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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-03-14-AC-min 03/14/2019 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee(AC) March 14, 2019 Place and Time: Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; John Bartenstein; Ellen Basch; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier;Nick Nichols; Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff,Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: None Other Attendees: Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent, Lexington Public Schools (LPS); Peter Rowe, Interim Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, LPS; Kate Colburn, Vice Chair, Lexington School Committee; Deepika Sawhney, Lexington School Committee The meeting was called to order at 7:45 p.m. Discussion with School Department staff and School Committee regarding the FY2020 School Budget Mr. Rowe reviewed the FY2020 LPS budget, including new growth revenue allocations, net revenue growth, a summary of staff changes, a summary of budget growth, and enrollment adjusted cost growth in similar communities. Details were clarified during the discussion. Comments included the following: • Funds that are not used are turned back to the Town; $1.2 million was returned for FY2018. • The Special Education Stabilization Fund has $1.88 million in it to serve as a buffer against extenuating circumstances; to date, the School Department has not requested a withdrawal from it. • Enrollment projections are created using the industry standard Cohort Survival method modified so that kindergarten enrollments are based on the most recent 5-year average kindergarten enrollment rather than on births of Lexington residents. • Of the 48 staff positions requested for FY2020, only 22 were approved during the school department's budget process. • At the high school level, there is an effort to minimize expenses that could best be pursued as part of or after the building of a new high school. That said, current requests for technology-related capital projects are expected to have "aged out"before a new high school is built; it is not prudent to postpone such projects. • The high school heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems are very old. It isn't clear whether they can last until a new high school is built. • The new Lexington Children's Place is scheduled to open in September 2019,providing additional space at Harrington Elementary School. The new Maria Hastings Elementary School is scheduled to open in February 2020. Redistricting is being considered for FY2021. Appropriation Committee (AC)Report to the Annual Town Meeting (ATM) The following articles were reviewed/discussed, adding votes where appropriate and determining this Committee's support for including some items on a Consent Agenda, as proposed by the Board of Selectmen (BoS) and supported by the Capital Expenditures Committee. 1 03/14/2019 AC Minutes • Article 4: Reduce Community Preservation Act(CPA) Surcharge Rate From 3% To I% Pursuant to G.L. c. 44B, §16 (Citizen Article): Ms. Yan and Mr. Michelson voted to disapprove this article, making the recommendation to oppose the article unanimous. They agreed that although the motion is for the article to be indefinitely postponed (IPed) this Committee should include commentary in its report, as previously determined. • Article 5: Establish Qualification for Tax Deferrals: Ms. Yan and Mr. Michelson added their votes in support of this article, making the recommendation to support the article unanimous. • Article 6: Appropriate for Cremation Facility at Westview Cemetery(Citizen Article): The motion will request$90,000 for designs, construction plans and bid documents. Mr. Padaki wanted to see the Ad hoc Crematory Study Committee's interim report, being prepared for the 2019 Annual Town Meeting (ATM),before taking a position. Others noted that it is premature to support such funding without a business plan. A motion was made and seconded to recommend support of this article. The motion failed. VOTE: 0-8-1 • Article 7: Appropriate Funds for the Creation of a Lexington Economic Development Strategy (Citizen Article): Because this article is to be IPed, it is not being included in this Committee's report. • Article 8: Funding for Sustainability Actions (Citizen Article): Because this article is to be IPed, it is not being included in this Committee's report. • Article 9: Sustainability Director(Citizen Article): Because this article is to be a resolution, it is not being included in this Committee's report. • Article 10: Appropriate to Post Employment Insurance Liability Fund: Ms. Yan and Mr. Michelson added their support for this article, making the recommendation to support the article unanimous. • Article 11: Appropriate FY2020 Operating Budget: Mr. Neumeier reported that he wanted to amend this article to reduce the funding for legal services. He believes it is possible to use in-house counsel for approximately 80% of the legal work required by the Town, and since 2012,he has been pointing out that this approach would be less expensive than paying for outside legal services as the Town is now doing. There was discussion about the process for bringing this issue to Town Meeting. The complexities involved in addressing this at the 2019 ATM include presenting an amendment that would need to adjust the current budget to add staff and benefits as well as reduce the line item for legal services. Suggested alternatives included bringing a resolution to study the issue to the next Town Meeting and/or bringing the issue to a budget summit. Two votes were taken: ➢ After noting that this article includes the LPS, Minuteman Vocational Technical High School, and municipal budgets, a motion was made and seconded to recommend support of this article. The motion passed. VOTE: 9-0 ➢ A motion was made and seconded to support an amendment to Article 11 that would reduce line item 8120 for Legal Services from $410,000 to $210,000. The motion failed. VOTE: 2-6-1 • Article 12: Appropriate FY2020 Enterprise Funds Budgets: Mr. Bartenstein reviewed the Water and Wastewater Enterprise Funds, noting that the FY2020 funding requests represent an increase of 2.39% as compared to the total FY2019 request. Mr. Neumeier reported that he is preparing a report on the Recreation and Community Enterprise Fund and he supports it. A motion was made and seconded to recommend support of this article. The motion passed. VOTE: 9-0 2 03/14/2019 AC Minutes • Article 13: Establish and Continue Departmental Revolving Funds: Ms. Yan reported that this article includes support for establishing a new revolving fund for Residential Engineering Review. The concept would be to charge a developer a fee when there is a plan for an enlarged residential footprint, and then those funds would be used to hire an outside entity to review the plans. This is still being reviewed by Town Counsel. A motion was made and seconded to recommend support for this article. The motion passed. VOTE: 9-0 Article 14: Appropriate the FY2020 Community Preservation Committee (CPC) Operating Budget and CPA Projects: ➢ f) Athletic Field Complex at Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School: Ms. Basch reported that because this sub-article is to be IPed, there will be an additional $1.0 million in the Community Preservation Fund. The CPC has suggested that those funds may be needed to address a reduction in State aid or a land purchase that is of interest. ➢ e) 9 Oakland Street—Renovation and Adaptive Re-Use: Even though the ostensible purpose is historic preservation, Mr. Michelson expressed opposition to using public money for private property. Mr. Nichols concurred. Two votes were taken: ➢ A motion was made and seconded to support recommendation of sub-articles a) through d) and g) through m), as described in the Warrant. The motion passed. VOTE: 9-0 ➢ A motion was made and seconded to support recommendation of sub-article e). The motion passed. VOTE: 7-2 This Committee supported the inclusion of sub-articles c), 1), and m), on the Consent Agenda. • Article 15: Appropriate for Recreation Capital Projects: Ms. Yan and Mr. Michelson added their votes in support of this article, making the recommendation to support the article unanimous. • Article 16: Appropriate for Municipal Capital Projects and Equipment: Ms. Yan and Mr. Michelson added their support for subsections a) through e), g), and i) through p), as described in the Warrant, making a recommendation to support these sub-articles unanimous. A motion was made and seconded to recommend support of sub-article h) Hill Street New Sidewalk Project. The motion passed. VOTE: 9-0 This Committee supported the inclusion of sub-articles a), d), g),j), k) and 1), on the Consent Agenda. • Article 17: Appropriate for Water System Improvements: Mr. Bartenstein reported that the $2.2 million request is greater than in most recent years and will affect water rates charged by the Town. Despite the fact that the BoS suggested otherwise, Mr. Bartenstein does not support this being on the Consent Agenda. • Article 18: Appropriate for Wastewater System Improvements: Mr. Bartenstein reported that the $1.8 million being requested is consistent with past experience. A motion was made and seconded to recommend support of this article. The motion passed. VOTE: 9-0 The Committee supported inclusion of this article on the Consent Agenda. • Article 20: Appropriate for Public Facilities Capital Projects; sub-articles a) through h), as described in the Warrant: Mr. Padaki said that he wanted to read the Ad hoc Crematory Study Committee's interim report before taking a position on (g) Westview Cemetery Facility Construction. There were two motions: 3 03/14/2019 AC Minutes ➢ A motion was made and seconded to support recommendation of sub-articles a) through f) and h) as described in the Warrant. The motion passed. VOTE 9-0 ➢ A motion was made and seconded to support recommendation of sub-article g). The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0-1 It was agreed that sub-articles a)through d) and f) could be included on the Consent Agenda. • Article 21: Rescind Prior Borrowing Authorizations: A motion was made and seconded to support recommendation of this article. The motion passed. VOTE: 9-0 The Committee supported inclusion of this article on the Consent Agenda. • Article 23: Appropriate to General Stabilization Fund: Because this article is to be IPed, it is not being included in this Committee's report. There was no objection to this article being included on the Consent Agenda. • Article 24: Appropriate from Debt Service Stabilization Fund: A motion was made and seconded to support recommendation of this article. The motion passed. VOTE: 9-0 The Committee supported inclusion of this article on the Consent Agenda. • Article 27: Appropriate for Authorized Capital Improvements: Because this article is to be IPed, it is not being included in this Committee's report. There was no objection to this article being included on the Consent Agenda. The meeting adjourned at 10:41 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold Approved: March 27, 2019 Exhibits • Agenda,posted by Mr. Parker, Chair • FY2020 Budget Overview, Lexington Public Schools, Annual Town Meeting, March 19, 2019,pages 8-13 • 2019 Annual Town Meeting, Potential Consent Agenda Articles, BoS • Town of Lexington Warrant: 2019 Annual Town Election, March 4, 2019; 2019 Annual Town Meeting, March 25, 2019 4