Lincoln Finance Committee
April 10, 2007 Meeting
Present: P. Giese, S. Haber, M. Hartman (vice-chair), J. PersonNameKoenig, P. Phillipps, J. Robinson, R. Steinbrook (chair)
Absent: none
Minutes submitted by: R. Steinbrook
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm in the Donaldson room at Lincoln Town Hall.
The committee set meeting dates of Tuesday May 1, Tuesday June 5 and Tuesday June 26. The minutes of the 3-15-07 meeting were approved.
The committee reviewed Town Meeting and the FY '08 budget process, in particular its procedures for oversight of warrant articles in the category of "other appropriations." There was discussion of the article for "personnel reclassification funding" and the timing of the presentation of the article for the CLRPC consultant, which made it difficult for the committee to provide appropriate review.
For the FY '09 budget process, subject to confirmation in the fall of 2007, the committee agreed to:
1. Move the article for "school classroom maintenance" ($50,000 in FY '08) out of the capital budget and into other appropriations--where the library and Town maintenance budgets are listed--reducing the capital budget accordingly.
2. Have the schools, the library and the Town include information about how they will spend their warrant articles for maintenance as part of their presentation of operating budgets and justify changes in the amounts from year-to-year. If any individual items within maintenance budgets are over $15,000, they should be considered as capital expenditures.
3. Include in the budget guidance letter an instruction that any agency that plans to sponsor a warrant article that falls in the category of other appropriations provide notification by the end of January 2008, so that there is sufficient time for review of the request and to discuss any needed revisions.
4. Seek the inclusion of any future requests for "personnel reclassification funding" in the Town operating budget.
The committee discussed the CLRPC consultant and the CLRPC. The chair will be the liaison to the CLRPC for overall matters. Pat Phillipps will be the liaison for review of the RFP for a consultant, the hiring process, and oversight of expenditures. The chair will communicate this information to the CLRPC leadership.
The committee discussed planning for long-term debt, which will be discussed with the PersonNameK-8 schools and the Town at the May 1 meeting.
The chair and other members reported on the Water Board's presentation about the extension of water mains and long-term infrastructure issues at the Selectman's meeting on April 9, 2007. Of about 1,700 dwelling units, the number that lack access to Town water for fire protection was reported to be 114, or about 7 %. The capital investment to reduce this number by 50 % would be on the order of $1 million. To reduce the number to zero, the investment would be on the order of $3.5 million. Discussions are at an early stage and the committee will continue to monitor them.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm.
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