Lincoln Finance Committee
December 19, 2006 Meeting
Present: M. Hartman (vice-chair), J. Koenig, P. Phillipps, J. Robinson, R. Steinbrook (chair)
Not present: P. Giese, S. Haber
Minutes submitted by: R. Steinbrook
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm in the Donaldson Room at Lincoln Town Hall.
The minutes of the meeting of 11-30-06 were approved.
The committee discussed various matters with Mickey Brandmeyer, superintendent of the Lincoln Public Schools.
The committee discussed a reserve fund transfer request of $20,000.64 to complete the installation of the emergency generator at the Lincoln School. Cingular Wireless provided the generator to the Town during FY 06, as well as $16,354.68 to support the project. At the time, the Public Safety Department requested a reserve fund transfer of $16,354.68, which the committee granted; the funds were deposited in a school account. However, the original installation budget was insufficient. After additional review, the placePlaceNameLincoln PlaceTypePublic Schools and the Public Safety Department have determined tet additional funds that are needed. The committee voted 5-0 to support the reserve fund transfer request, subject to the completion of a written statement about the extraordinary and
unforeseen reasons. In addition to the two reserve fund transfers and funding from Cingular, the schools will contribute $8,500 from other funds. The total project expenses are anticipated to be about $61,210.
The committee indicated that it would be desirable for the installation to be completed and for the generator to be operational before Town Meeting in March 2006.
The superintendent reviewed the development of the base and preferred FY 08 budget requests for the schools. There is continued uncertainty about the special education costs associated with out-of-district placements. The largest cost is for out-of-district tuitions. The base budget will include about $500,000 for out-of-district tuition, a substantial increase over the comparable figure for FY 07. If the actual FY 08 cost is higher--this will not be known until May 2007 at the earliest--the Lincoln Public Schools may need to request a reserve fund transfer. Under a "worst-case" scenario, the additional cost could be $100,000 to $120,000. Because of the ability to prepay up to 25% of these tuitions, the Finance Committee could choose to fund a transfer through either the FY 07 or
FY 08 reserve funds. Eventually, 60 to 70 percent of any transfer might return to the schools as "circuit-breaker" revenue from the state in FY 09.
The committee was supportive of this approach. It also requested that the superintendent review projected FY 09 special education costs for out-of-district placements with the committee in September 2007, before the FY 09 budget guideline is set.
With regard to the FY 08 base budget, there was discussion of the proposed number of sections for Grade 2 in the context of the class-size policy. The Finance Committee will continue to discuss this matter with the School Committee and the superintendent.
The superintendent alerted the committee to an unanticipated FY 07 expense with regard to transportation; it is possible that a reserve fund transfer request will be forthcoming.
The committee reviewed the status of the other FY 08 budgets. Although a formal vote was not taken, the committee expressed support for increasing the base budget of the Lincoln Public Library by $1,658 )for binding books and for buying books to meet the 15% certification requirement).
The community preservation committee will fund the painting of the Pierce House, reducing the FY 08 capital planning budget to $643,308. Following discussion, the committee suggested that the Capital Planning Committee move the requests for DPW site improvement ($27,500) and the library elevator smoke vent ($20,000)--both previously recommended for long-term bonding--to the budget, increasing it to $690,808.
The preferred Town FY 08 budget is currently $185,816 over the base budget, or about 3 percent.
The base and preferred budgets for Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School are not yet known. The liaisons to LSRHS will seek additional information about a final BAN for the building project of $1.4 million which is due on dateYear2007Day15Month7July 15, 2007--the school committee is considering whether to pay down about $400,000 of principal or a minimum of $29,035.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 pm.
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