2000-01-19 School Committee Minutes Financial Forum

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Financial Forum 2 January 19, 2000 Ms. Anthony asked from input from the other Boards and Committees regarding a proposed override. Mr. Keigley stated that he believed we should be going for a significant override, in the area of $4 million, to get the town through the next five years. He stated that he did not want to have to go back to the community in another two years and ask for another override. Mr. Cummings stated that the proposed $1.9 million override assumes that we will not have to cap the landfill. Chair Dahl stated that the $1.9 million would only get us through one year. Mr. Francis stated that since the Selectmen and the School Committee have voted they now need to look to increasing fees, including trash fee. Mr. Cummings stated that it is impractical to ask for an override of $1 million and implement trash fees of $1,000,000. He also stated that the process of going for an override and then implementing a trash fee if the override did not pass would not be a viable process. Chair Dahl stated his concern about going for an override this early in the year. He stated that since we received additional state aid late in the year last year people may assume that we will again receive additional aid. The Town Manager stated that Chair Dahl's point was valid but that we could get the message out that if additional aid comes in the Town will not "tax to the max ". Mr. McDonald asked how you explain to the general public that we have $1 million in free cash and we are asking for an override. Chair Grimm stated that we would be using $500,000 in free cash leaving a balance of $600,000. Mr. LeLacheur stated that he can't support any override until someone does a better job explaining how we got here and how we will handle future needs. Mr. Hines stated that that it is due to lower state aid coming into the town. The Town Manager advised that the state aid increase is the lowest increase in 7 years.