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Minutes of the
Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting
September 26, 2017
Location and Time: Town Office Building, Reed Room (111); 7:30 A.M.
Members Present: Jill Hai, Chair;Charles Lamb, Vice-Chair, David Kanter, Clerk;
Sandy Beebee (arrived 7:34 A.M.); Rod Cole; Wendy Manz; Frank Smith
Member Absent: None
Others Present: None
Documents Presented:
Notice of CEC Meeting, September 26, 2017
Capital Financing Model and Property Tax Mitigation Plan, September 25, 2017,
Prepared by Carolyn J. Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager for Finance
Draft #1 of Capital Expenditures Committee Report to the Special Town Meetings
(STMs) 2017-2 & 2017-3
Call to Order: At 7:47 A.M., Ms. Hai called the meeting to order.
Preparation for the STMs 2017-2 & -3 (scheduled to begin on Monday, October 16,
2017)—including the CEC report to those STMs—and Discussion of matters related
to the subsequent Debt-Exclusion Referendum:
Mr. Kanter initiated the discussion of the financial model that had been presented to the
Board of Selectmen (BoS) at its meeting the previous evening. At that meeting, Carl
Valente described the model as Ðwork in progressÑ with the intent that it would be further
refined for presentation at the Budget Summit I that is scheduled for October 5, 2017.
The model, besides showing what was presented at the 2017 Annual Town Meeting and a
new ÐbaseÑ projection, includes two alternatives for financing the $12.344 million cost of the
two land purchases (20 Pelham Road & 173 Bedford Street)Ïwhich are not to be included
in this fallÓs debt-exclusion referendum.
Alternative 1 would fund the entire cost from the TownÓs Capital Stabilization Fund.
That is the approach this Committee had endorsed during earlier discussion of this
matterÏalong with having endorsed that those land purchases not be included in the
fall debtexclusion referendum.
Alternative 2, with rolling over five, 1-year, Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs), debt
service being only interest until last BAN expires, and buy-downs of the principal at
each intermediate rollover. The amount of each of those buy-downs would depend on
what cash the Town has available to apply for that purpose at each of those rollovers.
That is the approach the Town Manager prefers as it provide additional flexibility, going
forward, in that the amount of each buy-down can be considered in the context of the
TownÓs financial situation at that time.
While the Committee deferred taking a position on which alternative it preferred until it can
discuss the further-refined model to be available at the upcoming Budget Summit, it had
two major concerns with the current model: (1) Still absent is the long-requested inclusion
of a placekeeper amount(s) in the model for the Lexington High School project that the
School Committee is planning to execute well before the end of the modelÓs time frame of
FY2028; and (2) there is no contingency shown for adjustments if one or more of this fallÓs
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Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting
September 26, 2017
debt-exclusion questions should fail. Ms. Hai will provide feedback to the BoS on those
Committee concerns.
The Committee reviewed the Draft #1 for its report to the STMs 2017-2 & -3, and Ms. Hai
th
asked that the members provide their initial inputs to Mr. Kanter by this Thursday, the 28.
Member Concerns and Liaison Reports: Mr. Kanter provided information on the other
capital-related actions taken by the BoS at its meeting the previous evening.
Adjourn: A Motion was made and seconded at 8:58 A.M. to adjourn. Vote: 7–0
These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its meeting on October, 4, 2017.
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