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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-07-AC-min 05/07/2020 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) May 7, 2020 Place and Time: Remote Participation: in accordance with the Governor's March 12, 2020 Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law; communication took place via a Zoom teleconferencing session that was open to the public; 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Meg Muckenhoupt; Nick Nichols; Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Member(s)Absent: None Other Attendees: Deepika Sawhney, School Committee; Joe Pato, Select Board; LexMedia Using the Remote Meeting Prologue as a guide, Mr. Parker confirmed attendance by roll call and read the section entitled Introduction to Remote Meeting, noting that the meeting was being called to order at 7:32 p.m. on May 7, 2020 and that the meeting format did not include opportunities for public comment. He reported that the meeting was being recorded and broadcast live by LexMedia and would be available for on-demand viewing. He also reviewed the section entitled Meeting Protocol and noted that materials for the meeting were available on-line. Announcements and Liaison Reports Ms. Kosnoff reported that, despite the financial impacts that are likely to be caused by the pandemic, the budget included in the FY2020 Recommended Budget and Financing Plan("Brown Book") is not being changed for presentation to Town Meeting except for the two items discussed at this Committee's April 9, 2020 meeting: removal of a transfer into the Capital Stabilization (CS) Fund and a reduced transfer into the Post Employment Insurance Liability (PEIL) Fund. She noted that there are too many uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic to revise the projections, and added that: • State revenue is down $4.6 billion in this quarter, and the State does not expect to have FY2021 State aid numbers until after FY2021 begins. This is partially because the April 15 deadline for 2019 income tax payments has been delayed. The State hopes that it will not be necessary to cut Chapter 70 aid (school aid)to cities and towns in FY2021. • A loss of 15% of the previously budgeted State aid, together with a reduction in local receipts, could result in a reduction of approximately $6.0 million in FY2021 revenue. The Town will have available approximately $3.0 million by not transferring funds into the CS and PEIL Funds referenced above, leaving a gap of$3.0 million. Reducing expenses should address some of this; the Town also has its general-purpose Stabilization Fund which could be tapped. • The Recreation Enterprise fund has been hit particularly hard because without recreation programs being offered, there is no revenue stream. The Pine Meadows Golf Course is now allowed to open, which will help increase revenue. Although the Recreation Enterprise Fund has many fixed expenses, some costs, e.g., wages for seasonal employees or contractors, will be reduced while the corresponding activities are not operating. Per current State guidelines, town budgets and enterprise funds can carry a deficit for up to three years. 1 05/07/2020 AC Minutes • Projections indicate that the Town will be in a reasonable position financially at the end of FY2020. Revenues prior to the pandemic were strong enough to counterbalance current losses. Ms. Kosnoff added that the following steps are being taken: • Revenue and expenses are being carefully tracked. • Non-essential spending on both the school and municipal sides has been stopped; flat percentage cuts are not currently under consideration. • FY2021 capital projects are being put on hold unless they are critical and no new hires are being pursued until further information about impacts is available. This will remain in place, even with passage of the proposed budget until there is further evaluation. • A summer financial summit is being considered; the Town needs to prepare to make additional adjustments to spending plans. • Employees are being paid their salaries; there have been no furloughs or layoffs. Ms. Sawhney noted that the School Department is facing similar issues. Access to personal protective equipment, as well as supplies that may be in short demand, will need to be evaluated when considering when the schools should re-open. She plans to forward School Department summary reports pertaining to pandemic-related issues to this Committee. Updated AC Report to the FY2020 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) Mr. Parker reported having made some clarifications and minor corrections to the AC Report to the FY2020 ATM. Mr. Bartenstein noted that the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority had finalized its assessments for water and sewer fees, resulting in a net increase of 4.32% for Lexington rather than the 6.64% originally estimated and referenced in this Committee's report. There has also been a change in Community Preservation Act fees. Ms. Kosnoff said that there is too much uncertainty in the whole budget to start changing motions for each financial update as they become available. She said that all adjustments will be made at a fall town meeting. Mr. Bartenstein agreed to tweak language in the updated report to reference the changes in estimates while recognizing a delay in addressing them. Other small edits/corrections were identified. Mr. Parker agreed to include text and change bars in the report to identify where changes had occurred. It was agreed that he would publish the updated report electronically on May 11, 2020. A motion was made and seconded to approve the discussed updates to this Committee's FY2021 report to the FY2020 ATM. There was a roll call vote. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0 Warrant for Special Town Meeting 2020-1 Mr. Parker noted that there is one article on this warrant—a petition to the General Court for special legislation that would ratify any action taken by Lexington at a virtual ATM in the event that general legislation authorizing towns to conduct a virtual town meeting is not timely enacted. Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approve the April 9, 2020 minutes, with suggested edits, as distributed by Mr. Levine. There was a roll call vote. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0 Procedures for Virtual Town Meeting Mr. Parker reported that, after this meeting is adjourned, Mr. Pato would lead a training session for participating in the virtual town meeting scheduled to begin June 1. Mr. Pato reviewed the process for joining the new Zoom session. 2 05/07/2020 AC Minutes The meeting adjourned at 8:09 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold Approved: July 8, 2020 Exhibits • Agenda,posted by Mr. Parker, Chair • Remote Meeting Prologue • Draft Report to the 2020 Annual Town Meeting, Released March 25, 2020, Updated May I1, 2020 3