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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-10-27-AC-minOctober 27, 2011 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee Meeting October 27, 2011 Time and Location: Ellen Stone Room, Cary Hall, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Joe Pato, Vice Chair; Robert Cohen; Mollie Garberg; Alan Levine; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Jonina Schonfeld; Rob Addelson (non- voting, ex officio) Others in Attendance: Theo Kalivas, Budget Officer; Andrew Friedlich; Patrick Mehr The meeting was called to order at 7:38 p.m. Alan Levine agreed to take minutes. 1. Minutes The minutes of the April 20, 2011, and September 7, 2011, meetings were approved by votes of 7 -0 -1. Ms. Schonfeld abstained as she was not a member at the time of these meetings. The minutes of the October 6, 2011 meeting were approved by a vote of 8 -0 -0. There was discussion of protocol regarding members not present. The majority expressed a preference that they should be listed in a consistent format. 2. Report to the Special Town Meeting (STM) Members reported that drafts of article reports are in progress. One of these, i.e., a draft for Article 7, was circulated by Eric Michelson prior to the meeting. Rob Addelson reported on the status of preparation for the STM being done by staff. He distributed sets of material containing information about Articles 2, 4, and 5. He first reviewed the actions to be proposed under Article 4 and went over the table "FY2012 Operating and Capital Budget Adjustments" that he had distributed. He called out changes to this plan made since it was last presented to this Committee: 1) The Reserve Fund is to be increased by $350,000. 2) $10,000 was added to item 8, Fire Dept. communication system work, for contingency of the total cost. 3) $7,800 now appears as the number for item 13 "Community Development — Salaries" 4) $50,000 now appears as the amount for item 17 "Finance- Expenses ". These funds would supplement the legal budget for the Assessing Dept. to allow the Town to be represented at Appellate Tax Board hearings of abatement cases that were filed over recent years going back to 2004. Many of these cases involve large commercial properties and correspondingly large tax payments. October 27, 2011 5) The Library Archives capital project funds have been zeroed out under item 19 because the CPC voted to support this project using CPA funds. It will be discussed at the STM under Article 7. 6) Item 8, "Fire Dept. communications" will be acted upon under Article 3. 7) The reduction of $1,250,000 to the health insurance budget (item 20) was driven by reductions in claims from the estimates used at the Annual Town Meeting. Mr. Addelson reported that the Board of Selectmen voted on October 24 to take the position that the balance of funds at the bottom line of the operating budget revisions flow to free cash. He noted that the State is in process of passing legislation that would modestly increase State aid, but that the projected increase does not appear in the table or its bottom line. The table also does not include an amount of new growth for Shire's property, nor does it include the effects of a final resolution of late appropriation and revenue changes at the Annual Town Meeting. In response to a question regarding the practice that has been followed in recent years that all free cash be used for expenses or transferred to holding accounts, Mr. Addelson replied that the balance at the bottom line of the table is not yet free cash, but will become free cash. Mr. Parker queried whether the Committee agrees with the Selectmen's position on the balance. Mr. Pato and Mr. Levine noted that it would be hard to disagree in an effective manner in the absence of leadership who could convince the Committee and Town Meeting that particular programs should be funded at this time. The levy limit and the possibility of lowering the tax rate was then briefly discussed. Finally, it was noted by Mr. Michelson that the balance should ultimately be used for capital expenses in so far as it represents nonrecurring sources of funds. Mr. Addelson reviewed page 2 of the package of material; this page lists the proposed transfers of funds to special accounts to be made at the STM. Mr. Addelson then explained pages 4 and then page 3 which pertain to Article 2. Page 4 contains a table giving amounts of exempt debt service due to existing obligations and the increases in such that would be incurred if the Bowman and Bridge projects and the replacement of the Estabrook School are approved. The table also contains estimates of the impact to the tax bill of a taxpayer owning a home of average value if the school building projects are approved. It was noted that no figures for work on Robinson Road are included in the numbers for Estabrook. If the Bridge and Bowman projects receive all approvals, the $750,000 and $280,000 short term notes that allowed the Town to carry out design and engineering work will be repaid fully in FY 2013. Page 3 shows the information from page 4 and also adds the projected impact of the school building projects to the base tax bill of the average taxpayer. There was general discussion of alternatives that could be included in the Committee's report on Article 2. Jonina, Mollie, and Alan agreed to circulate a draft over the coming weekend. The Committee discussed a draft report on Article 3 — Fire Communication System — that was circulated earlier in the day by Mr. Neumeier. Mr. Addelson noted that the Town may ultimately need to have redundant systems, and that funds to enable a study of microwave links may be requested at the 2012 annual town meeting. 2 October 27, 2011 In regard to Article 4, Mr. Bartenstein circulated a draft write -up on Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund budget changes that will be addressed in Article 4. He reviewed the content of the draft and also the history of water and sewer rates. It was recommended to Mr. Bartenstein that any extensive background material that he should choose to write up could be placed in an appendix rather than the report under the article. He agreed to write something that identifies the issues but that won't be long and exhaustive. Mr. Addelson reported that free cash will be certified at about $8.1M. In regard to Article 5, the funding sources are needed. Article 6 will likely be indefinitely postponed. 3. Other Items. Mr. Parker requested that the Committee meet on Wednesday, November 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Room G -15 . He also requested that drafts for the report to the STM be circulated over the weekend. The meeting was adjourned at 9:37 p.m. A list of documents and other items used at the meeting is attached. Respectfully submitted, Alan Levine Approved December 7, 2011 3 October 27, 2011 Exhibits Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee Meeting October 27, 2011 1. Meeting Agenda, posted by Glenn Parker, Chair. 2. Four page document containing material regarding Articles 2, 4, and 5, distributed by Rob Addelson. 11