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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-10-10-AC-min 10/10/2024 AC Minutes 1 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) October 10, 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; Vinita Verma; Lily Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: Sean Osborne Other Attendees: Charles Lamb, Capital Expenditures Committee; Vineeta Kumar, Lisah Rhodes, Deepika Sawhney, School 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 by roll call. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Levine reported that he had received updated cost estimates for the LHS project, but he had not reviewed them yet. Mr. Parker asked him to share the information with the Committee. Mr. Padaki reported that the Assessor’s Office held an information session where he learned that life sciences buildings in Greater Boston are currently under-utilized due to a downturn in the indus- try. The speaker predicted it would take two to three years for building occupancy to recover, and it will start first in Boston and Cambridge buildings before spreading out to the suburbs. The new building at 440 Bedford St. is still unfinished and we understand there is no tenant waiting for it at this time. The builder may decide to delay completion of the construction until a tenant can be found, which might reduce the assessment of the building in the near term. Ms. Kosnoff stated that 440 Bedford St., even though it is unfinished, will still contribute roughly $2.4 million in new growth to the tax levy for fiscal year 2025. The current assessment for the in- complete building reflects about 65% of the expected final value. The building owners will likely receive their certificate of occupancy this fiscal year, but the assessment will not increase much un- til there is a tenant. Mr. Padaki reported that he was unable to join the most recent Recreation Committee meeting using the Zoom link provided in the agenda. Discussion of Draft Warrant Articles Mr. Michelson asked whether Committee members who have sponsored a citizen’s petition need to recuse themselves from discussions or voting on the article. This was in regard to Article 9, a reso- lution about a new crematory at Westview Cemetery, for which Mr. Ahuja is the primary sponsor Mr. Padaki has been involved in a supporting role, and Ms. Verma has signed the petition. Mr. Lev- ine noted that no Committee member has a direct financial interest in Article 9, so recusal may not be strictly necessary. Mr. Michelson observed that this was about maintaining the appearance of im- partiality in the Committee’s recommendations. Mr. Parker will forward the question to Town Counsel via the Town Manager’s office. 10/10/2024 AC Minutes 2 Ms. Kosnoff stated that new growth is expected to be certified at about $5.9 million, which is $2.9 million above the initial budget estimate of $3 million. Approximately $2.4 million of the new growth is from the new office building at 440 Bedford St. Most of the additional new growth will be transferred into the Capital Stabilization Fund under Article 3, with lesser amounts used under Arti- cles 4 and 7. Ms. Kosnoff gave a summary of the expected actions for articles 2 through 7. • 2 Appropriate for Prior Years’ Unpaid Bills This article is expected to be indefinitely postponed. • 3 Establish, Amend, Dissolve and Appropriate To and From Specified Stabilization Funds Three appropriations are expected. Tax levy funds from new growth will be appropriated into the Capital Stabilization Fund. The amount will be in excess of $2 million. Various payments from commercial property owners for traffic mitigation will be appropriated into the Traffic Demand Management Stabilization Fund. Money from the Affordable Housing Stabilization Fund will be appropriated into the Affordable Housing Trust. • 4 Amend FY2025 Operating, Enterprise and CPA Budgets The Public Works Department has requested an adjustment to purchase electric leaf blowers and batteries to comply with the Town’s new noise bylaw. The amount is expected to be from $70,000 to $90,000. The Planning Department will request an adjustment for additional staffing or added contractual services. A member of the Town’s Planning Department staff recently departed, and the depart- ment’s workload has increased due to the MBTA zoning changes. The Finance Department will request an adjustment for added contractual services to cover for an employee taking parental leave. Ms. Kosnoff is still waiting to hear from some members of the senior management team about pos- sible operating budget adjustments. • 5 Appropriate for Authorized Capital Improvements Ms. Kosnoff stated that no appropriations were expected under this article.1 Mr. Michelson asked if the Recreation Enterprise Fund was going to reimburse the Town for the Reserve Fund transfer that was needed for repairs. Ms. Kosnoff replied that funds from the enter- prise fund are not currently available for appropriation pending certification of retained earnings by the State Dept. of Revenue. This will have to be done at the spring Annual Town Meeting. 1 Ms. Kosnoff corrected herself after the meeting. There will be a request for about $1.25 million to provide supplemental funding of the Police Headquarters solar canopy. This will be a debt authori- zation that may be rescinded later if federal funding is approved. 10/10/2024 AC Minutes 3 • 6 Establish, Amend and Continue Departmental Revolving Funds The Town will ask to consolidate the Lab Animal Revolving Fund and the rDNA Special Revenue Fund into a single revolving fund to manage the revenues and expenses for all similar lab inspec- tions. Mr. Padaki suggested that the name (and purpose) of the fund could be broadened to cover all potential laboratory inspections rather than just those related to life sciences. • 7 Appropriate for Schematic Design Funds - Harrington Athletic Fields The Recreation Department will request $100,000 to fund a schematic design for new playing fields to be constructed following the demolition of the old Harrington School. Although some initial lay- out concepts have been shared previously, formal schematic designs are needed as a prerequisite for construction quotes. Approving this request now will allow work on the playing fields to begin as soon as possible after the building is demolished. The funding will need to use the tax levy rather than the Recreation Enterprise Fund. This is due to the timing of the certification of retained earnings by the State Dept. of Revenue, which is not ex- pected to occur before mid-December. Ms. Kosnoff expects the Recreation Enterprise Fund to cover a portion of the construction costs for the new fields as the project moves forward. The remaining funding will come from the tax levy and Community Preservation Act funds. Ms. Kosnoff noted that the Town closed its books for FY2024 today, which was later than they had anticipated. This has delayed the Dept. of Revenue certification, which in turn has driven the choice to use the tax levy for some funding requests. Mr. Levine asked whether we should reconsider the timing for construction of new fields at old Harrington. The current schedule assumes there will be no interruptions in the LHS project pipeline, but if the LHS project is delayed, or the debt exclusion fails, then the whole schedule might change. Another approach would be to wait for a successful debt exclusion vote on LHS before proceeding with old Harrington. He would like this topic to be considered at the next summit. Ms. Kosnoff stated that the current plan has the school administration relocating before the debt ex- clusion vote, and this will allow the old Harrington building to be demolished and new playing fields to be made available at that site before other playing fields at LHS are shut down. In addition, the old Harrington building will need significant repairs if the Town does not vacate it, so there are good reasons to relocate the school administration as soon as possible. • 8 Delay Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Filing Resolution The Committee discussed whether they should make a recommendation on Article 8. The consensus was that an AC recommendation was needed due to the financial implications that would be trig- gered by a delay. • 9 Resolution - Design Process of Crematory at Westview Cemetery There was no further discussion of Article 9. Mr. Parker worked on assigning articles to Committee members, which were captured on a spread- sheet. Minutes of Prior Meetings Minutes from the Committee meeting on August 29 were approved with minor edits by a vote of 8- 0. 10/10/2024 AC Minutes 4 Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 9:04 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Glenn P. Parker Approved: October 30, 2024 Exhibits ● Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker