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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-06-07-AC-min 06/07/2018 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) June 7, 2018 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; Sanjay Padaki; Andrei Radulescu-Banu; Lily Manhua Yan; Jian Helen Yang; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex-officio) Member(s)Absent: Richard Neumeier Other Attendees: None The meeting was called to order at 7:36 p.m. 1. Announcements and Liaison Reports: Mr. Michelson reported having received a letter from the Board of Selectmen (BoS)identifying the 11 members of the Town Manager Selection Committee. He will be serving as this Committee's liaison. The first meeting is scheduled for June 11 and there will be outreach meetings for staff and residents on June 18 and 19. Additionally, there is an Executive Search Committee that helped select Municipal Research, Inc. (MRI) to facilitate the search process. The contract is for $15,000. The posting of the Town Manager position was scheduled for release today for 30 days. The process is scheduled to take 12 weeks, with MRI forwarding three candidates to the BoS. Ms. Kosnoff reported that Ian Dailey, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Administration for the Lexington Public Schools, is moving to California and will be leaving his position at the end of July. Additionally, Lindsay Dahlberg, the Town's Procurement Officer, is leaving at the end of June. Because of legal requirements, it may be necessary to hire a temporary Procurement Officer, but the line item in the budget for Contractual Services may not be sufficient. Mr. Bartenstein reported the following: The kick-off meeting for the Comprehensive Plan was held on June 4 and is discussed in the Lexington Minuteman. Lexington Community Farm (LexFarm) will be hosting an open house for Town Meeting members and other town leaders on June 20 from 5:30- 7:00 p.m. There is a retirement party for Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Mary Czajkowski, on June 13 and a retirement party for Town Manager, Carl Valente on August 2. 2. June 14 Summit: School Master Plan and Science Laboratory Space: Ms. Kosnoff reported that the School Committee and School Department had originally understood that the $106,000 needed for the School Department's Master Planning effort could come from a 2016 appropriation, but two problems were recently identified with the motion for that appropriation, as follows: • The motion did not reference master planning; and • The motion assumed that bonding would be used to secure the funds. Bond Counsel recently informed the Town that, although the Municipal Modernization Act subsequently changed a restriction on bonding for master planning, at the time of the 2016 1 06/07/2018 AC Minutes appropriation, master planning was not a bondable item. The Town was advised that it would be inappropriate to use funds from that appropriation for master planning. Ms. Kosnoff explained that two funding alternatives for master planning have been identified, as follows: • Asking the AC for a Reserve Fund transfer from the FY2018 Reserve Fund appropriation. Such transfers can only be used for extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances and must be approved by the AC. The FY2018 appropriation for the Reserve Fund was $900,000, none of which has been used. • Taking the funds from the School Department's FY2018 operating budget. The Department of Public Facilities does not have adequate excess FY2018 funds to pay for this project. Mr. Bartenstein reported that Kate Colburn, Vice Chair, School Committee, asked him whether this Committee would be willing to vote on the Reserve Fund transfer request at the Summit. In response to questions about this being an extraordinary and unforeseen expenditure, Ms. Kosnoff said that the bond counsel's position puts the need into that category. She also noted that the process for using the Reserve Fund is transparent whereas taking it from the operating budget is less so; additionally, the study was never intended to be an operating budget line item. Mr. Michelson objected to the master planning moving forward at this time because a new School Superintendent is starting on July 2 and needs time to absorb the issues. Other committee members felt that the master planning funds could be taken from the school operating budget. A straw poll indicated three supported using the Reserve Fund, four opposed using the Reserve Fund, and one abstained. Ms. Kosnoff noted that the need for additional high school laboratory classrooms is on the Summit agenda, but discussion of a pool for the high school swim teams will not be included. The Minuteman Tech pool is no longer available because the school building is being rebuilt without a pool. Efforts are being made to find an alternative pool for the teams to use. 3. Year-End Transfers: Ms. Kosnoff reported that, by statute, year-end transfers for FY2018 must be made by July 13, and AC approval is required for some items and customary for others. It was agreed to meet on June 27 to review and vote on the transfers. 4. Supplemental Tax Assessment: Mr. Bartenstein reported that the BoS is seeking comment through June 25 regarding the manner in which property taxes are assessed against new construction in Lexington. Usually, January 1 assessments are used, but State law now requires municipalities to make a pro rata assessment on the value of certain improvements to real estate made after January 1 if an occupancy permit is issued during the fiscal year and the new construction increases the home's or structure's value by over 50 percent unless the Town opts out. In the past, Lexington has opted out of this requirement, but the BoS are considering ending that opt-out. It is estimated that tax revenue would increase $200-300,000. 5. Minutes: A motion was made and seconded to approve the May 17, 2018 minutes after Ms. Arnold verifies and corrects one point associated with building an indoor pool. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0 2 06/07/2018 AC Minutes 6. Cost Savings Proposals: It was agreed to postpone discussion of this agenda item until another meeting. 7. Comprehensive Plan: Mr. Bartenstein noted that the recently established Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee does not include liaisons from the Capital Expenditures Committee or this Committee, but the work they are doing could result in zoning articles that have financial implications. He noted that it is a challenge for this Committee to comment on zoning articles because those financial impacts tend to be complex. He suggested meeting with representatives of the advisory committee in the fall to discuss the need for financial analyses or modeling. 8. Committee Membership: Mr. Bartenstein announced that his term on this Committee ends at the end of FY2019, and having served four 3-year terms, he plans to step down at that time. In the meantime, he would very much like to see a transition to new leadership that will provide the Committee with direction going forward. He asked anyone interested in taking a leadership role on the Committee over the coming fiscal year to contact him. Ms. Yang reported that her schedule is such that she plans to step down at the end of the current fiscal year. The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Approved: June 27, 2018 Exhibits • Agenda, posted by John Bartenstein, Chair • BoS Seek Comments on Supplemental Tax Assessment for New Construction 3