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Home My WebLink About2018-12-13-AC-min 12/13/2018 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) December 13, 2018 Place and Time: Dawes Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: John Bartenstein, Chair; Glenn Parker, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; Ellen Basch; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Sanjay Padaki; Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Member(s)Absent: Nick Nichols Other Attendees: None The meeting was called to order at 7:38 p.m. Announcements Mr. Bartenstein announced the following: • The photo for the Town Report is now available. • There is a December 17 reception, 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Lexington Community Center, to thank Michelle Ciccolo for her service on the Board of Selectmen. • The Residential Exemption Policy Committee (Ad hoc)held a hearing on December 11, 2018 to discuss and receive comments on options for reducing tax obligations for qualifying home owners. The principal options being looked at are the Residential Exemption, which may be adopted by the Board of Selectmen under existing law and shifts the tax burden between lower-valued and higher-valued homes; and a means-tested exemption, such as that adopted by the Town of Sudbury and several other towns, which would require a Home Rule petition for special legislation and could take a variety of forms. These special acts typically target low-income seniors meeting the requirements for the State Circuit Breaker income tax credit(i.e., whose annual property tax and half their water and sewer utility bills exceed 10% of their income) and are funded by a tax shift(i.e., by increasing the tax rate). However, Lexington would have the flexibility to seek special legislation establishing its own eligibility criteria and funding method, including funding directly from the town budget. It is unlikely that a recommendation would be ready for the 2019 Annual Town Meeting (ATM). Mr. Padaki reported that the Crematory Study Committee (Ad hoc)plans to solicit comments at a February 7, 2019 public hearing on whether to build a crematory at Westview Cemetery, and whether such a facility should be a stand-alone building or attached to a new cemetery building for which funding is expected to be requested at the 2019 ATM. Ms. Basch reported that there are many unanswered questions related to the possibility that the Town would enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with Minuteman Technical High School that would allow the Town to use the school's planned recreational facilities if the Town helps pay for some of the costs. Ms. Kosnoff added that a cost analysis is expected next Tuesday, which would provide data for deciding the split of costs. Other details that need to be negotiated include scheduling, revenue sharing, and maintenance responsibilities. 1 12/13/2018 AC Minutes Ms. Kosnoff reported that$2.238 million of the $9.2-9.3 million Center Streetscape Project has been identified by legal counsel as eligible for funding via the Community Preservation Act(CPA). The Community Preservation Committee has two other large expenditures to consider for FY2020: • Funding for the Minuteman Recreational Complex; • A land acquisition that is being negotiated, potentially for conservation land and affordable housing. It is considered unlikely that the CPA fund could support all three requests. Ms. Kosnoff added that any one of these expenditures would likely require bonding. Ms. Kosnoff reported that approximately $400,000 from the Capital Stabilization Fund was used to pay down a bond anticipation note. The $400,000 was part of funding that had been appropriated for capital projects that required less money than originally expected. Mr. Neumeier reported that a recent edition of the Lawyers' Weekly included an advertisement placed by the City of New Bedford for an associate city solicitor. The salary was listed at$70,599 to $88,257. In response to questions, Mr. Neumeier said that he had not yet met with the new Town Manager, Jim Malloy, to discuss the financial advantages of hiring in-house counsel, but he had discussed this with two Selectmen who are lawyers, and they appeared to be interested. Mr. Neumeier reported that the School Master Planning Committee had reviewed the history of the schools in Lexington at its recent meeting. Mr. Levine is attending tomorrow's meeting of this committee. Mr. Bartenstein and Mr. Parker reported having met with staff from the Information Technology Department and Ms. Kosnoff to discuss Open Meeting Law requirements that affect the sharing of material during the writing of this Committee's report to Town Meeting. It was agreed that a system that allows committee members to post material publicly on the web prior to discussing it at a meeting would facilitate the process of preparing the Committee's written reports. Ms. Kosnoff added that a prototype of the web facility should be available in a few weeks. Budget Summit Mr. Michelson asked for clarification of the material distributed for the December 6, 2018 Financial Summit 11. This triggered additional questions and discussion. Ms. Kosnoff s explanations included, but were not limited to, the following: • The investment income estimates were conservative, taking into consideration the potential of increasing interest rates. • The FY2019 budget includes the use of$3.7 million from free cash. Best practices for municipal accounting recommend that free cash not be relied upon because it is not a guaranteed revenue source. It is therefore planned that operating budgets over the next five years include a gradual reduction in the use of free cash. The Town Manager's recommended FY2020 budget, to be presented in late January, is expected to include a $700,000 reduction in this revenue source for operating expenses. This will restrict funding for program expansions, but level funding is expected to continue. • Mr. Malloy is interested in exploring options for the use of free cash. It could be applied toward a one-time cash capital expense. • Budgeting guidelines are neededa project that likely should be undertaken after the Annual Town Meeting (ATM). Issues include the following: ➢ Whether tax increases should be curbed; 2 12/13/2018 AC Minutes ➢ Whether the Town should be taxing to the levy limit; ➢ Issues associated with the impact of personal property tax new growth; and ➢ A number of factors not currently reflected in the capital financial model. Committee Business Mr. Bartenstein reminded the Committee that when officers were elected last summer, he had agreed to continue as Chair only through the end of the calendar year in order to enable a smooth transition before his term on the Committee expires in June. After discussion, a motion was made and seconded to elect Mr. Parker as Chair, Mr. Padaki as Vice-Chair, and Mr. Levine as Secretary for the period January 1 through June 30, 2019. Mr. Padaki advised that he can substitute as chair(as needed) but is unable to commit to attending additional town committee meetings. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0 Committee liaisons were discussed as follows: • Master Planning Committee: Mr. Levine is currently serving as liaison. • School Committee: Mr. Nichols will be asked about his interest in serving in this capacity. It was suggested that two people could share the responsibility. Mr. Levine agreed to assist. It was noted that Kate Colburn is the liaison from the School Committee to this Committee. • Capital Expenditures Committee: Mr. Neumeier agreed to serve as liaison. • Board of Selectmen: Mr. Nichols will be asked about his interest in serving in this capacity. Mr. Parker and Mr. Bartenstein may be able to assist. • Community Preservation Committee: Mr. Michelson agreed to consider serving as liaison. It was noted that liaisons do not need to attend all the meetings of the respective committees but should review agendas and perhaps minutes to keep track of issues that are relevant to this Committee. The next two meetings of this Committee will be scheduled for January 17 and January 30, 2019. This Committee's report to the ATM should be published on March 25. Weekly Thursday meetings should be assumed for February through March 21, when the report should be approved. Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approve the draft November 13, 2018 minutes, as amended. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold Approved: January 17, 2019 Exhibits • Agenda, posted by Mr. Bartenstein, Chair 3