of Lexington’s Chapter 70 aid is increasing substantially accord- ing to the Governor’s preliminary budget, and that there is some assurance that the aid will not be less than the amounts in that budget. With that assurance, the higher aid numbers have been adopted for the FY2024 budget. This should apply to MHS also, since the Chapter 70 aid for MHS may also have increased significantly. Increase in State Aid and Revised FY2024 Budget Ms. Kosnoff reported that state aid numbers in the Governor’s preliminary budget were released on February 23 and show an unexpected large increase in aid for Lexington, most of which is in the Chapter 70 aid. The additional funds will be used to pay for a program improvement in the Facili- ties Department for the annual fee for capital investment planning software. The remainder of the increase, i.e., approximately $2.3 million, was divided between the school and municipal budgets 03/02/2023 AC Minutes 3 according to the usual revenue allocation ratio. Ms. Kosnoff also reported that the bids to the Brookline Consortium for purchasing gasoline and diesel fuel came in lower than projected by about $75,000. The recommended budget has been revised to incorporate the new fuel price infor- mation. Both Ms. Kosnoff and Dr. Hackett explained that most of Lexington’s Chapter 70 aid increase is not part of a broad state-wide increase but is due to factors specific to Lexington. They agreed that the reasons for the increase are complicated. At a high level, Lexington’s public school enrollment went up from last year to this year after several years of decline, and the foundation budget criteria rose faster than certain other factors. Ms. Kosnoff said that the additional state aid will affect one program in the capital projects budget, i.e., the $395,000 in free cash that is no longer needed to balance the municipal operating budget will be used to reduce the amount that needs to be borrowed to finance the Bedford. St./Hartwell Ave. transportation article. LPS Budget Mr. Parker circulated a copy of a message from Mr. Coelho in which he and the Superintendent re- sponded to some questions about the school budget raised by Mr. Levine. Mr. Levine stated that the only full school budget document that is presently available is the Jan. 3, 2023, Superintendent’s recommended budget. The total school budget was revised upward by $358,000 in mid-January and just yesterday by an additional $1.7 million. He asked whether there has been any discussion about how to use the $1.7 million. Mr. Coelho said that the news of the in- crease was so recent that there has not been time yet for those discussions. He further said that the school budget books for town meeting have been printed with a planned release date of March 6. Those books will be distributed as planned. An addendum with the planned budget changes will be circulated later. Mr. Levine noted that the AC report would likely need to be wrapped up before there are decisions on the details of the school budget. Mr. Bartenstein then asked if the financial articles could or would be put off until the second week of town meeting. There are only a few of the financial articles that are affected by the budget revisions. The Moderator will meet to discuss the town meeting schedule next week. Dr. Hackett answered a question about how the additional $1.7 million might be used by saying that extra funding might help resolve ongoing bargaining unit negotiations, and it is likely that new posi- tions will be put into the budget to help satisfy ongoing needs that were not adequately addressed in the pre-increase budget. For example, more counseling is needed now, i.e., post COVID, especially in the two larger elementary schools, Hastings and Estabrook. Funding is also needed for related curriculum changes in the area of social/emotional learning. In response to a question about whether the higher budget might allow for an elementary world language program, Dr. Hackett said that the elementary students are in school four and half days a week and that going to a five school- day week would be needed to institute a world language program. The teachers work five full days a week, but don’t want to consider having the students in school for the full five days at this time for a number of reasons, so this doesn’t look like the time to start a new language program. LPS received “extraordinary” federal aid in the form of ESSER I, II, and III. ESSER I and II were under the umbrella of the CARES act, and ESSER III is under that of the ARPA legislation. The ESSER II funds need to be used within the next six months, and the ESSER III funds need to be used by the end of 2024 although they must be committed by September, 2024. 03/02/2023 AC Minutes 4 The LPS enrollment for FY2024 is projected to decrease by 99 students. In response to a question as to whether this implies a corresponding decrease in positions, Mr. Coelho and Dr. Hackett said that, even if the enrollment does decrease, they won’t know the details of enrollment changes in each grade at each school which drive the needs for staff until the fall. Similar considerations apply for limited enrollment increases. In short, there is only a loose correspondence between enrollment and plans for staffing. The numbers and needs of special education students may change inde- pendently of the overall enrollment. Furthermore, the Covid pandemic has left many students with increased educational and wellness needs which depart from pre-Covid patterns, and that is affect- ing the needs for staff. An agreement was recently reached in contract negotiations with the SEIU union that represents school custodians and maintenance workers; this contract covers both school and municipal em- ployees. A one-year settlement with the ALA bargaining unit representing mid-level administrators is in place, and a 3-year agreement is being negotiated. Negotiations are ongoing with the teacher’s union. A redistricting plan went forward three or four years ago, and now the enrollments at each school are more or less balanced according to the sizes of the schools. The responsible state agency has approved a special education private school tuition increase of 14% for FY2024, but the expense budget to be appropriated doesn’t show a large increase. Mr. Coelho explained that, first, 12 of 143 out-of-district students will “age-out” in FY2024, and sec- ond, the Town’s Circuit Breaker reimbursements have been increasing and are, in part, applied as an offset against the private school out-of-district expense. In FY2025 and future fiscal years, these two mitigating factors will not reduce the total tuition expense so markedly, and the tuition expense line will grow. On the other hand, the Governor is increasing the pool of funds for the Circuit Breaker. Other Financial Articles The recommended appropriation for the OPEB liability under Article 17 includes $240,000 in tax levy funds that corresponds to the same amount being withdrawn from the Health Claims Trust Fund to support the operating budget. Ms. Kosnoff noted that this is close to the remaining balance in that trust fund. She said that the small amount left after this appropriation, including any interest, will be appropriated out at the following town meeting. Ms. Kosnoff said that staff have not had time this year to put together a list of capital articles that can be closed out and borrowing authority that can be rescinded. Mr. Bartenstein asked whether the amounts used in Article 5 for the MWRA assessments, have or will be changed from the Town’s original guess of a 10% increase to the MWRA’s preliminary fig- ure of a 5.2% increase. Ms. Kosnoff said that the amounts in the Brown Book have not been changed to reflect the preliminary 5.2% increase and likely would not be changed for this town meeting. In most years, the appropriation is revised at a fall special town meeting after the final MWRA assessments have been released. That is the plan for this year. Mr. Levine asked Mr. Kanter about the CEC report on the Public Facilities projects and whether he could share the relevant section of the CEC draft report. Mr. Kanter responded in the affirmative. Report Schedule Mr. Parker expressed concern that the Committee is behind schedule regarding the completion of our report. Mr. Bartenstein said that it would be helpful to have another week. 03/02/2023 AC Minutes 5 Minutes of Prior Meetings There was a motion to approve the sets of minutes from February 16 and February 23, 2023. The motion was seconded. The motion was approved by a roll call vote. VOTE: 8-0 Adjourn The meeting was adjourned by roll call vote at 9:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Alan M. Levine Approved: March 27, 2023 Exhibits ● Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker ● Copy of the response from Mr. Coelho to questions on the school budget posed by Mr. Lev- ine