HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-05-15-AC-min05/15/2017 AC Minutes
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC)
May 15, 2017
Place and Time: Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m.
Members Present: John Bartenstein, Chair; Alan Levine, Vice -Chair & Secretary; Ellen Basch;
Eric Michelson; Andrei Radulescu-Banu; Sanjay Padaki; Lily Manhua Yan; Jian Helen Yang;
Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio)
Member(s) Absent: Richard Neumeier
Other Attendees: Joe Pato, Board of Selectmen (BoS); Kate Colburn, School Committee (SC); Rod
Cole, Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC); Sandy Beebe, resident; Maureen Kavanaugh,
Director of Planning and Assessment, Lexington Public Schools
The meeting was called to order at 7:34 p.m.
1. Announcements
Mr. Bartenstein reported the following:
• He participated in two interviews for a new Department of Public Facilities Director.
• There is a joint (BoS, SC, CEC, and AC) meeting scheduled for May 30 to discuss options
for build -out at 20 Pelham Road.
• There is a New Financial Officials Forum being held in Worcester on May 31. Any new
members interested in attending should contact Ms. Kosnoff.
• There is a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Hartwell Avenue solar facility from 8:30-9:30 a.m.
on May 18.
• A summit is scheduled for June 8 to address the anticipated fall special town meeting and
debt exclusion referendum
Mr. Michelson reported that he plans to look further into the Town's snow plowing contract
arrangements to better understand changes in procedures that were implemented last winter. He
asked if anyone was interested in joining him in this endeavor.
2. School Enrollment Growth
Because of the financial impact resulting from increasing school enrollment, Mr. Pato and
Ms. Kavanaugh had been invited to speak about enrollment projections. Mr. Pato and Mr. Cole had
participated on the Enrollment Working Group (EWG) that produced a comprehensive report in
2014.
Mr. Pato reviewed slides describing the results of the EWG's efforts. At that time, it was
determined that the standard methodology (the Cohort Survival Method) for projecting future public
school students was underestimating growth at the elementary level. A new methodology (the
Housing Demographic Model) was developed to take into consideration the particular factors
influencing that segment of the school population. At that time, increases were generated primarily
by students living in apartments; currently the increases are spread throughout the housing types.
Ms. Kavanaugh presented slides which she had prepared for a January 2017 School Committee
meeting discussing current trends. She reported that the continued elementary student growth is
1
05/15/2017 AC Minutes
consistent with other towns that have good school systems and are reasonably accessible to Boston.
While considerable data is being collected and tracked, specific cause and effect factors for the
continued growth have not yet been definitively identified. There are indications that the Housing
Demographic Model may be overestimating future elementary school growth, and this is being
carefully monitored. Ms. Colburn reported that the School Committee is looking at how the
increases will impact the middle schools and the high school going forward. The capacities at all
levels are being analyzed.
It was noted that the debt exclusion vote scheduled for the fall will include a number of school -
related projects, and it will be important to have data that demonstrates the needs. The current
projection for the total debt exclusion request is approximately $104 million.
Mr. Bartenstein distributed a memo discussing the possibility of using some or all of the $28 million
currently in the Capital Stabilization Fund (CSF) to reduce the debt exclusion request. Because the
interest payable on long-term bonds (currently about 3%) is higher than the interest earned on funds
in the CSF (currently about 1%), this would result in a net saving of interest costs; however, it
might reduce the ability to level peaks of excluded debt service cost that would hit taxpayers in the
immediate future.
A motion was made and seconded to request staff to model the taxpayer impacts of two scenarios:
(1) using approximately $12 million of the CSF to cover the acquisitions costs of the 20 Pelham
Road and 171-173 Bedford Street properties in lieu of placing those items on a debt exclusion
referendum; or (2) using the entire amount of the CSF not earmarked for within -levy debt service to
lower the amount of the debt exclusion request. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0
3. Minutes
A motion was made and seconded to approve minutes for April 3, April 5, April 12, and
April 24, 2017, including minor edits for the April 3 minutes. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0
4. Adjourn
The Committee adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
The documents used at the meeting are listed below.
Respectfully submitted,
Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary
Approved: June 1, 2017
Exhibits
• Agenda, posted by John Bartenstein, Chair
• Enrollment Trends, Appropriation Committee Presentation, Joe Pato, Enrollment
Advisory Group, May 15, 2017,
• Lexington Public Schools, Enrollment Analysis and Five -Year Projections, FY 17,
presented by Ms. Kavanaugh
• Alternative Proposal for Debt Exclusion Referendum, Use of Capital Stabilization
Fund, prepared by John Bartenstein, May 15, 2017
2