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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-07-11-AC-min 07/11/2017 AC Minutes. Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) July 11, 2017 Place and Time Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7 30 p.m Members Present John Bartenstem, Chair, Alan Levine, Vice-Chair & Secretary; Ellen Basch, Enc Michelson, Richard Neumeier, Andrei Radulescu-Banu, Sanjay Padaki, Lily Manhua Yan, Jian Helen Yang; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Member(s)Absent None Other Attendees Deborah Brown, Town Meeting Moderator, Elaine Ashton, Town Meeting Members Association (TMMA) The meeting was called to order at 7 35 p.m 1 Announcements Mr Bartenstem reported the following: • The Board of Selectmen (BoS) acted on recommendations of the Tax Deferral and Exemption Study Committee (TDESC) to adopt more generous cntena than those previously in place for eligibility in, and benefits under, the Town's senior tax credit program The goal is to spark new interest in the currently underutilized program This action is consistent with the recommendations of this Committee in its report to the 2017 Annual Town Meeting, • Additional interviews for a new Department of Public Facilities (DPF) Director are being held because the initial round did not result in a successful candidate Ms Kosnoff added that Shawn Newell, Assistant DPF Director, is now serving as Acting Interim Director • There will be another capital projects budget summit at 7 00 p.m on August 2 at the DPW The focus will be on questions for a fall debt exclusion package • To prepare for the next summit, the Town Manager is holding a"Chairs+1" meeting on July 13 at 8 30 a.m. Mr Levine plans to attend with Mr Bartenstem. • The BoS decided at their June goal setting session to explore the pro's and con's of a number of options for mitigating the tax impact if anticipated debt exclusion referenda for school and municipal projects are passed, including the residential tax exemption and reduction of the Community Preservation Act surcharge To this end, Joe Pato has organized a working group to update an analysis of the residential exemption done in 2010 Mr Bartenstem and Mr Radulescu-Banu will participate Mr Michelson reported that he and Mr Neumeier met on June 15 with staff from the Department of Public Works (DPW) regarding the FY2017 snow removal costs (More discussion later ) Mr Neumeier reported that the March 16, 2017 Lawyers' Weekly included a City of Chelsea solicitation for in-house full-time town counsel, offering $68,816 to $85,942 annually, plus benefits He noted that 51% of lawyers in Massachusetts do not work as lawyers, there are not enough jobs 2. Year End Budget Transfers for FY2017 Ms Kosnoff presented a handout summanzing budget transfers that had been approved by the BoS, with a request that the AC take a position on them She reviewed them, as follows 07/11/2017 AC Minutes. • Reserve Fund Transfers The Town appropriates money annually into a Reserve Fund, which can be used, with the approval of the Appropnation Committee, for qualifying expenses Town staff is requesting two Reserve Fund transfers for FY2017 expenditures, leaving approximately $702,000 in the account. The final balance reverts to "free cash" A DPF wages Reserve Fund transfer in the amount of$56,000 is for a salary that was inadvertently left out of the budget calculations A second transfer request, related to DPF electricity costs, resulted from Eversource's decision to send a $50,000 check to the Town for the excess electricity produced by the Town's new Hartwell Avenue solar panels rather than crediting the bill The net result does not change, but the financial mechanisms used to receive the credit are being altered. A motion was made and seconded to approve the Reserve Fund transfers, as requested. The motion passed. VOTE 9-0 • Salary Adjustments The Town appropriates money annually into a Salary Adjustment Account in anticipation of future salary and benefit expenses Although these transfers are the prerogative of the Board of Selectmen, the Appropnation Committee is asked to give its approval, as a courtesy Town staff requested four such transfers for the Public Works, Community Center, Comptroller and Town Manager departments, totaling $116,133 The latter three resulted from high-level retirements involving vacation and sick time payouts The Salary Adjustment Account is a continuing balance account, and will have a balance of approximately $2,000,000 after the transfers are made The DPW request resulted from higher than anticipated snow removal costs Although FY2017 snow fall was not excessive, costs are impacted by the time of snow and ice storms Mr Michelson expressed his concerns about a new process that was used for selecting FY2017 contractors for snow and ice removal Rather than hiring multiple small contractors, the Town selected one contractor who then hired sub-contractors It appears that only a limited number of contractors were informed of this approach, there were few bids, and the costs were high DPW staff felt that there was improved efficiency, but there were no tangible savings and some additional costs Mr Michelson suggested there be additional analysis and oversight to ensure the most cost-effective approach to snow and ice removal services A motion was made and seconded to approve the Salary Adjustment requests associated with the Community Center, Comptroller and Town Manager departments The motion passed. VOTE 9-0 A motion was made and seconded to approve the Salary Adjustment request associated with the DPW Mr Neumeier recommended amending the motion to include a plan to send a report to the BoS describing the concerns outlined above Mr Michelson agreed to write such a report. A motion was made and seconded to amend the motion, as recommended. The motion passed. VOTE 9-0 The amended motion, including the understanding that Mr Michelson would prepare a report for the BoS describing his concerns, was made and seconded. The motion passed. VOTE 7-1-1 • End-of-Year Transfer By statute (G.L c 44, § 33B), the Board of Selectmen, with the concurrence of the finance committee, may transfer budget allocations at the end of the fiscal year from one line-item to another line-item, provided that those funds are still 07/11/2017 AC Minutes. available Under the Municipal Modernization Act, effective November 16, 2016, such transfers are no longer limited to 3% of the line item from which transfer is made Town staff requested one line-item adjustment under this provision, in the amount of$390, to cover cost-of-living health insurance adjustments for surviving spouses of retirees who were members of the non-contributory retirement system A motion was made and seconded to approve the line-item adjustment, as requested. The motion passed. VOTE 9-0 • Revolving Fund Increase Town staff requested a Revolving Fund increase for the Visitors' Center FY2017 staffing needs, more staff time was needed than was included in the budget. The additional staff cost is covered, at least in part, by increases in revenue beyond projections Ms Kosnoff noted that the Visitors' Center is managed by the Economic Development Office Mr Michelson volunteered to review their operations A motion was made and seconded to approve the Revolving Fund increase, as requested. The motion passed. VOTE 9-0 3 Updates on Hastings Elementary School (Hastings) Project and Pelham Road Master Planning and Design Mr Bartenstem reported that the projected cost for the Hastings replacement project has increased by several million dollars, in part because the estimate for geo-thermal wells has increased from $600,000 to approximately $2 0 million. He also noted that DiNisco Design Partnership is supposed to be preparing a master plan for the Pelham Road and Lexington Community Center sites that would coordinate siting of the Lexington Childrens' Place with that of a future cafeteria and gym in the event that funding for Lexington Community Center facilities is deferred. 4 Town Meeting Review with Town Moderator Deborah Brown, the Town Moderator, met with the Committee for a retrospective of the spnng 2017 town meeting. Compliments were exchanged. AC members stressed the importance of having adequate time to review articles that have financial implications Ms Brown noted the importance of committees identifying spokesperson in advance of Town Meeting discussions There was a review of Open Meeting Law requirements and their implications for email communications It was suggested that AC members be circumspect about using the TMMA list- serve or other public forums, as well as emails among the Committee, for taking a position on an issue, although it is acceptable to share or clanfy facts Email discussion or debate on the TMMA list-serve of matters within the Committee's jurisdiction, even if not immediately pending before the Committee, should be avoided because of Open Meeting Law restrictions As citizens and Town Meeting Members, Committee members have a First Amendment right to participate in discussions of matters not within the Committee's immediate jurisdiction, however, because such discussions can fall into a grey area, and might in some circumstances put the Committee in a bad light, careful judgment and discretion should be exercised. 5. Proposal to Engage In-House Legal Counsel as a Cost Saving Measure Mr Neumeier reviewed his efforts to determine what the Town and schools are spending on legal counsel, noting that costs may be included in different departments or projects and sometimes include projections Mr Neumeier recognizes that there are some specialized legal services, such as 3 07/11/2017 AC Minutes. those provided by bond counsel, that need to be outsourced, but he believes the Town could save $200-300,000 annually by hinng in-house counsel for Town and School Department use It was agreed that Mr Neumeier would prepare a short report supporting this recommendation. 6. Future Meetings It was agreed that, other than attending the August 2 capital projects summit, this Committee would not need to meet before late August unless something comes up in mtenm 7 Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approve minutes for June 1, 2017, including one minor edit. The motion passed. VOTE 9-0 8. Adjourn The Committee adjourned at 9 57 p.m. The documents used at the meeting are listed below Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Approved August 31, 2017 Exhibits • Agenda, posted by John Bartenstem, Chair • Summary of'Year-End Transfers, prepared by Ms Kosnoff, for July 11, 2017 AC meeting 4