HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-04-06-AC-min.pdf 4/6/2026 AC Minutes
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Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC)
April 6, 2026
Place and Time: Cary Memorial Building, Ellen Stone Room; 7:00 p.m.
Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; Anil
Ahuja; Eric Michelson; Vinita Verma; Lily Yan (arrived 7:20 p.m.); Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant
Town Manager, Finance (ex officio, non-voting)
Members Absent: John Bartenstein; Sean Osborne;
Other Attendees: Deborah Brown, Town Meeting Moderator; Jill Hai, Select Board; Dawn
McKenna
At 7:02 p.m. Mr. Parker called the meeting to order.
Announcements and Liaison Reports
Mr. Levine told the Committee that the School Building Committee had met earlier in the day and
had discussed a number of aspects of the Lexington High School project. He noted that a new cost
estimate done within the past month was presented along with a list of minor design changes that
will affect the price. The new estimate is lower than the previous estimate by one or two million
dollars.
Discussion of Financial Articles for the 2026 Annual Town Meeting
Regarding Article 4 Operating Budget, there was discussion of the Lexington Public Schools (LPS)
Superintendent’s memo describing her proposed staff reductions and budget revisions and a ra-
tionale in favor of the amendment to increase the LPS operating budget by $1.25 million by using
presently unallocated free cash. Mr. Michelson asked for clarification of the proposed reduction of
the number of LPS staff positions and how that reduction is related to the statement that while 160
layoff notices would be issued, many of the people who receive a notice would remain LPS employ-
ees.
One of the points the Superintendent made in her memo to justify the proposed use of free cash was
that a staff reduction in FY2027 would lead to a reduction in health insurance costs in FY2027. The
Committee critically discussed this point. While Ms. Kosnoff didn’t dispute that there would be a
reduction in health insurance costs, she noted that the health insurance budget for a fiscal year is
built on the number of subscribers as of approximately one year before the beginning of that fiscal
year. It was also pointed out that over several recent years LPS cumulatively added more than 100
staff members beyond what had been budgeted and none of the health insurance costs of those staff
members had been taken into account in the process to allocate revenue to the school and municipal
budgets.
Mr. Parker criticized the proposal to offer an early retirement incentive because it would incentivize
some of the best teachers to leave the system.
The Committee debated whether approval of the amendment would increase a structural deficit in
the school budget but did not come to a consensus on the answer. This led to further discussion of
whether the use of unallocated free cash in this instance would lead to a downgrade in the Town’s
4/6/2026 AC Minutes
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bond rating. Ms. Kosnoff said that by itself it would not, but there are other factors in play such as
the recent decreases in commercial property values and the high vacancy rates in office and labora-
tory properties which will be looked upon rather unfavorably by bond rating agencies. Furthermore,
bond rating agencies look at the total of the reserves held by the Town and one of the Town’s major
reserves is the Capital Stabilization Fund which is going to be drawn down over the next 5 to 8
years for the high school project. It was also pointed out that there has been discussion of a Proposi-
tion 2½ operating override. A failed override vote would be very detrimental to the Town’s bond
rating.
The Committee reacted positively to the idea of holding another summit meeting to discuss the
McKenna amendment although it was noted that it may be difficult to find a suitable time to hold
such a meeting. Ms. Hai confirmed that the Select Board wants to hold another summit meeting.
Ms. Brown said that she is concerned about the Committee trying to make recommendations on an
important issue without having sufficient time to go through a deliberate analytic process.
Future Meeting Schedule
The Committee will meet next on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at 7 p.m. prior to the third session of
the annual town meeting and will be asked to approve the minutes of several meetings.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 7:27 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Alan M. Levine
Approved: April 13, 2026
Exhibits
● Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker