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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-02-15-AC-min 2/15/2024 AC Minutes 1 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) February 15, 2024 Place and Time: Remote participation via a Zoom teleconferencing session that was open to the public; 7:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; Anil Ahuja; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Lily Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Fi- nance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: Sean Osborne Other Attendees: David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee At 7:35 p.m. Mr. Parker called the meeting to order and took attendance by roll call. All votes recorded below were conducted or confirmed by roll call. Announcements and Liaison Reports Ms. Kosnoff reported that the Select Board voted to approve the FY2025 operating budget on Mon- day night, and the Brown Book will, most likely, be published on Tuesday. Town Meeting will be able to take up financial articles on its second evening. Proposed Consent Agenda for 2024 Annual Town Meeting Mr. Parker walked through the proposed Consent Agenda to ask if there were any objections to any item. In summary, no objections were raised but there was some discussion on particular articles. Mr. Michelson asked for an explanation of Article 12(a) Transportation Mitigation. Ms. Kosnoff replied that it represented a collection of small improvements recommended by the Transportation Safety Group, such as crosswalks and signs. The request is funded from transportation network company funding, e.g., Uber and Lyft, along with some General Fund support. Mr. Parker com- mented that the name for the item was confusing since transportation was not being mitigated. Regarding Article 12(b) Heavy Vehicle Extrication Equipment, which was not on the proposed con- sent agenda, it was noted that the consent agenda usually consists of annually recurring items that do not deviate greatly from their past history, and that other items should not be placed on the con- sent agenda if they do not meet these criteria, even if they are small dollar amounts. Ms. Kosnoff observed that Article 12(c) Ambulance Replacement would be partially funded from a stabilization fund, necessitating a two-thirds vote for the entire Consent Agenda. Mr. Padaki asked how 12(e) Sidewalk Improvements differs from Article 16(c) School Paving and Sidewalks. Mr. Levine answered that the DPW handles 12(e) while the DPF handles 16(c) because it is on school grounds. He noted that the DPW reports to the Town Manager, while the DPF reports jointly to the Town Manager and the School Superintendent. Ms. Kosnoff added that a separate con- tractor is used for 16(c) and the work is carefully scheduled around the school calendar. Regarding Article 17 Appropriate to Post Employment Insurance Liability Fund, Mr. Levine asked if the Town had a more recent OPEB report. Ms. Kosnoff replied that she would share the most re- cent report with the Committee and see that it is posted on the Finance Documents web page. She stated that the Town has been adding $50,000 to the requested General Fund part of the appropria- tion each year. 2/15/2024 AC Minutes 2 Regarding Article 23 Appropriate Opioid Settlement, Ms. Kosnoff stated that this was not included on the Consent Agenda because this was the last time town meeting would see it, after granting per- mission to deposit opioid settlement funds without appropriation. The Committee voted 7-0 to recommend approval of all articles on the proposed consent agenda, and to submit those articles as the Consent Agenda for the 2024 Annual Town Meeting. Review and Vote on Warrant Articles for 2024 Annual Town Meeting Mr. Parker asked the Committee to follow a similar procedure for voting on the warrant articles, by holding a single roll-call vote after collecting tentative votes on a group of articles. Votes were tal- lied using an online spreadsheet that was displayed during the voting. A snapshot of the voting re- sults is included with these minutes. In summary, all articles voted on received unanimous support from members present, except for Article 12(i) Cemetery Columbarium – Design which had two ab- stentions. Highlights from the discussion of the articles follows. Mr. Levine asked if issues with the number of new employees hired by the School Department dur- ing the current year had been resolved. The Lexington Public Schools operating budget provides for a certain number of full-time equivalent staff members (FTEs) inclusive of new positions, but in the current and past two fiscal years the actual numbers of FTEs on staff have exceeded the numbers projected in the School budgets. While the increase in the total amount for employee benefits that comes with increased headcounts in the School budget is taken into account in the Revenue Alloca- tion model and managed, for appropriation and post-appropriation purposes, under Shared Ex- penses, it does not appear that any adjustments have been made, up or down, when the actual head- counts did not follow the budget projections. Ms. Kosnoff replied that she has not fully addressed this with Mr. Coelho, in particular for prior years, and she is concerned that the Town is not properly accounting for employee benefits when the number of School employees differs from the budgeted number. The situation is difficult to rec- oncile, because actual benefit expenses are not escalating in line with the growth of the headcount, and this may be related to the number of benefits-eligible employees versus the total FTEs in the system. Ms. Kosnoff invited Mr. Levine to join her when she reviews this issue with Mr. Coelho. She noted that the benefits budget uses very conservative estimates to allow for potential changes in the total number of employees receiving benefits, and this usually results in a fair amount of free cash at the end of the year, but without a proper accounting the budget could indeed fail to handle the actual demand for benefits. Mr. Michelson noted that the assessment for the Minuteman Regional High School declined by al- most $100,000 from the prior year. This is a one-time anomaly resulting from additional state aid and better budgeting for energy and certain other costs. The assessment is expected to grow at a rate more typical of past years in the future. Mr. Bartenstein asked about the amount requested for the Reserve Fund for FY2025. Ms. Kosnoff replied that the request would increase the amount to $850,000. She would rather set it even higher at $1 million, but the proposed amount is in line with the Town’s budget priorities this year. She continued that the Town should start adding funds to the general Stabilization Fund as well, which has begun to fall behind the target which is compared to the size of the operating budget, but this might have to wait until the high school project comes online. Mr. Bartenstein and Ms. Kosnoff discussed whether the appropriation requests for the Water and Wastewater Enterprise Funds under Article 5 at the upcoming town meeting should be adjusted to be in accord with MWRA assessment preliminary estimates. In any case, the budgets of these 2/15/2024 AC Minutes 3 enterprise funds will need to be adjusted at a fall town meeting to match the final MWRA assess- ments that come in after the annual town meeting has dissolved. Mr. Bartenstein asked about Article 7 Sustainable Capital Projects. Ms. Kosnoff replied that this was a group of projects coming from different departments that were all related to sustainable infra- structure. These projects will be coordinated by Maggie Peard, the Sustainability and Resilience Of- ficer, who is also responsible for monitoring energy usage, energy savings, and the resulting energy credits. Mr. Padaki asked if Ms. Peard would also maintain earlier photovoltaic (PV) installations in the Town, such as at the Hartwell Ave Recycling Facility. Ms. Kosnoff replied that the PV system at Hartwell Ave is leased, and maintenance is thus handled by the owner, but Ms. Peard would be in- volved in maintenance for PV systems owned by the Town. Regarding Article 9 Establish and Continue Departmental Revolving Funds, Ms. Kosnoff noted that the Town had created a new refuse and recycling revolving fund for FY2024 to accept fees for the removal of mattresses, bulky items, and white goods, but the Select Board did not set any new fees for these services. The FY2025 budget assumes that this revolving fund will continue but that no relevant fees will be collected. The revolving fund motion has a $0 limit on spending for Regional Cache – Hartwell Avenue be- cause the equipment in the cache has been relocated outside of Lexington. The Town is working with the state to complete a final audit. At some point after all actions needed to close this revolving fund have been completed, the revolving fund will be dissolved. The remaining balance in the re- volving fund was transferred to the community now hosting the cache. The Committee deferred its vote on Article 10(d) Lincoln Park Fitness Stations Equipment pending a response from the Trustees of Public Trusts who oversee the trust funds that were established to maintain the path and equipment. Regarding Article 12(i) Cemetery Columbarium – Design, Mr. Padaki and Mr. Ahuja asked if there was any plan to add a crematorium to the cemetery building in the near future. Ms. Kosnoff replied that a working group, on which Mr. Padaki served, had determined that, at least for the time being, it was not commercially viable to build and operate a crematorium at Westview Cemetery. How- ever, the design of the building would allow for such an addition in the future. Mr. Padaki and Mr. Ahuja abstained from the vote on Article 12(i). Regarding Article 12(p) Election Equipment Upgrade, Mr. Bartenstein asked if this upgrade was necessary to implement ranked-choice voting. Ms. Kosnoff replied that the upgrade was needed be- cause the current election machines were reaching their end-of-life. Ranked-choice voting could be implemented with just a software upgrade. The Committee deferred voting on Article 19 Establish/Dissolve/Appropriate To/From Stabilization and Article 21 Amend FY2024 Operating, Enterprise, and CPA Budgets until the motions are writ- ten and the dollar amounts are set. Regarding Article 25 Pine Meadows Clubhouse Renovation, Ms. Kosnoff stated that it would be funded with General Fund debt, probably bonded over 10 years, and that the Recreation Enterprise Fund retained earnings would make annual contributions to the debt service of around $100,000. Regarding Article 27 Renovation of 173 Bedford Street, the request was lowered to $4.2 million with the intent to upgrade the existing natural gas HVAC system instead of installing a new all-elec- tric HVAC system. The Town has not received any responses on its RFP for leased space as an 2/15/2024 AC Minutes 4 alternative to 173 Bedford St., but responses are not due until tomorrow, February 16. Mr. Cronin from the DPF has stated that there will not be much difference in the operating expenses between natural gas and electric heat-pump systems. Regarding Articles 29, 34, 35, and 36, Mr. Michelson stated that he had contacted the Police admin- istration and the DPW staff to discuss the potential need for additional staffing to enforce the pro- posed changes and additions to the Town bylaws. His conclusion is that additions to staffing that are already in the budget will be sufficient to handle any new enforcement needs introduced through these articles. The Committee decided not to formally vote on these articles, but to include its com- mentary in the 2024 ATM report. The Committee engaged in a discussion on Article 33 Authorize the Select Board to Seek Affordable Housing. The primary concern, as expressed by Mr. Bartenstein, is that the motion provides too few constraints on the development that could be built if the Select Board is authorized to dispose of parcel 68-44, and that town meeting should be able to see a more definitive proposal before granting the request. The request to give authorization to the Select Board lacks transparency in that it does not describe with any specificity what might be done if the authorization is granted. This Committee should understand the impact on a development on town finances, e.g., from new children in the schools or demand for police, fire, and social services, and whether there would be any revenue from payments in lieu of taxes by the owners of a prospective development. Mr. Parker raised sev- eral points from previous discussions that suggest that changes to the process like those that Mr. Bartenstein favors would make the proposal process infeasible. Mr. Michelson asserted that town meeting would be unlikely to approve the motion in its current form. His recommendation would be for the Affordable Housing Trust to present a more specific development proposal to town meeting. He agreed that this Committee does not have sufficient information to be able to comment on the financial implications of the article. Mr. Parker commented that his understanding from Select Board Member Mark Sandeen was that an all-affordable development would not be financially via- ble with fewer than 35 units, and that 40 units would be preferable for developers. Mr. Levine ex- pressed frustration that this minimum had not been part of Ms. Tung’s presentation to the Commit- tee, and he stated that he would not want to see that many units in the development. Mr. Bartenstein asked if there was any way for town meeting to claw back funds once they have been appropriated to the Affordable Housing Trust. Ms. Kosnoff replied that it would not be possi- ble. Mr. Parker decided to defer the Committee’s vote on whether to recommend Article 33, while not- ing that the Committee was almost unanimously opposed to it. All the previously collected votes of the Committee were affirmed by a single roll-call vote of 7-0. Minutes of Prior Meetings No minutes were ready for approval. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Glenn P. Parker 2/15/2024 AC Minutes 5 Approved: February 22, 2024 Exhibits ● Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker ● 2024 ATM AC Report Planner – Votes