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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-30 SB HandoutoF Town of Reading " Meeting, Posting with Agenda s�9, rxcoa4° Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Selectmen Date: 2018 -01 -30 Time: 7:00 PM Building: School - Memorial High Address: 62 Oakland Road Purpose: General Business 1018 JAN 25 P 2= 34 + Location: RMHS Schettini Library Agenda: Meeting Called By: Caitlin Saunders on behalf of Chairman John Arena Notices and agendas are to be posted 48 hours in advance of the meetings excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Legal Holidays. Please keep in mind the Town Clerk's hours of operation and make necessary arrangements to be sure your posting is made in an adequate amount of time. A listing of topics that the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting must be on the agenda. All Meeting Postings must be submitted in typed format; handwritten notices will not be accepted. Topics of Discussion: 1) Reports and Comments a. Selectmen's Liaison Reports and Comments b. Public Comment C. Town Manager's /Assistant Town Manager's Report 2) Open Session for topics not reasonably anticipated 48 hours in advance of the meeting 3) Proclamations /Certificates of Appreciation a. Adam Clark b. Christopher Rogers C. Jared Casalinuovo 4) Personnel & Appointments 5) Discussion /Action Items a. Discuss and Vote Override 6) Approval of Minutes a. November 7th b. November 14th C. November 28th d. December 20th 7) Licenses, Permits and Approvals 8) Executive Session 9) Correspondence a. Email from Scott and Jennifer Hardin, re: Jan 30th meeting b. Email from Rebecca Liberman, re: override C. Email from Nichola Meserve, re: Jan 30th meeting d. Email from Verizon, re: Programming Change e. Email from Sarah Doane, re: override f. Email from Lauren Ream, re: override g. Email from Verizon, re: Programming Change h. Email from Jerrold Starr, re: override i. FY2019 State Aid Document This Agenda has been prepared in advance and represents a listing of topics that the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting. However the agenda does not necessarily include all matters which may be taken up at this meeting. Page I 1 %M02 van v U N •O � v� O cc3 0 � o o O � CC3 4) � O � o N C4 O � O � O w a� Q 5 ci Q a� 0 e� 0 PQ 99 00 0 N 0 0 M rA 0 O O � .,� ct V � O •� C� CJ A V ���ll %M02 van v U N •O � v� O cc3 0 � o o O � CC3 4) � O � o N C4 O � O � O w a� Q 5 ci Q a� 0 e� 0 PQ 99 00 0 N 0 0 M rA 0 O �O a� 0 POO CC3 ct V � Q� N 4 0 •4.4 � � O V H rQ�l • l O � ¢' O ct v� O bA 424' o � U � J� CIS b�A � U vi 7 O •� O U 0 0 c �o 0 N h 0 e� O M O .O a� ct V � � Q •� � U U O � U � o � o � o � w � � � O U bA U � O � O � ' u .CIS U O a� 0 O bA a 00 0 N h O O M e 7 015 SjC DIVISION OF LOCAL SERVICES MA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE Proposition 2'/2 Ballot Questions Requirements and Procedures August 2017 Supporting a Comm on wealth of Comm unities www.mass.gov/DLS P.O. Box 9569 Boston, NU 02114-9569 (617) 626-2300 E Division of Local Services Municipal Finance Law Bureau TABLE OF CONTENTS PROPOSITION 2'/2 BALLOT QUESTIONS REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES I. INTRODUCTION Page 1 II. TYPES OF BALLOT QUESTIONS 1 A. Overrides 1 B. Exclusions 1 L Debt Exclusions 2 2. Capital Expenditure Exclusions 2 C. Underrides 2 III. ELECTION PROCEDURE 2 A. Placing Questions Before Voters 2 1. Overrides and Underrides 3 2. Exclusions 3 B. Election Procedure 3 C. Form of Questions 3 1. Statement of Purpose 3 a. Specificity of Purpose 4 b. Definition of Purpose 4 2. Other Information 5 D. Approval of Questions 5 E. Approval of Multiple Questions on Same Ballot 5 1. Overrides 5 a. Pyramid or Tier Overrides 5 b. Menu Overrides 6 C. Multi -year Overrides 6 2. Exclusions 6 F. Voter Information 6 G. Campaign Activities 7 H. Revocation of Questions 7 IV. RELATIONSHIP TO APPROPRIATIONS 7 A. Use of Additional Taxing Authority (Earmarking) 7 1. Overrides 8 a. General Overrides 8 b. Stabilization Fund Overrides 8 Mf Division of Local Services Municipal Finance Law Bureau 2. Debt Exclusions 8 a. Total Exclusion 8 b. Annual Exclusion 9 3. Capital Expenditure Exclusions 9 B. Appropriation — Election Sequence 10 C. Contingent Appropriations 10 1. Statutory Requirements 10 2. Appropriation Types 11 V. ROLE OF DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 11 APPENDICES A Proposition 2%2 Ballot Question Forms 12 B Levy Limit Override Purposes 13 C Levy Limit Override Approaches 15 D Sequencing Options 20 E Sample Contingent Appropriation Motions 21 F Additional Resources and Contact Information 25 5�3 PROPOSITION 2% BALLOT QUESTIONS REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES General Laws Chapter 59, � 21C I. INTRODUCTION Proposition 2'/2 limits the amount of revenue a city or town may raise from local property taxes each year to fund municipal operations. This amount is known as the annual levy limit. However, the law allows a city or town to increase tax revenues above that limit with approval of voters at an election. It also requires a city or town to reduce its levy limit as specified by the voters. This summary explains the election procedure established by Proposition 2%2 and the different types of questions communities may ask voters to approve. II. TYPES OF BALLOT QUESTIONS Proposition 2%2 establishes two types of voter approved increases in taxing authority. It also allows voters to mandate a reduction in taxing authority. A. OVERRIDES A levy limit override increases the amount of property tax revenue a community may raise in the year specified in the override question and in future years. It increases the community's levy limit and becomes part of the base for calculating future years' levy .limits. The result is a permanent increase in taxing authority. G.L. c. 59 § 21 C (g). The purpose of the override is to provide funding for municipal expenses likely to recur or continue into the future, such as annual operating and fixed costs, although it may be used for any municipal spending purpose. The only limitation on the amount of the override is that the new levy limit, including the override, cannot exceed the overall Proposition 2%2 levy ceiling of 2'/2 percent of the community's full and fair cash value. B. EXCLUSIONS An exclusion increases the amount of property tax revenue a community may raise for a limited or temporarX period of time in order to fund specific projects. The amount of an exclusion may be raised in addition to the community's levy limit. It does not increase the community's levy limit nor become part of the base for calculating future years' levy limits. The exclusion may be used to raise additional funds only for a capital purpose, which is any purpose for which a city or town is authorized to borrow. See generally G.L. c. 44, &� 7 and 8. This includes most public building and public works projects, as well as land and equipment acquisitions. An exclusion may be used by a community to fund its own capital spending, or its assessed share of capital spending by a regional school district or other regional governmental unit of which it is a member, whether the spending is financed by borrowing (debt exclusion) or within the annual budget (capital expenditure exclusion). There is no limitation on the number or dollar amount of exclusions. 1. Debt Exclusions If a capital project is being funded by debt, approval of a debt exclusion permits the community to raise the amount of the annual debt service payment for that project each year until the debt is retired. A debt exclusion may presented to the voters to exclude the debt service on the community's borrowings, or the community's share of the debt service on a borrowing of a regional governmental unit of which it is a member. G.L. c. 59, § 21C(k). See Section IV -A -2 below. Debt exclusion questions may be presented to and approved by the voters before or after the related debt is authorized or issued. An exclusion approved after repayment of the debt had begun applies prospectively, i.e., to the remaining debt service payments owed on the obligation. A separate question may be presented for each borrowing or multiple borrowings may be included within a single question. 2. Capital Expenditure Exclusions If the capital project is being funded by an appropriation, voter approval of a capital expenditure exclusion question permits the community to raise the amount of the project costs up to the amount stated in the question. This additional taxing authority is available for just the one fiscal year specified in the question. G.L. c. 59, § 21CGV2). A separate question may be presented for each budgeted project or multiple projects may be included within a single question. C. UNDERRIDES A levy limit underride decreases the amount of property tax revenue a community may raise in the year specified in the underride question and in future years. It decreases the community's levy limit and becomes part of the base for calculating future years' levy limits. The result is a permanent decrease in taxing authority. G.L. c. 59, § 21 C(h). III. ELECTION PROCEDURE A. PLACING QUESTIONS BEFORE VOTERS Proposition 2% questions are placed on an election ballot by vote of the "local appropriating body," which is defined in towns as the selectboard, not town meeting. In towns without selectboards, a vote of the town council is required to present a question to the electorate. In cities, a vote of the city council, with the mayor's approval where required by law, is needed. G.L. c. 59, § 21 C(a). 5�-� This is the only way an override or exclusion question may be placed on the ballot. They may not be placed on the ballot by a town meeting vote or any local initiative procedure authorized by law. A local initiative procedure, however, may be used as an alternative method of placing an underride question on the ballot. The board or council must vote the question exactly as it will appear on the ballot. Overrides and Underrides A majority vote of the board or council is needed to place an override or underride question on the ballot. G.L. c. 59, § 21C(g) and h). 2. Exclusions A 2/3 vote of the board or council is needed to place an exclusion question on the ballot. G.L. c. 59, § 21C(i %2), W and (k). B. ELECTION PROCEDURE Proposition 2%2 questions may be placed on a regular or special municipal election ballot. Questions may also be placed on the state biennial election ballot. However, those questions must be submitted to the Secretary of State for certification by the first Wednesday in August preceding the election. G.L. c. 59, § 21 C(i). The usual laws and procedures relating to municipal elections apply. The municipal clerk must receive written notice of the question being placed on the ballot at least 35 days before the date of the election. G.L. c. 54, § 42C. The vote to place a question on the ballot must take place in sufficient time to meet this advance notice requirement. A city or town may present Proposition 21/2 questions to the voters as many times during the year as it chooses. The only constraint on the interval between these elections is the time needed to call and hold each election. The Office of the Secretary of State is responsible for administering and enforcing election laws. Specific questions about the application of these laws to Proposition 2%2 elections should be directed to the Elections Division of that office at 617 -727 -2828. C. FORM OF QUESTIONS Proposition 2%2 specifies the form of each type of ballot question. This exact language must be used to properly place a question before the voters. The question forms are found in Appendix A. 1. Statement of Purpose All override and exclusion questions require a statement of the purpose or purposes for which the monies from the tax "assessment" or debt "issue" will be used. 50-� a. Specificity of Purpose The purpose must be described in a manner that enables voters to determine the appropriation(s) or debt obligation(s) covered by the question. The degree of specificity required to do this will depend on the type of question. (1) Overrides Override questions are designed to increase the amount of revenue generally available for appropriation. As a result, the spending purpose in an override question may be broad in scope such as general or departmental operating purposes. More specific spending purposes may also be stated such as where a service will be reduced or eliminated without the override. Examples of acceptable spending purposes are found in Appendix B. (2) Exclusions Exclusion questions are designed to fund specific capital projects. Therefore, the borrowing or spending purpose in an exclusion question must describe the particular project(s) being funded by the question. b. Definition of Purpose The purpose used in an override or exclusion question must be a spending or borrowing purpose. This means a purpose for which a community's appropriating body could vote to appropriate money or authorize debt. The purpose cannot be used to provide voters with information on the impact of an unsuccessful vote on the question or the underlying events or circumstances that may cause budget difficulties. Nor may it be used to promote or advocate for the override or exclusion. For example, language that does not meet the definition of spending purpose would be questions with the stated purpose of "restoring monies lost due to local aid reductions" or "increasing free cash." These questions do not state a spending purpose because communities do not appropriate funds for these purposes. In addition, language that explains the impact of voter action on the question and is intended to promote the override or exclusion does not meet the definition of spending purpose. For example, "preventing substantial reductions in town services, programs and personnel and further deferral of vital capital projects," "preventing a reduction in the police department budget," "preventing the layoff of 4 police officers," "maintaining current municipal and educational services" or "restoring .school athletic programs" would be inappropriate. The question must simply specify the personnel, services or programs for which the additional funds will be used. Thus, appropriate purposes for the examples above would be "funding the town's operating and capital expenses," "funding the police department operating budget," "funding the salaries of 4 police officers," "funding municipal and educational services," or funding school athletic programs." Finally, the spending purposes should not be characterized in a manner intended to promote the question by including financial information usually provided during the budget process. Examples would be "funding uncontrollable increases in employee health insurance costs" or "funding a 28% increase in the town's regional school district assessment." The question should just state the spending purpose: "funding employee health insurance costs" or "funding the town's regional school district assessment." 2. Other Information Override and capital expenditure exclusion questions must also include the total amount of additional taxing authority being requested and the fiscal year in which it will be used. This information is not included in debt exclusion questions. Any additional information about the requested amount, the services and programs to be funded by the requested amount, and the impact the vote will have on those services cannot be included in the question or on the ballot. That type of information should be provided in the course of a balanced, comprehensive, public information effort. Public information efforts undertaken by local officials must be consistent with election and campaign finance laws. See Sections III -F and G below. D. APPROVAL OF QUESTIONS A question is approved if a majority of the people voting on that question vote "yes." E. APPROVAL OF MULTIPLE QUESTIONS ON SAME BALLOT A community may place as many questions on a regular or special municipal election ballot as it chooses. However, if the community decides to place questions on the state biennial election ballot, it is limited to three questions. G.L. c. 59, § 21C(i). Overrides a. Pyramid or Tier Overrides A community may present a "pyramid" or "tier" override to the voters. A pyramid override asks voters to determine which, if any, of two or more funding levels they are willing to approve. A separate override question is placed on the ballot for each funding level, with each question stating the same purpose purposes. Tiered means that the purposes of a higher funding level include purposes in addition to the purposes of all lower funding levels. Any question is approved if a majority of the persons voting on that question voted "yes." If more than one question is approved, the question specifying the highest dollar amount governs. This rule also applies where the questions are presented as alternative proposals to the voters. ab, The Elections Division of the Secretary of State's Office advises communities presenting pyramid or tier overrides to include voting instructions on the ballot. The following language is recommended: Questions 1 a, 1 b and 1 c are separate questions. You may vote for or against each question independently. Each question requires a majority of those voting on that question to pass. If more than one question passes, the question with the highest dollar amount will prevail. b. "Menu" Overrides A community may place several override questions each of which will fund different services or programs on the same ballot. If voters approve more than one override question stating different purposes, the community's levy limit may be increased by the total of the amounts specified in all approved questions. Multi -year Overrides A community may seek voter approval of an override for more than one year. To do so, a separate question must be placed on the ballot for each fiscal year in which the additional levy capacity being requested will be used. The amounts and purposes in the question may be the same or different. Appendix C provides examples of single, multi -year, pyramid, tier and menu override approaches. 2. Exclusions A community may place several exclusion questions for different capital projects or groups of capital projects on the same ballot. The community may raise the additional amounts excluded by each question approved by the voters. F. VOTER INFORMATION Local officials may not publish and provide voter information materials at public expense, including a summary of the impact a "yes" or "no" vote will have on local services, unless specifically authorized by statute. See G.L. c. 53, & 18B (local acceptance required) and the following special acts that authorize certain officials to prepare and distribute voter information on municipal elections: St. 1987, c. 274 (Newton Election Commission), St. 1989, c. 630 (Cambridge Election Commission), St. 1996, c. 180 (Sudbury Selectboard), St, 1998, c. 89 (Burlington Selectboard), St. 2002, c. 238 (Dedham Selectboard), St. 2004,.c. 149, §§ 285 -288 (Lancaster Selectboard), St. 2006, c. 404 (Yarmouth Selectboard) and St. 2006, c. 427 (Shrewsbury Selectboard). Questions about voter information or ballot content should be directed to the Elections Division of the Office of the Secretary of State at 617 -727 -2828. a, G. CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES General Laws Chapter 55 governs the raising and spending of money for ballot questions as well as political candidates. The law also regulates the conduct of public officials and employees undertaking campaign finance activities. In general, the law regulates conduct not speech. Thus, while local officials can take a position on an override or exclusion question and speak in favor of or in opposition to it, they cannot spend public funds or use public resources, such as personnel, supplies and facilities, to promote or oppose the question. Anderson v. Cit2ofBoston, 376 Mass. 178 1978. Public employees may work on an override or exclusion campaign on a volunteer basis, on their own time, in any capacity other than fundraising. They may also make personal contributions to political committees established for the purpose of promoting or opposing the ballot question. The Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) is responsible for administering and enforcing campaign finance laws. Its website includes materials that provide guidance about the application of these laws to the conduct of local officials and employees in Proposition 2%2 elections. See, for example, Interpretative Bulletins 91 -01, The Use of Governmental Resources for Political Purposes, and 92 -02, Activities of Public O ff cials in Support of or Opposition to Ballot Questions. Specific questions should be directed to OCPF at 617- 727 -8352. H. REVOCATION OF QUESTIONS Proposition 2%z does not provide for the revocation or rescission of an approved question. An override can be negated, however, by voter approval of an underride. An exclusion can be negated by not funding the related borrowing or appropriation. IV. RELATIONSHIP TO APPROPRIATIONS Proposition 2% establishes a limit on the annual property tax levy and approval of an override or exclusion question only increases the amount a community may raise in taxes. It does not authorize or require spending for the purpose of the question. Similarly, an underride only decreases the amount a community may raise in taxes. The legal power to make spending decisions is still vested in the community's appropriating body (town meeting /town council /city council). A. USE OF ADDITIONAL TAXING AUTHORITY (EARMARKING) Approval of an override or exclusion question establishes the maximum amount of additional taxing authority available to the community. The spending decisions made by the community's appropriating body determine if any or all of this additional taxing authority is actually used. Thus, while the additional dollars are still part of the community's general unrestricted revenues (levy) and are not a separate financing source for the purpose of making appropriations, those dollars are considered "earmarked" because they cannot be raised in the tax levy unless the community appropriates them for the purpose stated in the question. 5�0 Overrides a. General Overrides A community's levy limit is increased by the amount stated in an override for any purpose except for a stabilization fund so long as all appropriations made for the stated spending purpose and fiscal year equal or exceed that amount, i.e., the first dollars appropriated for that spending purpose are deemed to come from the override. If total appropriations for the year are less than the stated amount, then the community may only increase its levy limit by the amount actually appropriated. The additional funds raised by the override are "earmarked" for the stated spending purpose only in the first fiscal year. b. Stabilization Fund Overrides The. additional funds raised by an override to fund a stabilization fund are earmarked for that purpose in the first fiscal year and in subsequent fiscal years upon appropriation. Any change in the purpose for which the additional levy capacity may be used in future years must be approved by a majority of voters at an election. See Informational Guideline Release (IGR) No. 17 -20, Stabilization Funds (July). In the first year, town meeting, town council or city council makes an appropriation into the fund of any amount up to the amount stated in the override. The community's levy limit is increased by the amount stated, or amount appropriated if less. In subsequent years, the community's levy limit is increased only where the additional levy capacity is "appropriated" by a 2/3 vote of the selectmen, town council or city council, with the mayor's approval if required by law, for the same stabilization fund purpose. If "appropriated," the assessors raise the amount in the tax rate. 2. Debt Exclusions a. Total Exclusion A debt exclusion covers debt service on the amount of borrowing authorized or contemplated for the stated purpose at the time of the election. Debt service includes payments of principal on permanent debt and interest on permanent and temporary debt. The debt service on any additional borrowing above the amount fixed at the time of election is not covered unless (l) it is a modest amount attributable to inflation, new regulatory requirements or minor project changes, or (2) another debt exclusion is approved by the voters. See Section I of IGR No. 02 -101, Proposition 2%2 Debt Exclusions (March). 5 3�� Any premiums received on the debt issue must be offset against the stated interest cost when calculating the debt exclusion so that it reflects the true interest cost incurred to finance the project. G.L. c. 44, § 20. The manner in which a premium adjustment is made depends on when the bonds or notes were sold. See Section I of IGR No. 17 -22, Premiums and Surplus Proceeds fbr Proposition 2'/2 Excluded Debt (August) for an explanation of when and how a premium adjustment is made. If the project has been completed, abandoned or discontinued, there may be unspent surplus debt excluded proceeds. G.L. c. 44, § 20. If there are unspent surplus proceeds when the project is completed, abandoned or discontinued, the debt exclusion for that project must be reduced proportionately unless the surplus proceeds are appropriated for another debt excluded project. See Section II of IGR No. 17 -22, for an explanation of when and how this reduction is made. b. Annual Exclusion The additional taxing authority available to a community each fiscal year until the debt covered by the exclusion is retired is the total principal and interest payment due net of any reimbursement received from the state or federal government for the project. This amount represents the community's share of the project's debt service for that year. If user fees, betterments or other local revenues are being used to fund all or part of the debt service, a community may exclude.the principal and interest net of the local revenue, but it is not required to do so. If an additional borrowing for the project is not covered by the exclusion, the additional taxing authority for each year is calculated by applying the percentage the borrowing amount fixed at the time of the election bears to the total debt issued for the project. The annual exclusion amount may be adjusted from year to year in order to moderate the impact on taxpayers, provided that (1) in any year in which the exclusion raised is more than the actual local share of the debt service due for that year, the accounting officer reserves the excess for appropriation to pay debt service costs for future years, and (2) the total amount excluded during the adjusted schedule does not exceed the amount that would be excluded otherwise. See Section II of IGR No. 02 -101. 3. . Capital Expenditure Exclusions A community may use all of the additional taxing authority provided by an approved capital expenditure exclusion question so long as the amount appropriated for the specified capital project for the fiscal year, net of any reimbursement received from the state or federal government for the project, equals or exceeds the amount stated in the question. This amount represents the community's share of the project cost for that year. If the community's share is less than the amount stated in the question, then the community may only increase its taxing authority by its share. If user fees, betterments or other local revenues are being used to fund all or part of the project, a community may net out the local revenue, but it is not required to do so. tu��a B. APPROPRIATION - ELECTION SEQUENCE A community should adopt a budget process that will result in a balanced budget by July 1, but in any event it must have a balanced budget within the limits of Proposition 2%2 by the time it sets a tax rate for the year. It may establish its expenditure and revenue budgets in any order it chooses. It could first seek voter approval of an override or exclusion question and then make appropriations for the year within a fixed revenue estimate. Alternatively, the community could choose to first adopt its expenditure budget and if that budget requires additional revenue to fully fund it, then seek voter approval of an override or exclusion question. If the question is successful, the budget will be balanced and a tax rate may be set without further action. If the question is not successful, then the community will have to reduce appropriations and /or increase non -tax revenues in order to establish a balanced budget and set a tax rate. The chart in Appendix D summarizes the sequencing options explained in this section and Section IV -C below. C. CONTINGENT APPROPRIATIONS A third budgeting approach available only to towns with town meetings is to adopt a balanced budget and then appropriate additional amounts to supplement that budget expressly contingent on the subsequent approval of an override or exclusion question. G.L. c. 59, § 21C(m). A contingent appropriation vote does not place a question on the ballot. The decision whether or not to present any Proposition 2%2 question to the voters is still made by the selectboard. See Section III -A above. It may choose not to present a question for any or all contingent appropriations made by town meeting. It may also place a question on the ballot for less than the contingent appropriation, which if approved, makes the appropriation effective to the extent of the amount stated in the question. Statutory Requirements Contingent appropriations may be made from the tax levy, available funds or borrowing and are subject to the following statutory requirements: • A contingent appropriation is not effective until the override or exclusion question is approved. This means that until the question is approved, a town cannot spend from the contingent appropriation. The statement of spending purpose in the override or exclusion question must be substantially the same purpose as the contingent appropriation. This means the question need not be worded in exactly the same way as the appropriation. However, it must describe the purpose in a sufficiently similar manner that the voters can identify the particular appropriation the question is intended to fund. In the case of operating appropriations, this may mean the selectboard does not have as much flexibility in describing the specific positions, programs or services the question is intended to fund. See Section III -C -1 -a above. In addition, each contingent appropriation need not be the subject of a separate question. The selectboard retains the power to decide the content of all questions and may include several contingent appropriations within a single override or exclusion question. In that case, the question must state the purpose of each appropriation it is intended to fund. 10 ��3 • The deadline for obtaining voter approval of override or exclusion questions for contingent appropriations made at an annual town meeting is September 15. More than one election may be held, but the contingent appropriation is null and void if the related question is not approved by September 15. The deadline for obtaining voter, approval of override or exclusion questions for contingent appropriations made at any other town meeting is 90 days after the close of the town meeting at which the contingent appropriation vote was taken. More than one election may be held, but the contingent appropriation is null and void if the related question is not approved by the end of the 90 day period. • If the contingent appropriation was made from the tax levy, the tax rate cannot be submitted to the Department of Revenue for approval until the override or exclusion question has been voted upon, or the applicable deadline for holding an election has passed, whichever occurs first. 2. Appropriation Types Town meeting may make any appropriation contingent on a Proposition 2'/2 ballot question even if "contingency" language was not included in the warrant article under which the vote was taken. Any language in the vote that indicates the appropriation is subject to the approval of a Proposition 2%2 question is sufficient. Contingent appropriations may be used for appropriations for operating budgets, . capital projects and regional school assessments. Towns often approve a regional school debt issue contingent on passage of a debt exclusion, but no appropriation is being voted at that time as required by G.L. c. 59, §21C(m). While most regional school committees treat contingent debt approvals coupled with an unsuccessful election within 60 days of the date the committee authorized the debt as a disapproval for purposes of G.L. c. 71, § 16(d), bond counsel should be consulted regarding these votes. Appendix E provides examples of articles and motions that may be used for contingent appropriations for operating budgets, capital projects and regional school assessments. V. ROLE OF DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE The Division of Local,Services (DLS) in the Department of Revenue has general supervisory authority over local property tax administration and financial practices. It issues guidelines to assist local financial officials in the performance of their duties, renders legal opinions on local tax and finance issues, conducts training programs and approves revaluations and tax rates. DLS is also. responsible under Proposition 2%2 for calculating a community's levy limit and for ensuring that a community does not set a tax rate that results in a tax levy exceeding the amount allowed by the law. G.L. c. 59, & 21D. Appendix F contains additional DLS resources about Proposition 2%2 and DLS contact information (address, telephone number and website). 5D�� Appendix A PROPOSITION 2% BALLOT QUESTION FORMS The form of each type of Proposition 2%2 question is prescribed by G.L. c. 59, § 21C. To properly present a question to the voters, the following statutory language must be used: Levy Limit Override (G.L. c. 59, & 21C(a)): Shall the (city /town) of be allowed to assess an additional $ in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of (state the purpose(s) for which the monies from this assessment will be used) for the fiscal year beginning July first ? Yes No Lew Limit Underride (G.L. c. 59,4 21C(h)): Shall the (city /town) of be required to reduce the amount of real estate and personal property taxes to be assessed for the fiscal year beginning July first by an amount equal to $ ? Yes No Capital Expenditure Exclusion (G.L. c. 59, § 21C(iY2)): Shall the (city /town) of be allowed to assess an additional $ in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of (state the purpose(s) for which the monies from this assessment will be used) for the fiscal year beginning July first ? Yes No Debt Exclusion (G.L. c. 59, 4 21CM : Shall the (city /town) of be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one -half, so- called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to (state the purpose or purposes for which the monies from the local issue will be used)? 'Yes No 12 �5 Appendix B LEVY LIMIT OVERRIDE PURPOSES Voter approval of a levy limit override under G.L. c. 59, � 21C(g) increases the amount of revenue a community may raise from the property tax on a permanent basis. An override is designed to provide a community with the ability to generate sufficient revenues to fund costs that are likely to continue into the future, such as annual operating and fixed expenses, although it may be used to provide funds for any valid municipal spending purpose. All override questions require a statement of the purpose or purposes for which the additional monies will be used. The purpose used in the question must be a spending purpose. This means a purpose for which a community's appropriating body could vote to appropriate money. The spending purpose may be broad in scope, such as general or departmental operating purposes, or may be stated as a specific program or service. If the override is to fund personnel costs and other expenses normally appropriated as part of departmental operating budgets, the spending purpose may be broadly stated as in the following examples: • Funding the Town's operating budget. • Funding operating expenses and capital expenditures. • Providing for the general administrative cost of operating the schools, police department, fire department and other town departments. • Funding the operating budget of the Public Schools and the Municipal Government. • Defraying school operating expenses. • Funding the Town's Regional School District assessment. Specific positions, programs and services ordinarily funded within an appropriation for a municipal department or regional governmental unit may be the subject of an override question when the additional funds will be used to prevent the reduction or elimination of those services or to permit their commencement or expansion. For example, if two firefighter positions within the fire department operating budget were being eliminated, an override for the purpose of "funding two firefighter positions" would be acceptable. A more specific spending purpose may also be used if the override is to fund a particular purpose or program that is the subject of a separate line item or special article appropriation as in the following examples: • Defraying the costs of retirement contributions and health, life and unemployment insurance premiums. • Funding the contractual costs of trash collection and disposal. • Funding the Stabilization Fund. While local officials have flexibility iri describing the purposes of an override generally, less flexibility exists in describing the purposes of an override where it is being presented to fund one or more contingent appropriations because the spending purpose in the question must state substantially the same spending purpose(s) as the appropriation(s). Therefore, if, for example, an additional appropriation is made for the municipal school department operating budget or regional school district annual assessment contingent on an override, local officials would be limited to using "funding school operating expenses," "funding the Yourtown regional school district assessment" or similar language to describe the purpose of the override. They could not be as specific about the positions, programs or services that the school committee intends to eliminate from the budget if the override is unsuccessful as they might be if a contingent appropriation had not been used. Moreover, local officials cannot use the question to provide voters with information on the underlying events or circumstances that are causing budget difficulties or to promote or otherwise advocate for the question. For example, "preventing the layoff of 4 firefighters" would be inappropriate because it explains the impact of voter action on the question and is intended to advocate for the override. The question should simply state the personnel, services or programs the additional amounts will be used to fund, which in this case would be "funding 4 firefighter positions." Other examples of purposes in override questions that include advocacy language or would otherwise be inappropriate because they do not state spending purposes are the following: • Restoring monies lost due to local. aid reductions. • Funding uncontrollable increases in employee health insurance costs. • Preventing substantial reductions in public safety, education and other municipal services. • Maintaining an adequate level of municipal services. • Funding current positions. • Restoring school athletic programs. 5a�� Appendix C LEVY LIMIT OVERRIDE APPROACHES L SINGLE QUESTION OVERRIDE Presents voters with a single choice of additional funding for general or specific spending purposes. The following are examples of single question overrides: Example 1. General Purposes Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $2,000,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the he operating budgets of the Town and the Public Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? Example 2. General Categories Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $2,000,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding local and regional school, public safety, library, highway, parks and recreation and general government expenses for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? Example 3. Multiple Departmental Purposes with Allocation Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $2,000,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the following departmental expenses: School Department ($750,000), Police Department ($250,000), Fire Department ($250,000), Public Works Department ($250,000), Public Library ($250,000), Parks and Recreation Department ($150,000), Council on Aging ($25,000) and Financial Offices, including Assessors, Collector- Treasurer, Accountant, ($75;000) for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? Example 4. Single Departmental Budget Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $200,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the Fire Department for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? Example 5. Specific Positions/Programs /Services Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $200,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding four full -time firefighter positions for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? II. MULTIPLE QUESTION OVERRIDES Presents voters with multiple choices of additional funding for general or specific spending purposes. There are three multiple question approaches: "menu, "multi- year" and "pyramid" or "tier" overrides. A. "MENU" OVERRIDE The "menu" approach presents two or more questions each of which will fund different services or programs. Each question stands on its own merits. Therefore, if the voters approve more than one question, the community's levy limit is increased by the total of the amounts specified in all approved questions. The following is an example of a "menu" override: Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $1,000,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the Yourtown Public and Yourtown Valley Regional High Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 9 Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $250,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the Fire Department for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $250,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the Police Department for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $100,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the Public Library for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? B. MULTI -YEAR OVERRIDE The multi -year approach present two or more questions each of which applies to a different fiscal year. The amounts and purposes need not be the same. Each question stands on its own merits. Therefore, if the voters approve more than one question, the community's levy limit will be increased in the fiscal year specified in each approved question by the amount in the question. The following is an example of a "multi- year" override IA Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $1,000,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Municipal. Government and Public Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 0001? 1B Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $500,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Municipal Government and Public Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 0002? 16 5a`q C. "PYRAMID" OR "TIER" OVERRIDE The "pyramid" or "tier" approach provides voters with a choice of two or more different funding levels evels for general spending purposes or for specific services or programs. A separate question is presented for each funding level. The funding levels are presented as alternative, not independent, proposals, which means a higher funding level proposed in a question also includes all lower ones. Therefore, if the voters approve more than one question, the approved question stating the highest dollar amount prevails and the community's levy limit is increased by that amount. The following are examples of "pyramid" or "tier" overrides: Example 1. General Purpose IA Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $1,000,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Municipal Government and Public Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? 1B Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $500,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Municipal Government and Public Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? 1C Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $250,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Municipal Government and Public Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? Example 2. Multiple Purposes with Allocation IA Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $1,000,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the school ($500,000), police ($250,000 ) and fire ($250,000) departments for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1B Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $500,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the school ($250,000, ), police . ($125,000) and fire ($125,000) departments for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1C Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $250,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the school ($125,000), police ($62,500) and fire ($62,500) departments for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? Example 3. Multiple "Pyramids" IA Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $500,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Yourtown Public Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? W 1B Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $250,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Yourtown Public Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? IC Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $125,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Yourtown Public Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? 2A Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $300,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Police Department for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? 2B Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $200,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Police Department for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? 2C Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $100,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Police Department for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? Example 4. Specific Positions/Pro2rams lA Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $400,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding 8 firefighter positions for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? 1B Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $200,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding 4 firefighter positions for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? IC Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $100,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding 2 firefighter positions for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? Example 5. "Tiered" Pyramid IA Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $2,000,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Yourtown Public Schools and to fund instructional staff (8 positions), textbooks, technology support (including 1 position) and equipment for Yourtown High School and to fund instructional staff (14 positions), textbooks and technology support and equipment for the other schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? 1B Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $1,000,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Yourtown Public Schools and to fund instructional staff (8 positions), textbooks, technology support (including 1 position) and equipment for Yourtown High School for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? 18 5aa� IC Shall the Town of Yourtown be allowed to assess an additional $500,000 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of operating the Yourtown Public Schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, ? 19 Z `_0 P Cl CL 0 x CL Z Q W a LU Y/ 0 N d o ° o W _ o o o o on r- a ' p (D O � bA O a� rz P. _ C y� E Y O a� O� �° y/ a 0 fd 1 O A E O O 0 � 0 Z 0. o � N � &. � �o cd Q w �o .Y R N N ••cy .fl N N 1•. cd A Q. y U U co . 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W • 0 N Appendix E EXAMPLES CONTINGENT APPROPRIATION ARTICLES AND MOTIONS OMNIBUS BUDGET ARTICLES APPROACH 1: SINGLE MOTION FOR CONTINGENT AND NON - CONTINGENT AMOUNTS ARTICLE _: TO ACT ON THE REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE ON THE FISCAL YEAR _ BUDGET AND TO RAISE AND APPROPRIATE OR TRANSFER FROM AVAILABLE FUNDS MONEY FOR THE OPERATION OF THE TOWN'S DEPARTMENTS AND THE PAYMENT OF DEBT SERVICE AND ALL OTHER NECESSARY AND PROPER EXPENSES FOR THE YEAR, OR TAKE ANY OTHER ACTION RELATIVE THERETO. MOTION: I move that the town vote to raise -and appropriate or transfer from available funds the amounts recommended by the Finance Committee for departmental operating purposes, debt service and other town expenses in fiscal year , with each item to be considered a separate appropriation and the amounts shown in the column captioned "Contingent Appropriations" to be appropriated contingent upon passage of a Proposition 2%a ballot question under General Laws Chapter 59, § 21C. PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR BUDGET THE FINANCE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS THAT THE AMOUNTS SHOWN IN THE COLUMN CAPTIONED "NON- CONTINGENT APPROPRIATIONS" BE APPROPRIATED FROM THE TAX LEVY, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, FOR FISCAL YEAR DEPARTMENTAL OPERATING PURPOSES, DEBT SERVICE AND OTHER TOWN EXPENSES, AND THAT THE AMOUNTS SHOWN IN THE COLUMN CAPTIONED "CONTINGENT APPROPRIATIONS" BE APPROPRIATED FROM THE TAX LEVY CONTINGENT UPON THE PASSAGE OF A PROPOSITION 2' /i BALLOT QUESTION UNDER GENERAL LAWS CHAPTER 59, § 21C. NON - CONTINGENT CONTINGENT PURPOSE APPROPRIATIONS APPROPRIATIONS Selectmen's Office Salaries $ 45,000 $ 6,000 Expenses 18,000 4,000 School Department 2,800,000 300,000 Town Planner Salary 0 35,000 Expenses 0 12,000 Cemetery Commission Salaries 8,000 Expenses 10,000 . (Includes $8,000 transfer from Sale of Lots Fund) TOTAL $ 8,000,000 $ 890,000 21 bc APPROACH 2: SEPARATE MOTIONS FOR CONTINGENT AND NON - CONTINGENT AMOUNTS MOTION: I move that the town vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds the amounts . recommended by the Finance Committee for departmental operating purposes, debt service and other town expenses in fiscal year , with each item to be considered a separate appropriation. PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR BUDGET THE FINANCE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS THAT THE FOLLOWING AMOUNTS BE APPROPRIATED FROM THE TAX LEVY, UNLESS. OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, FOR FISCAL YEAR DEPARTMENTAL OPERATING PURPOSES, DEBT SERVICE AND OTHER TOWN EXPENSES: PURPOSE RECOMMENDED Selectboard's Office Salaries $ 45,000 Expenses 18,000 School Department 2,800,000 Town Planner Salary Expenses Cemetery Commission Salaries 8,000 Expenses 10,000 (Includes $8,000 transfer from Sale of Lots Fund) TOTAL $ 8,000,000 MOTION: I move that the town vote to raise and appropriate any additional amounts recommended by the Finance Committee for the departmental operating purposes and other town expenses in fiscal year , contingent upon passage of a Proposition 2%2 ballot question under General Laws Chapter 59, § 21 C. PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR CONTINGENT BUDGET THE FINANCE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS THAT THE FOLLOWING AMOUNTS BE APPROPRIATED FROM THE TAX LEVY FOR FISCAL YEAR DEPARTMENTAL OPERATING PURPOSES AND OTHER TOWN EXPENSES CONTINGENT UPON PASSAGE OF A PROPOSITION 2' /z BALLOT QUESTION UNDER GENERAL LAWS CHAPTER 59, § 21C. 5a)'5 PURPOSE RECOMMENDED Selectboard's Office Salaries $ 6,000 Expenses 4,000 School Department 300,000 Town Planner Salary 35,000 Expenses 12,000 TOTAL CONTINGENT $ 890,000 APPROPRIATIONS BALLOT QUESTIONS Under either approach, the town has the choice whether to bundle all the contingent appropriations for operating expenditures for the fiscal year into a single override question for the $890,000 in this example, or to put separate questions on the ballot for different departments or groups of departments: for instance, one question for $300,000 for school department operating expenses and another question for $590,000 for operating expenses of all other town departments. The choice of how to structure the ballot questions is within the discretion of the selectboard. If the selectboard decides to include more than one contingent appropriation in a question, the purpose of each appropriation the question is intended to fund would have to be stated in the question. OTHER APPROPRIATION ARTICLES REGIONAL SCHOOL BUDGET ARTICLE - (Levy Limit Override) ARTICLE . TO SEE IF THE TOWN WILL APPROVE THE REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR AND RAISE AND APPROPRIATE OR TRANSFER FROM AVAILABLE FUNDS $(FULL ASSESSMENT) TO PAY ITS ASSESSED SHARE OF THAT BUDGET, OR TO TAKE ANY OTHER ACTION RELATIVE THERETO. MOTION: I move that the town raise and appropriate $(non - contingent portion) to pay its assessed share of the Regional School District Budget for fiscal year and that it raise and appropriate the additional $(contingent portion) required to fully fund the assessment and thereby approve the district's budget for the year, provided that this additional appropriation be contingent on the approval of a Proposition 2' /2 levy limit override under General Laws Chapter 59, § 21C(g). 23 9�0 5 a REGIONAL SCHOOL BUDGET ARTICLE - (Capital Outlay Expenditure Exclusion) ARTICLE _: TO SEE IF THE TOWN WILL APPROVE THE REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR AND RAISE AND APPROPRIATE OR TRANSFER FROM AVAILABLE FUNDS $(FULL ASSESSMENT) TO PAY ITS ASSESSED SHARE OF THAT BUDGET, OR TO TAKE ANY OTHER ACTION RELATIVE THERETO. MOTION: I move that the town raise and appropriate $(non - contingent portion) to pay its assessed share of the Regional School District Budget for fiscal year and that it raise and appropriate the additional $(contingent portion) attributable to its share of the budget for capital spending not funded by debt so as to fully fund the assessment and thereby approve the district's budget for the year, provided that this additional appropriation be contingent on the approval of a Proposition 2% capital outlay expenditure exclusion under General Laws Chapter 59, § 21C(i %2). SEPARATE DEPARTMENTAL "CONTINGENT BUDGET" ARTICLE ARTICLE _: TO SEE IF THE TOWN WILL RAISE AND APPROPRIATE OR TRANSFER FROM AVAILABLE FUNDS A SUM TO SUPPLEMENT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT'S OPERATING BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR CONTINGENT UPON THE PASSAGE OF A PROPOSITION 2'/z BALLOT QUESTION, OR TAKE ANY OTHER ACTION RELATIVE THERETO. MOTION: I move that the town raise and appropriate an additional $ for the Fire Department's fiscal year operating budget to be allocated as follows: $ for salaries and $ for expenses, provided that such additional appropriations be contingent on the passage of a Proposition 2%2 ballot question. BORROWING ARTICLE ARTICLE _: TO SEE IF THE TOWN WILL APPROPRIATE A SUM OF MONEY BY BORROWING TO DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT A SENIOR CENTER AND TO AUTHORIZE THE TREASURER, WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE SELECTMEN, TO ISSUE ANY BONDS OR NOTES THAT MAY BE NECESSARY FOR THAT PURPOSE, AND TO APPLY THE PREMIUM RECEIVED BY THE TOWN UPON THE SALE OF ANY BONDS OR NOTES THEREUNDER, LESS ANY SUCH PREMIUM APPLIED TO THE PAYMENT OF THE COSTS OF ISSUANCE OF SUCH BOND OR NOTES, TO PAY PROJECT COSTS AND REDUCE THE AMOUNT AUTHORIZED TO BE BORROWED BY THE AMOUNT OF THE PREMIUM SO APPLIED, OR TAKE ANY OTHER ACTION RELATIVE THERETO. MOTION: I move that the town appropriate and borrow $5,000,000 for the design and construction of a . senior center and authorize the treasurer with the approval of the selectboard, to issue any bonds or notes that may be necessary for that purpose, as authorized by General Laws Chapter 44, § 7(3a), or any other general or special law, for a period not to exceed 10 years, provided, however, that this appropriation and debt authorization be contingent upon passage of a Proposition 2' /z debt exclusion question General Laws Chapter 59, § 21 C(k). Any premium received by the town from the sale of any bonds or notes authorized by this vote, less the costs of issuance of the bonds or notes paid from the premium, and any accrued interest may be applied to pay project costs in accordance with General Laws Chapter 44, Section 20 and the amount authorized to be borrowed to pay those costs shall be reduced by the same amount applied. 24 cy�p Appendix F ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND CONTACT INFORMATION Division of Local Services (DLS), MA Department of Revenue Website: www.mass. og v /dls MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 9569, Boston, MA 02114 -9569 MAIN LOCATION: 100 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114 MAIN TELEPHONE: (617) 626 -2300 MAIN FAX: (617) 626 -2330 DLS publications and Proposition 21 /z data are published on the DLS website. For our on -line tutorial and additional information on Proposition 2%, please visit the Publications and Training Center on the DLS website. For questions about Proposition 21/2 election or other data: • Contact the Municipal Data Bank staff at databankgdor.state.ma.us or (617) 626-2384. For questions about a community's levy limit calculation: • Local officials should contact the Bureau of Accounts Representative assigned to their community. • Others must contact the DLS Director of Policy and Administration at (617) 626 -2377. For questions about Proposition 2%2 ballot questions, or municipal tax or finance law generally: • Local officials may contact the DLS legal staff at (617) 626 -2400. • Others must contact the DLS Director of Policy and Administration at (617) 626 -2377. oF �,. Town of Reading ;4 Meeting Minutes 639 ^INCOA4O� Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Selectmen Date: 2017 -11 -07 Building: Reading Town Hall Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: Time: 7:00 PM Location: Selectmen Meeting Room Session: Version: Chair John Arena, Barry Berman, Dan Ensminger, John Halsey, Andrew Friedmann Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Town Assesor Victor Santaniello, Town Engineer Ryan Percival, Civil' Engineer Chris Cole, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, DPW Director Jeff Zager, Assistant DPW Director Jane Kinsella, Barbara Melanson, Nancy Docktor, Mike Doyon, Dan Dewar, Erin Calvo- Bacci, Mark Dockser, Stephen Crook, Angela Binda Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Chair John Arena called the meeting to order. Selectmen Liaison Reports Mr. Halsey noted the Birch Meadow Committee is becoming active again and he would like them to come in and update us on how they're going forward. He also wanted to wish the very best to Gary Nihan who had to resign from the School Committee due to health reasons. He thanked him for his service to the town as a teacher, coach, committee member, and volunteer. Mr. Ensminger wanted to compliment the Reading Light Department and noted we had minimal outages during the storm last week when others weren't so fortunate. Mr. Friedmann noted the Climate Advisory Committee had an informational meeting on their plastic bag bylaw. He also wanted to know if we can discuss with HRAC the swastika found at the middle school. Mr. Berman informed everyone there is a new bookstore in town that just opened and everyone should go check it out. He noted he was a part of a wayfinding discussion with staff. We recently received a grant, thanks to Julie Mercier, to create informational and directional signs as a gateway to downtown. Last night the CPDC meeting approved the Gould Street project under 40R and it will consist of 55 apartments. He wanted to compliment the Green Street neighbors and developer on the process. Mr. Arena attended the school committee meetings as well as the CPDC meeting Mr. Berman just spoke about. He noted November 14th will be open to public and will be held at Page 1 1 the high school at 7:30 and they will go over the survey results. The comments on the survey will be distributed after the meeting as it is impossible to go through all of them at one time. Mr. Berman explained that HRAC is down a lot of members and they are struggling to find out what their role is. We don't seem to have an effective HRAC that works with us and they don't know where the stand. We need to understand what their relationship is going to be and how to work together. Mr. Arena made a motion to extend HRAC to June 30, 2019. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Public Comment Bill Brown noted the Cemetery Trustees have been going through their regulations. He also noted the cemetery building was taken off the capital plan and no one notified the trustees of that; they are severely disappointed. Nancy Docktor stood up and asked for some clarification on comments made at the October 24th meeting about volunteers. She noted it was stated that the board would rather see generalists not specialists for volunteer boards. Mr. Arena noted that was not his statement; he stated being a specialist is not a requirement for a board. Ms. Docktor then asked if they have interviewed the candidate for the board of health yet to which Mr. LeLacheur noted they have not posted all the vacancies yet therefore they cannot vote until 15 days after it is posted. Mr. Berman clarified they were not implying they would randomly put volunteers on the boards they see fit. Erin Calvo -Bacci wanted to comment a facebook post one of the selectmen made regarding investment in downtown. Mr. Berman answered her question noting it was his post and explained his post was meant to read that they have been working hard to invest in the downtown area to make it thrive. Phil Rushworth from RCTV wanted to remind everyone that Reading 365 fundraiser is holding a trivia night on November 17th at 7:00 PM. Michael Doyon commented he is here to represent Doyon's and the Chamber of Commerce against a split tax rate. Town Manager's Report Mr. LeLacheur wanted to echo John Halsey's comments regarding Mr. Nihan. He noted he recently saw him at an RCASA meeting and the substance abuse in this town is a real problem. He noted he received a phone call from Rabi from Wakefield and he introduced him to some members of the community. The Rabi felt Reading was doing great dealing with the swastika incidents. Mr. Friedmann asked if RCASA can come in and give a report soon and Mr. LeLacheur noted they will around the end of the year. Post Mark Square Condos Update Tom Connory was present to give the board a little presentation update. Page 1 2 I I This is the former post office. They are going to preserve the current fagade in the front of the building. They have worked with the Massachusetts Historic Commission and the local Reading Historic Commission. There will be 50 parking spaces at garage level. They plan to have commercial space at the sidewalk /street level. The presentation showed a bunch of renditions of what the building will look like at different viewpoints. He noted the town has been very helpful during this process. Hearing - Tax Classification Town Assessor Victor Santaniello was present for the hearing. Mr. Arena read the hearing notice. Mr. Santaniello went through and gave an over of the process and what the board needs to accomplish tonight. He noted we have no property in Reading that fits the open space' definition. The board discussed small commercial exemption. Not many properties would qualify because there are a lot of qualifications that most of the properties do not fit. It would not benefit anyone. Mr. Halsey felt we need to reopen and discuss senior tax relief again before they vote on classification. Mr. Santaniello gave a handout of other senior tax relief options that the board can take. He said they should be mindful though that if we give them 200% relief, that counts as income so then that may disqualify them next year because their income is too high. Mr. Halsey noted that could happen at a 100% match as well if people are right on the line. Mr. Arena explained we won't know the consequences; we can only inform them that this may happen if they are on the cusp in the income bracket. Mr. Halsey noted 200% is essentially a .03 cent shift rate which would be $47 a year on the average tax bill Mr. Berman explained he thinks we voted on the conservative side last time because we don't know how many people will apply next year. We don't want to give 200% this year and then have to take some away next year because too many people applied and it would cost too much money. Mr. Ensminger noted this could really help people age in place and giving 200% is not that much of an increase from the 100% match. Mr. Halsey also reminded the group we are potentially looking at an override and these people qualifying for the senior relief won't be able to stay. He also noted he does not think people will be mad if we give them 200% this year when we can and only 100% next year; it is still helping them out both years. Mr. Berman noted in the grand scheme of things we did a great thing granting senior tax relief but there are struggling families too who then have to pay for this. Mr. LeLacheur noted they really have to be careful of the consequences of knocking someone off from qualifying next year. Mr. Halsey moved that the Board reconsider their vote on senior tax relief multiplier. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and approved with a 4 -1 -0 vote. Vanessa Alvarado asked as presented to Town Meeting, how do you plan on implementing. Page 1 3 � a3 Angela Binda expressed that it was discussed as being capped at 1% of the levy or 600K and you would start small and work your way up to the cap, not start at the cap right away. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to grant senior tax relief at 200 %. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey. Mr. Friedmann moved to amend the motion and grant senior tax relief at 150 %. That motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and failed with a vote of 2 -2 -1 with Mr. Arena abstaining. The Board voted on the original motion of 200% relief, the vote passed with a 3 -2- 0 vote. The board then discussed the CIP shift rate to cover the senior tax relief. Mr. Friedmann explained he would be ok with a 75/25 split between commercial and residential. Mr. Ensminger and Mr. Berman agreed. Mr. Halsey felt they should level the tax rate. Mike Doyon agreed with Mr. Halsey noting this is to help the seniors age in place and most of our businesses in town are small. Nancy Docktor explained she doesn't want to support anything increases the burden to small businesses. Town Meeting voted this on being a residential shift only. Mr. Berman noted they are arguing over a nickel on the tax rate. The town cannot be residential vs. businesses. We are nothing without each other and we need to be a 'one Reading'. Michael stood up and noted he moved his business here because there is no split tax rate and if he wanted to pay high commercial tax rates he would have stayed where he was. If you want 'one Reading', don't divide us by splitting the rate. Angela Binda read the motion from Town Meeting and noted instructional motions are just a suggestion but please consider it. Mark Dockser explained we are looking at how this town is going to be run in the future. Seniors aren't the only ones struggling. He noted he is in favor of splitting the tax rate here and even further. He explained we need to find a way to all share these costs that will make the majority happy. Erin Calvo - Bacci noted businesses always continue to pick up the deficits; you choose to make Reading a small business place; don't punish us for it now. Mr. Friedmann noted he doesn't think splitting the tax rate slightly will create empty store fronts. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen close the hearing establishing the FY2018 tax rate. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen not grant an open space discount for Fiscal Year 2018. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen not adopt a residential exemption for Fiscal Year 2018. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Page 14 Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen adopt a residential factor of 99.9268 for Fiscal Year 2018. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman. Mr. Halsey moved to amend the motion and adopt a residential factor of 99.9552 for Fiscal Year 2018. That motion was seconded by Mr. Ensminger and failed with a 2 -3 -0 vote. The board voted on the original motion to adopt a residential factor of 99.9268 for Fiscal Year 2018. The motion passed with a 4 -1 -0 vote. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen not grant a commercial exemption for Fiscal Year 2018. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. DPW Updates DPW Director Jeff Zager, Assistant DPW Director Jane Kinsella, Town Engineer Ryan Percival, Civil Engineer Chris Cole, Water & Sewer Supervisor Peter Isbell, Water & Sewer Coordinator Erik Mysliwy were all present to update the board on the Department of Public Works. The firs topic of discussion was the Pavement management program. Reading has 93 miles. of road. Since 2008, 35 miles have been redone. The department gets a lot of complaints about south Main Street and they would like to make it clear that they cannot touch that road because it belongs to the State. They then showed the projected budget scenarios through 2026 for the program. The program includes roads only and not sidewalks. The group then discussed fees. They included a spreadsheet with all their services and the current fees (if any) for that they charge. There are a lot of things the department doesn't charge for that they could, that other towns charge for. They can do a fee study of our peer communities and come up with like fees for services they don't charge for now. Minutes Mr. Ensminger made a motion to approve the minutes of October 10th, 2017 as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to adjourn at 11:30 PM, second by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Page 1 5 �G5, ,. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes G39. INCOttQ��P Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Selectmen Date: 2017 -11 -14 Time: 7:30 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: RMHS Schettini Library Address: 62 Oakland Road Session: Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Chair John Arena, Barry Berman, Dan Ensminger, John Halsey, Andrew Friedmann Members Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom, Administrative Services Department Head Matt Kraunelis, Business Administrator Jayne Miller, DPW Director Jeff Zager, Assistant DPW Director Jane Kinsella, Assistant Facilities Director Kevin Cabuzzi, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Finance Committee, Library Trustees, School Committee Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Chair John Arena called the meeting to order just after 7:30 PM. The School Committee called to order. The Finance Committee called to order. The Library Trustees were already in session. Mr. Arena noted the School Committee vacancy has been posted and we will be accepting applications until December 11tH The board will then meet with the School Committee on December 18th at their meeting at 7 PM to jointly discuss and vote on a member to fill the vacancy. Open Meeting Law Complaint Mr. Arena noted The Board of Selectmen will now discuss the next agenda item: the Open Meeting Law Complaint filed by Emily Maughan. Ms. Maughan filed the Complaint on November 9 after the Board had already posted its agenda for this meeting. On Friday at 2:34pm, the Board posted a revised agenda that included discussion of the Complaint. It is worth noting that, while many private businesses in the Commonwealth observed Veteran's Day on Friday, the legal holiday was Saturday. Thus, the Board timely posted this agenda item more than 48 hours prior to the meeting. Even if Friday were a legal holiday, the Board can still properly discuss the Complaint this evening: Page 1 1 First, I did not learn of the Complaint until Friday, and therefore could not have reasonably anticipated the matter before then. Second, upon learning of the Complaint, I asked for the agenda to be updated immediately to reflect the new topic. • Third, discussion of the Complaint is time sensitive. The Board must respond to the Complaint within ,14 business days. If the Board waited until its next meeting to review the Complaint, it would only have a few days before a response would be due. In my view, therefore, the Board should discuss this topic now to ensure that it has enough time to respond properly. The Complaint alleges that a quorum of the Board improperly deliberated outside a posted meeting during the Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday October 11, where the Town's FY 19 budget was being discussed. It is the Town's policy that when a quorum of a public body anticipates attending another public body's meeting, the visiting body will post notice in case a quorum deliberates. Since it was possible that a quorum of the Board would attend the Finance Committee's meeting, Town staff was directed to post notice of the meeting per this policy, however it was not the intent of the Board to deliberate during the October 11 meeting. As Monday was Columbus Day, Town staff posted the notice on Tuesday morning, less than 48 hours prior to the meeting. The Open Meeting Law specifically permits a quorum of a public body to attend a meeting of another public body without posting notice, so long as the visiting members communicate only by open participation and do not deliberate. For that specific reason, I made a statement at the beginning of the meeting that while the Board had a quorum, the Board had not posted notice of its meeting and would not be deliberating. The members of the Board therefore sat apart from each other during the meeting. In addition, the Finance Committee did not provide the Selectmen with any special opportunity to address them and we were allowed to participate only at the discretion of the Committee Chair. Furthermore, when Barry and I spoke, we did not respond to or comment upon each other's prior comments. We also did not vote or make any decisions regarding the Town budget during the meeting. Nonetheless, the Board recognizes that statements made during the meeting may have crossed the line into deliberation such that a proper posting would have been required. The Board apologizes for any violation that my have occurred. The Board has made and continues to make a strong commitment to transparency and to compliance with the Open Meeting Law. We again pledge to ensure that all meetings of the Board are posted more than 48 hours prior to a meeting and that Board members will refrain from any improper deliberation when attending a meeting which is not posted. In order to provide additional transparency, the Board will create minutes for the October 11 meeting. For those interested, the meeting was also recorded and may be watched online. Please email Bob for the link to the meeting. The Board is required to respond,to the Complaint within 14 business days. I would request a motion from the Board to vote to authorize Town Counsel's office to timely respond to the Complaint. The motion was made by Mr. Ensminger, second by Mr. Berman, to authorize Town Counsel to respond to this complaint. Discussion on the motion: Mr. Ensminger noted he personally felt there was no deliberation that happened that meeting. Page 1 2 �Oa Mr. Berman noted that he felt as if his comment he made that night may have been taken as `deliberating' and he apologizes for that. Mr. Friedmann expressed he would have liked to have known about this before tonight to have time to look over it. The motion passed with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Board of Selectmen Survey Results Mr. Arena first wanted to start off by thanking Mr. Berman for putting a lot of hard work into this survey. They then discussed if they wish to release the comments after tonight as well. The board felt best to hold back the comments until after Thanksgiving and give people time to digest the questioned results first. Mr. Halsey wanted to point out that even though three of the Selectmen have already viewed the results, it should be known that they were not viewed together at the same time. Mr. Arena noted he is going to let Business Administrator Jayne Miller go through the entire presentation and then open it up for comments. Ms. Miller presented the results by question and by how they answered the first question. Ms. Miller noted that the "NO" voters were vastly underrepresented in the survey results but Mr. Friedmann did not agree saying he thought the results captured a little bit of everyone in each group. It was also mentioned during the survey that people left comments on a lot of questions indicating they may have voted a different way than indicated in the question. Ms. Miller noted as though that was the case sometimes, it was a very miniscule number and would not change any of the overall results. Mr. Berman explained the survey results to him made it seem like people have not fully made up their minds about another override. It seems we asked for too much last time and didn't clarify where the money would go enough for people to vote for it. Mr. Berman also mentioned the question that asked where do you get your information from ?'; the top answer for that question was social media and Mr. Berman explained the Selectmen need to get out and talk more. Mr. Halsey noted we need to say exactly what is going to be done with the money if we ask for another override. He also noted that there are people in town willing to pay more if it is valuable to them. Mr. Ensminger noted Public Safety really needs help and that is an important area we can't let slip. There is no telling how long they are going to be able to keep up at this rate. Elaine Webb on the School Committee asked if any surveys were discarded for any reason and Ms. Miller answered no. Ms. Webb then explained she is concerned about drawing too many conclusions based on the data of only the people who responded to this survey. Linda Snow Dockser explained we need to be careful not to jump to conclusions. She also wanted to mention and see the correlation between the `trust gap' and where those people are getting their information (i.e. social media). A resident was concerned about the people who answered the question about voting for a specific dollar amount for another override without having any background information. He Page 1 3 0 felt that people should need and want information about why we need the money and where the money will go before they can think about how much money they are willing to pay. Mark Dockser from the Finance Committee asked if we can correlate the ages of the responders and the services they answered they used. There tends to be a sense of division but we all need to be on the same page with the same information and goals. Mr. Berman noted it seems the people who just moved here tend to be the 'YES' voters and the people who have been in town for a long time seem to be the'NO' voters. What we need is everyone best interest to be ONE Reading. Erik Burkhart of the Finance Committee explained he thinks the turnout we got for this survey was a great number. He also noted that the fact that most people answered they get their information from social media did not surprise him, that's where we are in today's world. It is easier to talk to your neighbors than to talk to Town Officials. Jeffrey commented that the results from question #5 were discouraging to him. He doesn't think Town Officials need to 'convince' the residents an override is needed. If people followed along to the meetings and did their research they would understand what is going on. The Selectmen have a hard job already without having to personally go out and convince people to vote yes. He also noted that he believes the group that was most underrepresented in this survey are the people who did not vote at all. Mr. Arena noted he felt last year they did as much as they could to inform residents about the financial situation of the town but these results make it seem like we were way off. Amy Cole suggested putting a flyer in everyone's tax bills or do a mass email blast to all the emails we have on file Vanessa Alvarado of the Finance Committee asked if the town employees will be able to speak publically about how a failed override would affect their departments. Mr. LeLacheur noted employees are always allowed to speak their minds. He would just air on the side of caution about Public Safety employees. A resident asked how we get people on board this ONE Reading and close the so- called 'trust gap' that this survey seems to point out. Another resident wanted to point out that we need to take into consideration that most of the people who answered this survey feel very strongly one way or another; we need to reach those people who are on the fence and probably didn't take this survey. Jeff explained that he thinks people don't realize how much they use public safety just because they aren't calling 911. It is still important and people use it more than they think. Mr. LeLacheur explained that everyone in this room is the choir and your voices will help communicate with everyone not in this room right now. Mr. Arena noted it is important that we all communicate the same set of facts. Mr. Friedmann mentioned the 'YES for Reading' group who will be a key resource for us to help with communication. Mr. LeLacheur reminded everyone of the upcoming budget meetings. Erin Gaffen noted the Selectmen talked about adding a meeting on January 30th, but she doesn't see it on the schedule. Mr. Arena noted it may not be needed but we can plug it in just in case. Page 1 4 �P George Kachen suggested having different options at the budget meetings that show what the different impacts would be depending on what number was voted on. Linda Phillips explained that no one has mentioned anything about capital projects in the pipeline. Those may affect people's decision on how much to vote for an override if they knew what was coming. Linda Snow Dockser wanted to thank RCTV for making this meeting and all meetings public for people who can't make it. Proclamation Mr. Halsey made a motion to do a proclamation in Eloise "Lovey" Shannon's name and declare October 18th in her honor for her 104th birthday. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Mr. Ensminger made a motion to adjourn at 9:36 PM, second by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Page 1 5 b� o�N aF Ri ,. c Town of Reading . -e Meeting Minutes Js'9aiHt 4go�a Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Selectmen Date: 2017 -11 -28 Building: Reading Town Hall Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: Time: 7:00 PM Location: Selectmen Meeting Room Session: Version: John Arena, Barry Berman, Dan Ensminger, John Halsey, Andrew Friedmann Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Asstant Town Manager Jean Delios, Recreation Director Jenna Fiorente, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Matthew Holmen, Daniel Foley, Barbara Melanson, Tony D'Arezzo, David and Cheryl Cannon, Michael Flynn, Ken and Gail Toomajian, AJ Jerrett, Joe Guy Fodera, Jeanne Snodgrass Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: John Arena called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Selectmen Liaison Reports Mr. Arena started out by saying the tree lighting this past weekend was amazing. A lot of people attended. He also mentioned him and Mr. Berman won trivia night at the Reading 365 fundraiser! He noted tomorrow night there is a RED meeting. Mr. Friedmann also echoed Mr. Arena's comments about the RED meeting tomorrow night and asked people to please attend. Mr. Berman noted trivia night was a great event and very well attended. He thanked the Chamber for holding another wonderful tree lighting. He also mentioned there is a group in town called Reading POWR and they are a welcoming committee to refugees and helping them get settled. Mr. Ensminger attended Thanksgiving dinner with our Legislators up at Hillview Country Club noting it was a great time. The board of health met earlier today voting to release all their executive session minutes. Mr. Halsey noted longtime resident Eloise "lovey" Shannon had her 104th birthday this past weekend! He also attended the Thanksgiving Dinner with Mr. Ensminger. As far as recreation goes, the Birch Meadow Master plan is hoping to give a presentation early next year. The band stand has surpassed its time and they are trying to figure out what to do with that. Page I 1 �6 Public Comment Linda Phillips stood up to announce a new program coming to RCTV titled "Hello Reading ". They interviewed all our Selectmen and Town Manager and will be airing the segments for the public. Mr. Berman thanked Linda and said it was fun. Mr. Arena thanked Linda for all her hard work noting it's a great program. Town Manager Comments Mr. LeLacheur noted the complete list of all our vacancies on our boards is done so the VASC can meet in January to hopefully fill some spots. The Selectmen survey comments are ready to go and be released to the public. He then asked the group if they wanted to do a cover letter or anything to go along with all the comments. Mr. Berman felt that was a good idea and volunteered to create it. Mr. LeLacheur noted the parking sticker press release went out to the public. Mr. Friedmann explained he has gotten some feedback about not having a discount for a second vehicle. He then asked if the board would be willing to reconsider maybe doing $75 for the second vehicle. Mr. Ensminger felt people would be misusing the second sticker and Mr. Halsey agreed it would be hard to regulate that. Lastly, Mr. LeLacheur noted the winter parking rules are now in effect and there is no overnight parking on the streets. Accept Gift for Elder Services Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios explained the Fulchino family trust made a generous gift of $10,000 for Elder Services. The department has done a needs assessment on the Pleasant Street Center to see where the money can be best spent. Mr. Ensminger moved that the funds received by the Town pursuant to the terms of the Fulchino Family Trust, to be accepted on behalf of the Elder Services division by .lean Delios, be expended for capital improvements to the Pleasant Street Center, and that the Board authorize Jean Delios to execute, on behalf of the Board, a release discharging the trustee of the Fulchino Family Trust from all the debts which the Town may hold on account of the Trust. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Birch Meadow Batting Cages Mark from Reading Little league was present to give the board a little presentation and update on what they hope to accomplish. They would like to add a second batting cage next to the current one. They would like replace the current one while doing this and rededicate the new one. They will preserve the current dedication to the current cage as it is but then dedicate the new one as well. The project is completely funded by Reading Little League donations. It was noted the current cage gets a lot of use all the time and the need for a second one is there. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen approve, with gratitude, the Little League batting cage proposal as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Halsey and approved with .a 5 -0 -0 vote. Eaton Lakeview Housing Project Update Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios started off by explaining what a 40B project is. A developer can bypass all local zoning bylaws because we are not at our 10% affordable housing. We do have a housing production plan in place. Reading is now in `safe harbor' from 2/2017 until 2/2019 because we did put in a certain amount of affordable units they give us a break'. Now that we are in this safe harbor ZBA can deny applications. The deal with the Lakeview project is if we deny them right now, all they have to do is wait until 2019 and then they can apply again and not follow any zoning. However, if we allow them to continue right now, we can work with them and try to get the best project for the town. Page 1 2 Mike Flynn of Green Street asked if there is a possibility to extend the safe harbor past 2019. Ms. Delios answered no because the census recalculates in 2020 and our numbers will change bringing us back down below where we need to be. Diana of Smith Ave noted she is shocked the State gave the green light on this because of all the wetlands. Ms. Delios noted she can view the State's approval letter on our website. John Weston of CPDC felt the leverage doesn't change either way. The benefit of working with them now COULD yield some negotiations but they still do not have to listen tows. Susan Craven noted it feels like we don't have a choice. Tony of Appleton Lane asked if the town has targeted other parcels of land to put these projects on. Tony D'Arezzo asked if someone could differentiate the difference between affordable housing and section 8. Nick from Beech Street asked if the developer doesn't have to follow local bylaws do they still have to adhere to safety regulations and Ms. Delios noted yes they cannot put up a building that doesn't meet fire codes. Ted Regnante, the Attorney for the Lakeview project explained that they want to work with the town on this project to make it happen. The abutters are concerned with the four story height of the building. The developer is willing to bring the entire street up to code to become a public way. They have had meetings regarding wetlands and have their setbacks and regulations they will adhere to. They want to do three buildings with 120 units. One building would be on Eaton Street and the other two on Lakeview. There will also be 181 parking spaces and they are currently working on a traffic analysis. Mr. Berman asked if they would be willing to make the community hall in the building open to people other than residents and also if they've ever considered making the building a mixed use. Cheryl Cannon from Beech Street asked why the project has to be a 40B if you are willing to work with the town and it is noted the area is not zoned right unless they do a 40B. Andrew from Eaton Street noted the Killam Elementary school is busting at the seams already and this project will yield more school kids for that school. He also noted traffic is already a nightmare in the area and this will make it exponentially worse. Penny from Eaton Street asked to make sure Eaton Street and Salem Street are a part of their traffic study. Sandra Larkin noted Salem and Eaton are both cut through streets and the traffic is already horrible there. Nick from Beech Street noted his concern for the impact this would have on the schools. John from Lakeview Ave noted there is already parking problems on that street. Melissa Senate asked to make sure they do their traffic study during little league season because the cars on Eaton street during that time almost make it impossible to go down that street. Roberta Moore from Elm Street expressed her sewer concerns in the area and flooding issues. Page 1 3 �c3 Dan from Beech Street explained this area is already saturated enough and they need to find a different location for this project. Hearing - Approve BOS Policies, Article 3 - Licenses Town Counsel Ivria Fried was present for the hearing. Mr. Lel-acheur noted they are trying to simplify and make things easier for the licenses. Ms. Fried noted the major change in section 3.1 is basically giving the Town Manager permission to issue a lot of these licenses instead of delegating annually. In section 3.7 the entertainment licenses, Ms. Fried asked the board how deep they want to regulate this. Some communities regulate every TV in every establishment, and some communities don't regulate TVs at all. Mr. Halsey felt we are overregulating with the entertainment licenses and he feels what we do now is working fine. Mr. Friedmann agreed noting going any further seems unnecessary. Mr. Arena felt we should have more guidelines when it comes to entertainment licenses rather than an actual policy. Ms. Fried suggested combining section 3.7 and 3.8 if they want to simplify. She also asked who they prefer to issue to licenses when it comes to section 3.11, A frame signs. Right now the Town Planner does it and the board agreed that it should continue that way. Nick Bonnano asked about a permit for serving liquor outdoors. He then presented a handout he created about the differences in liquor licenses between clubs and restaurants. He noted location is not taken into consideration and there should be language for a place that's located in a residential neighborhood. He explained the club licenses are much more relaxed than restaurants and he would like to know why. He feels there is no need for clubs to be able to serve liquor from 8 am - 2 am and not have to serve food like restaurants do. The board noted these are things they can look into it and agreed to continue the hearing. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen continue the hearing on amending the Board of Selectmen Policies, Article 3 until January 9th, 2018 at 8 PM. The motion was seconded by Mr. Friedmann and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Approve Annual Liquor Licenses Mr. Ensminger, second by Mr. Berman moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the All Alcoholic Club Liquor Licenses for: • Reading Overseas Veterans, Inc. d /b /a Reading Overseas Veterans, 575 Main Street • Meadow Brook Golf Corp. of Reading, MA d /b /a Meadow Brook Golf Club, 292 Grove Street • Home Building Corp. d /b /a Knights of Columbus, 11 Sanborn Street • Reading Veterans' Association, Inc. d /b /a American Legion Post 62, 37 Ash Street for a term expiring December 31, 2018 subject to the following conditions: All Bylaws, Rules and Regulations of the Town of Reading and of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall be followed, and subject to a Page 1 4 �0 C satisfactory inspection of the establishment by the Town Manager or his designee. The motion carried with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Mr. Ensminger, second by Mr. Berman moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the All Alcoholic Package Store Liquor Licenses for: • HT Reading Liquors LLC d /b /a Baystate Liquors, 345 Main Street • Raksha, Inc. d /b /a Square Liquors, 13 High Street • Jay and Ricky, Inc. d /b /a Ricky's Liquor, 214 Main Street • Anstasi Brookline Inc. d /b /a Reading Fine Wine and Spirits, 25 Walkers Brook Drive • Kajal and Kevin LLC d /b /a Liquor Junction, One General Way • Pamplemousse Inc. d /b /a Pamplemousse, 26 Haven Street for a term expiring December 31, 2018 subject to the following conditions: All Bylaws, Rules and Regulations of the Town of Reading and of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall be followed, and subject to a satisfactory inspection of the establishment by the Town Manager or his designee. The motion carried with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Mr. Ensminger, second by Mr. Berman moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the All Alcoholic Restaurant Liquor Licenses for: • Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza of Reading LLC d /b /a Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza, 48 Walkers Brook Drive • Mandarin Reading, Inc. d /b /a Mandarin Reading Restaurant, 296 Salem Street • Mecom, Inc. d /b /a Caf6 Capri, 355 Main Street • CAC Foods, Inc. d /b /a Venetian Moon Restaurant, 680 Main Street • Pepper Dining Inc. d /b /a Chili's Grill & Bar, 70 Walkers Brook Drive • The Boland Group III, LLC d /b /a Fuddruckers, 50 Walkers Brook Drive • Bertucci's Restaurant Corp. d /b /a Bertucci's Italian Restaurant, 45 Walkers Brook Drive • RARE Hospitality International, Inc. d /b /a Longhorn Steak House, 39 Walkers Brook Drive • Ristorante Pavarotti, Inc. d /b /a Ristorante Pavarotti, 601 Main Street • Unagi Servers Inc. d /b /a Biltmore & Main Bar and Grill, 530 Main Street • KOK, Inc. d /b /a Oye's, 26 Walkers Brook Drive • Bistro Concepts, Inc. d /b /a Fuscilli's Cucina, 107 Main Street • Chipotle Mexican Grill of Colorado d /b /a Chipotle Mexican Grill, 46 Walkers Brook Drive • RKR Corporation d /b /a Bunratty Tavern, 620 Main Street for a term expiring December 31, 2018 subject to the following conditions: All Bylaws, Rules and Regulations of the Town of Reading and of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall be followed, and subject to a / /' �,J Page 1 5 co V satisfactory inspection of the establishment by the Town Manager or his designee. The motion carried with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Mr. Ensminger, second by Mr. Berman moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the Wine and Malt Restaurant Liquor License for: • Palatat Pattenesuan d /b /a Bangkok Spice Thai Restaurant, 76 Haven Street for a term expiring December 31, 2018 subject to the following conditions: All Bylaws, Rules and Regulations of the Town of Reading and of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall be followed, and subject to a satisfactory inspection of the establishment by the Town Manager or his designee. The motion carried with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Mr. Ensminger, second by Mr. Berman moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the General on Premise Wine and Malt Liquor License for: • The Art Lounge LLC d /b /a The Art Lounge on Haven, 78 Haven Street for a term expiring December 31, 2018 subject to the following conditions: All Bylaws, Rules and Regulations of the Town of Reading and of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall be followed, and subject to a satisfactory inspection of the establishment by the Town Manager or his designee. The motion carried with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Discuss Open Meeting Law Complaint Letter The board reviewed the response letter that was crafted to respond to the original complaint. Mr. Friedmann noted the letter says they did not deliberate but he felt they did by two of them giving their opinions. Mr. Lel-acheur noted that is not the same as deliberating, none of you spoke to each other. Mr. Berman explained ultimately the Attorney General will make the decision if we violated the open meeting law or not. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the response letter as written. Mr. Halsey seconded the motion and Mr. Ensminger called for a roll call vote. The votes were as follows: Halsey - Yes Ensminger - Yes Berman - Yes Arena - Yes Friedmann - No Page 1 6 (-, Minutes Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen approve the Minutes of October 24th, 2017 as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen adjourn at 11:23 PM. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with 5 -0 -0 vote. Page 1 7 CI NOF? O r ,. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes NCO �^ o Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Selectmen Date: 2017 -12 -20 Building: Reading Public Library Address: 64 Middlesex Avenue Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: Time: 7:00 PM Location: Conference Room Session: Version: John Arena, Barry Berman, Dan Ensminger, John Halsey, Andrew Friedmann Members - Not Present: Others Present: Town Manager Bob LeLacheur, Town Accountant Sharon Angstrom, Administrative Services Director Matt Kraunelis, Assistant Town Manager Jean Delios, Facilities Director Joe Huggins, Deputy Police Chief David Clark, Fire Chief Burns, Executive Assistant Caitlin Saunders, Finance Committee members Peter Lydecker, Mark Dockser, Vanessa Alvarado, Paula Perry and Erik Burkhart, Erin Gaffen, Linda Phillips, Todd Merkle, George Kachen, Denise McCarthy, Michele Sanphy !Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: Chair John Arena called the meeting to order. FY19 Budget Review Department of Public Works DPW Director Jeff Zager and Town Engineer Ryan Percival were present. The DPW budget is up 5.7 % and includes the addition of one full time clerk for the office. Peter Lydecker called the Finance Committee to order at 7:05 PM. Engineering salaries are up 11.9% with the addition of an aide position. Highway division salaries are up 5.2% with the addition of a long term seasonal worker. Storm water had a decrease in salaries 11.9% because of turnover. Cemetery salaries are up 10.3% and expenses are up 12.9 %. Parks and forestry salaries are up 5.9% and expenses are up 9.8 %. Snow and ice costs are up 4 % while street lighting costs have been reduced 11.1 %. Our recycling costs are up 3% due to our contract increase. The department has a number of capital projects proposed for 2018. Some of those projects include Joshua Eaton site renovation, Sturges park bank stabilization, Main Street and Mill Street water main cleaning and lining, Charles Street sewer pump station replacement, Auburn Street water tank replacement, Emerald Drive water booster station replacement, MWRA Phase 9 and 10 Sewer I /I, pavement marking and road resurfacing. Page 1 1 �0 �\ The group then discussed See, Click, Fix. This is the department that uses this app the most however it still can be used more widely and should be advertised more. Complete Budget Summary Mr. LeLacheur gave his overview and how he plans to proceed. His Town Manager principles include recognizing risk and strong labor markets. The FY20 budget by necessity will back away from some optional' services. Mr. LeLacheur showed a chart that held all the FTE's. He noted the total amount of cuts that are needed are $1,495,524. The final Town Manager budget will be released early January 2018. January 9t" will review the budget in public with the prioritized list of `add backs'. He then showed the calendar of upcoming meetings regarding the budget. Mr. Berman wanted to note the process in which the departments and budgets were presented this year gave him a better understanding of what we do and who does them. He noted his deeper appreciation for people who work for the town. Mr. Arena noted the tone of the comments in the survey about communication implied we needed to do better and hopefully this process did that. Mr. Halsey noted the timing the way it was done this year was far superior than in the past. Mr. Friedmann felt it was extremely helpful to get the departments full asking list and he thought it is a good idea to have the add back list but maybe also have a list of what the community won't get depending on the number. Mr. Ensminger mentioned the sustainability costs for the future of overtime and how many years will it last. George Kachen suggested the board really talk about the risk of not doing the `add ons'. Mark Dockser suggested doing a `zero base' budget and felt it is important to remember a lot of these things the departments are asking for are things that were previously cut in years prior. Mr. Ensminger noted they have to be tax payer focused going forward on how we discuss this. Reading Fire Department/ Wyson Trucking Settlement Chief Burns briefly explained a tanker rolled over and the department responded to the incident costing us money. We are entitled to collect from costs and this is the settlement agreement. Mr. Ensminger moved that the Board of Selectmen accept the settlement and release form for the Wyson Trucking Settlement as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Mr. Friedmann made a motion to adjourn at 9:23 PM. The motion was seconded by Mr. Berman and approved with a 5 -0 -0 vote. Page 1 2 Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 10:10 PM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: Fwd: Town Meeting on January 31 BOS packet Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Jennifer Hardin <hardinfamily I kverizon.net> Date: January 24, 2018 at 8:31:12 PM EST To: <selectmenkci.reading ma.us> Subject: Town Meeting on January 31 To the Reading Selectmen, We are writing to ask that public comments be allowed before the meeting on January 30th, and that the schools get the full amount voted on. Thank you. Sincerely, Scott and Jennifer Hardin 55 Walnut Street L� ct Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 10:13 PM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: Fwd: [Reading MA] Please save middle and elementary schoolteachers (Sent by Rebecca Liberman, rfliberman @verizon.net) BOS packet Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Contact form at Reading MA <vtsdmailerkvt- s.net> Date: January 24, 2018 at 10:01:38 PM EST To: <selectmengci.reading ma.us> Subject: [Reading MA] Please save middle and elementary schoolteachers (Sent by Rebecca Liberman, rflibermankverizon.net) Reply -To: <rflibermangverizon.net> Hello Board of Selectmen, Rebecca Liberman (rflibermangverizon.net) has sent you a message via your contact form (https: / /www.readingma.gov /user /475 /contact) at Reading MA. If you don't want to receive such e- mails, you can change your settings at htips://www.readingma.gov/user/475/edit. Message: January 24, 2018 Dear Members of the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee, I implore you to find a way to prevent the proposed teacher cuts in the Reading Public Schools. I suggest offering to help balance the FYI school budget, earmarking the funds for teacher positions, especially at middle school in order to preserve the foreign language and extra English programs. Meanwhile, I suggest cutting the athletic budget back to FY2016 levels, as suggested at the School Committee meeting Monday night, and seeking other sources of funds for these programs, such as increasing user fees and family caps, especially for expensive sports like swim, football and hockey, raising drama show ticket prices, charging for attendance at meets and games, and asking booster groups to fund more of the cost of these programs. In addition, we should be exploring other potential revenue sources for our schools, such as charging to park at the high school and offering voluntary parent -paid busing to offset the cost of mandatory busing, while demanding that the school district better manage its funds, prioritizing teacher positions above all other expenditures. qb\ I am aware of plans to put an override on the ballot in April. I am not at all sure that an override would pass, given the concerns expressed in the recent survey regarding how the funds would be spent. I believe that the balanced budget passed by the School Committee on Monday will actually make an override less appealing to many voters, since it ignores the public outcry over the teacher cuts and prioritizes athletics and extracurricular activities over teachers. To spend $200,000 more on athletics than we did in FY 16 while cutting classroom teachers is unacceptable. And I am appalled that the School Committee transferred roughly $450,000 from regular education budget to athletics and drama last June, an amount large enough to save those middle school teacher positions for a year while we seek a longer term funding solution. I don't understand the thinking behind a budget that prioritizes programs that benefit some students over foreign language and extra English instruction that benefits ALL students. It would take years to rebuild the middle school foreign language program and replace all the teachers who would leave if this budget is approved. In contrast, if we cut a couple of sports for a year, we could get them back a year later if the override passes. We need to get our priorities straight and preserve teacher positions above everything else. Once again, I urge you to help the schools with enough funds to prevent teacher layoffs and the elimination of foreign language and other programs, while at the same time working toward a more permanent funding solution and demanding better management of our limited school funds so that teachers are prioritized. Not only is this the right thing to do, but I believe that doing this would help regain the community's trust. Thank you. Sincerely, Rebecca Liberman RMHS parent c\6>a Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 4:33 PM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: Fwd: Format for 1/30 BOS meeting BOS packet Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Nichola Meserve <nmeserve ggmail.com> Date: January 24, 2018 at 4 :31:06 PM EST To: <selectmengci.reading ma.us> Subject: Format for 1/30 BOS meeting Please allow for public comment prior to your vote on January 30 on the override amount. Democracy demands it. Nichola Meserve 14 Nichols Road Saunders, Caitlin From: Sent: . To: Subject: Attachments: BOS packet Sent from my Whone Begin forwarded message: LeLacheur, Bob Wednesday, January 24, 2018 12:54 PM Saunders, Caitlin Fwd: Verizon Fios TV -- LFA Notification Customer Notice - GSN.pdf, ATT00001.htm; Customer Notice - GSN.pdf; ATT00002.htm From: "Connors, Niall S" <niall.s.connorskverizon.com> Date: January 24, 2018 at 12:49:44 PM EST To: undisclosed- recipients:; Subject: Verizon Fios TV -- LFA Notification Dear Municipal Official: This is to notify you of certain changes to Rose TV programming. On or after January 22, 2018, Game Show Network (GSN) on channels 184 SD/684 HD will be removed from the following Fios TV packages: Fios TV Extreme HD & Extreme HD TV Fios TV La Conexion Fios TV Mundo Fios TV Mundo Total Fios Custom TV — Action & Entertainment Fios Custom TV — Home & Family Fios Custom TV Fios TV Essentials If customers would like to continue having GSN available in their lineup, they can visit verizon.com /fiosty to see what packages it is still included in. Verizon began notifying subscribers through the Rose TV Message Center on or around December 15, 2017. A sample customer notice is attached. Access to the Rose TV channel lineup is available 24/7 online at verizon.com /fiostvchannels. We realize that our customers have other alternatives for entertainment and our goal is to offer the best choice and value in the industry. Verizon appreciates the opportunity to conduct business in your community. Should you or your staff have any questions, please contact me. Sincerely, wiz+onf Niall Connors Fios Franchise Service Manager Massachusetts and Rhode Island 6 Bowdoin Square, 10th Floor Boston, MA 02114 O 857.415.51231 M 781.715.7058 niall.s. con nors(aDverizon.com MV verizom' Fios@ TV Programming Change On or after January 22, 2018, Game Show Network (GSN) on channels 184 SD/684 HD will be removed from the following Fios TV packages: Fios TV Extreme HD & Extreme HD TV Fios TV La Conexion Fios TV Mundo Fios TV Mundo Total Fios Custom TV - Action & Entertainment Fios Custom TV - Home & Family Fios Custom TV Fios TV Essentials If you would like to continue having GSN available in your lineup, please visit verizon.com /fiosty to see what packages it is still included in. M verizonv Fioso TV Programming Change On or after January 22, 2018, Game Show Network (GSN) on channels 184 SD/684 HD will be removed from the following Fios TV packages: Fios TV Extreme HD & Extreme HD TV Fios TV La Conexion Fios TV Mundo Fios TV Mundo Total Fios Custom TV - Action & Entertainment Fios Custom TV - Home & Family Fios Custom TV Fios TV Essentials If you would like to continue having GSN available in your lineup, please visit verizon.com /fiostv to see what packages it is still included in. C�? Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 12:24 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: FW: Override decision next BOS packet From: Sarah Maxam [samaxam89 @yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 6:44 PM To: Reading - Selectmen Subject: Override decision Good evening Select Board, Like many other Reading residents, I've been attending the School Committee meetings these past few weeks and watching others on tv. Aside from being a resident and Town Meeting member, I've also been a middle school teacher in town for the last 16 years. I'm very concerned about the potential override amount that you will determine next week. I urge you to please make sure the number is high enough to fully fund the restorative budget of the schools! Many of the SC members made such wonderful points last night. We need middle school foreign language and double block ELA. We need our elementary teachers. I have children at the elementary level and I don't want them to be stuck in huge classes due to cuts. I moved here 13 years ago, after I started teaching in Reading, because I felt so strongly about what an amazing school system it was. Others have also spoken over the last few weeks about moving to our town due to the reputation of the school. It would be easy to throw out a very low override number and have it pass, but that wouldn't be solving our problems. We need to do the right thing for our children and the future of our town. Like me, there are many in our town that have strong feelings on this topic on both sides. As you think about the format of the meeting on 1/30 tonight, please give everyone the opportunity to be heard via public comment before your decision. I believe it will be a healthy part of the process and help restore faith in town government. know you have the weight of the world on your shoulders right now. Thank you for all of the time that you put into your role serving our town. Thanks, Sarah Doane Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 12:25 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: FW: override next BOS packet From: Lauren Ream [laurenream @yahoo.com]ryc Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 8:07 PM To: Reading - Selectmen Subject: override Dear Selectmen, I am a resident with 2 children who are in the end of their junior year at RMHS. I am grateful for the opportunities that they have had. But, I also realize that they are on their way out and I need to come up with large sums of money for their college tuition. Despite this, I strongly believe in a Reading override. My expectation is that my selectmen responsible for governing our town will STRONGLY advocate for an override that will fund the schools appropriately. The responsibility for the school budget rightly belongs with the School Committee and my expectation is that you will honor that figure. Thank you for working so hard to maintaining the standard of living of our town residents. Sincerely, Lauren Ream 972 Main Street Saunders, Caitlin From: Sent: To: Subject: Attachments: next BOS packet Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: LeLacheur, Bob Wednesday, January 24, 2018 11:00 AM Saunders, Caitlin Fwd: Verizon Fios TV - LFA Notification Customer Notice - TBNWOW.pdf, ATT00001.htm From: "Connors, Niall S" <niall.s.connorsgverizon.com> Date: January 24, 2018 at 10:54:28 AM EST To: undisclosed- recipients:; Subject: Verizon Fios TV - LFA Notification Dear Municipal Official: This is to notify you of certain upcoming changes to Rose TV programming. On or after March 1, 2018, TBN Trinity HD (ch. 795) will be replaced with Loveworld USA HD. TBN Trinity SD (ch. 295) will remain available for viewing. In addition, WOW HD (ch. 658) will be replaced with Gem Shopping HD. WOW SD (ch. 158) will remain available for viewing. These are provider - driven changes. Verizon began notifying subscribers through the Rose TV Message Center on or around January 24, 2018. A sample customer notice is attached. Access to the Fios° TV channel lineup is available 24/7 online atverizon.com /fiostvchannels. We realize that our customers have other alternatives for entertainment and our goal is to offer the best choice and value in the industry. Verizon appreciates the opportunity to conduct business in your community. Should you or your staff have any questions, please contact me. Sincerely, VWIZOW Niall Connors Fios Franchise Service Manager Massachusetts and Rhode Island 6 Bowdoin Square, 10th Floor Boston, MA 02114 q gi O 857.415.5123 1 M 781.715.7058 niall.s.connors(a)-verizon.com co OF, verizonJ Fios@ TV Programming Change On or after March 1, 2018, TBN Trinity HD (ch. 795) will be replaced with Loveworld USA HD. TBN Trinity SD (ch. 295) will remain available for viewing. In addition, WOW HD (ch. 658) will be replaced with Gem Shopping HD. WOW SD (ch. 158) will remain available for viewing. These are provider- driven changes. LeLacheur, Bob From: jerrold starr <jstarr1944 @gmai1.com> Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2018 1:23 PM To: LeLacheur, Bob Subject: Re: [Reading MA] BUDGET (Sent by JERROLD STARR, jstarrl944 @gmail.com) I'm, Yes, please share these thoughts with the selectmen. Thank you for your quick response. Jerry On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 10:11 AM, LeLacheur, Bob <blelacheura ci.readin .ng ia.us> wrote: Thanks Jerry, do you want me to share these thoughts with the Selectmen (and therefore the public)? Totally your call. C•. Robert W. LeLacheur, Jr. CFA Town Manager, Town of Reading 16 Lowell Street, Reading, MA 01867 townmana,er a,ci.readina.ma.Lis (P)781- 942 -9043; (F) 781 - 942 -9037 www.readiny,ma.gov Town Hall Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 7:30 a.m - 5:30 p.m.;Tuesday: 7:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.; Friday: CLOSED - - - -- Original Message---- - From: vtsdmailer@vt -s.net [mailto:vtsdmailernvt- s.net] Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2018 10:01 AM To: Town Manager Subject: [Reading MA] BUDGET (Sent by JERROLD STARR, jstarrl944@gmail.com) Hello rlelacheur, JERROLD STARR (jstarrl944(a, mail.com) has sent you a message via your contact form (https://www.readingma.gov/user/43 I /contact) at Reading MA. If you don't want to receive such e- mails, you can change your settings at https://www.readingma. gov/user/43 I /edit. Message qh\ Mr. LeLacheur: Listening to the fin com meeting yesterday and knowing the financial issues facing the town, i have a suggestion to resolve these problems : 1. The town cannot solve all the issues at once. As was pointed out, the police, fire and admin have gone ignored and are grossly understaffed. This year lets concentrate on getting the 9 added people for police and fire, get the accounting dept. staffed to provide proper backup and get the computer systems updated. The people in town will be on board and understand why an override is needed for these issues. 2. Do not make this year for school additions other than the 2 1/2 basic needs. People will relate to this and say it's about time the town doesn't " throw money at the schools ". ( True or not perception is that's what is happening). This will make the electorate more receptive to give you the money requested. 3. Stress the fact that once the police, fire etc. issues are resolved, we will be able to better concentrate on the school's financial needs next year and moving forward. (Keep the school dept. in the background so people will see you are serious about the override request for the other areas). 4. I saw people say that the town should request "everything" and don't be afraid to do so. We tried this last year and the people voted ! ! ! . People vote their pocketbook, never forget that, but we understand the town doesn't run free and will give a yes vote to have an exceptional town and keep the property values up. navy Jerry Starr, 126 beaver rd - Last 27 years as exec. v.p. of manufacturer of submarine and aircraft products for the qha c � O L LL 0 O U U m O C Q co O C) N p d U. 7 E m N d d N O cn in Q V OL. Q 01 } a 0 L m J N T � O L N 0 L O LL j O O U d d C)) � O O N 7 > m U. 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N Q 'i o o> m c CCU c O cLa H s (7 °? v 3 J O H U +' C (0 c J O W n c`q m h o a� 'C o y v, N o 'm c E .� ~ O T 7 RS L (6 (6 N .O C o 0) to .0 ++ �+ W U U) U (n O U) fn (� J M D i 0 W O a. to F- Z Q Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2018 3:53 PM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: FW: Verizon Fios TV - LFA Notification - FETV Attachments: Customer Notice - FETV.pdf BOS packet Robert W. LeLacheur, Jr. CFA Town Manager, Town of Reading 16 Lowell Street, Reading, MA 01867 townmanaaer0ci.readina. ma. us (P) 781 - 942 -9043, (F) 781 -942 -9037 www.readinama.gov Town Hall Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 7:30 a.m - 5:30 p.m.;Tuesday: 7:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.; Friday: CLOSED From: Connors, Niall S [ mailto :niall.s.connorsOverizon.com] Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2018 3:41 PM Subject: Verizon Fios TV - LFA Notification - FETV Dear Municipal Official: This is to notify you of an upcoming change to Rose TV programming. On or after May 1, 2018, G041T programming, also known as FETV (Family Entertainment Television), will move from channel 155 to channel 245 in the Fios TV channel lineup. Verizon will notify subscribers through the Rose TV Message Center beginning on or around February 1, 2018. A sample customer notice is attached. Access to the Fios° TV channel lineup is available 24/7 online atverizon.com /fiostvchannels. We realize that our customers have other alternatives for entertainment and our goal is to offer the best choice and value in the industry. Verizon appreciates the opportunity to conduct business in your community. Should you or your staff have any questions, please contact me. Sincerely, verizon,/ Niall Connors Fios Franchise Service Manager Massachusetts and Rhode Island 6 Bowdoin Square, 10th Floor Boston, MA 02114 O 857.415.5123 1 M 781.715.7058 niall.s.connors@verizon.com verizon✓ Fioso TV Programming Change On or after May 1, 2018, GO41T programming, also known as FETV (Family Entertainment Television), will move from channel 155 to channel 245 in the Fios TV channel lineup. Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 11:54 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: FW: Request to consider full ask on Municipal and Schools for override BOS packet Hobert W. LeLacheur, Jr. CFA Town Manager, Town of Reading 16 Lowell Street, Reading, MA 01867 townmanaaer(a)ci. readina. ma. us (A) 781 -942 -9043, (F) 781 -942 -9037 www.readingma.gov Town Hall Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 7:30 a.m - 5:30 p.m.;Tuesday: 7:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.; Friday: CLOSED From: J Ross [mailtoJccjulie0gmail.com] Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 11:19 AM To: Reading - Selectmen Subject: Request to consider full ask on Municipal and Schools for override Dear Members of the Board, I am writing to ask that you put the full amount requested by the Town Manager and School Committee on the ballot for April 3.1 respect that you have taken the override survey seriously and have a strong desire to listen to voters. It is so important in this quest for transparency and bridging that trust gap. I also appreciate the time that you have spent attending and watching the meetings that have brought us to this point. I get the impression that there is a strong possibility the amount that you will put on the ballot will be less than requested by the town and schools because there is a feeling that it will show that you have listened to voters based on the survey. My concern is that if we focus too much on meeting that $500 mark that seemed to be what people who completed the survey were comfortable paying, we will miss the opportunity to do what will be best for the town and keep us from facing this crisis once again in a couple of years. We must also keep in mind that this survey was completed by a sampling of voters and not all voters in town. My understanding of the purpose of the survey was that it would be used as a guideline for future decisions. If we are using it in that way, this potential ask of $5 million meets that goal. In 2016 the ask was $7.5 million. If you asked for the same, close to the same, or more, you would not be listening to voters. The town and schools are clearly paying attention to the survey and have adjusted their requests and acknowledge that last time was just too high. We have to respect their time and expertise by trusting that they are asking for what they need to fund this town in a way that it can run properly. You have a huge decision to make that will impact all residents of Reading for years to come and it cannot be based solely on one piece of a survey. If you feel that the amount should be less than has been requested, I would like to understand why and I think it is important that you explain on Tuesday evening what the impact on an average tax bill would be based on a few different override amounts. I think that if voters could see that paying an extra $60 -$100 per year could meet the needs identified by the town and schools and keep us from coming back in 2 years to ask for another override, the majority of voters would be willing to support it. It could mean the difference between fixing this for a solid amount of time (though not as long as past overrides have carried us) or coming back to voters to ask for more money in a couple of years and having to explain to your constituents why they are once again in this predicament. Please base your decision on what our Town Manager, Municipal Department Heads, Superintendent, School Committee and Finance Committee. all agree is the right move for right now and thank you for your consideration of this request. Sincerely, Julie Ross Kensington Ave. Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 7:14 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: Fwd: Override amount BOS packet Sent from my Whone Begin forwarded message: From: Bryn Panee Burkhart <brynb @mit.edu> Date: January 25, 2018 at 9:14:49 PM EST To: "selectmen @ci.reading. ma. us" <selectmenleci. read ing. ma. us> Subject: Override amount John, John, Dan, Barry and Andy, I've been watching the last few weeks of meetings on RCTV and appreciate the time and consideration you are giving to the budget discussions. Next Tuesday, I strongly urge you to set an override amount that fully funds the amounts requested for our school and town services. My opinion is that our children deserve better, and the thought of having more teacher cuts and curriculum changes that will negatively impact them literally makes my stomach turn. I also support our police and fire chiefs, who deserve the funding to bring staffing levels to where they should be for a town of our size. A $5M number may seem difficult to swallow, but I believe the circumstances are different this year and we can pass this with strong voter turnout. I hope you will do what is in the town's best interest and then advocate for that decision. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Bryn Panee Burkhart 161 Belmont Street Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 7:14 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: Fwd: Request to Fully Fund the Override BOS packet Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Jeanette Vigorito <jeanettevi orito eomcast.net> Date: January 26, 2018 at 6:35:41 AM EST To: <selectmengci.reading ma.us> Subject: Request to Fully Fund the Override Dear Mr. Arena, Mr. Halsey, Mr. Ensminger, Mr. Berman and Mr. Friedmann, I've been watching the last few weeks of meetings on RCTV and appreciate the time and consideration you are giving to the budget discussions. Next Tuesday, I strongly urge you to set an override amount that fully funds the amounts requested for our school and town services. My opinion is that our children deserve better, and the thought of having more teacher cuts and curriculum changes that will negatively impact them will be devastating to our school system. I also support our police and fire chiefs, who deserve the funding to bring staffing levels to where they should be for a town of our size. I hope you will do what is in the town's best interest and then advocate for that decision. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Jeanette Vigorito 10 Timothy Place Reading MA 01867 Sent from my iPhone Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 7:15 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: Fwd: Please set an override amount that fully funds our schools & town services BOS packet Sent from my Whone Begin forwarded message: From: Meagan Putney <mea an.putneykgmail.com> Date: January 26, 2018 at 6:48:26 AM EST To: <selectmenkci.readin .ma.us> Subject: Please set an override amount that fully funds our schools & town services Dear Board of Selectman, Next Tuesday, I strongly urge you to set an override amount that fully funds the amounts requested for our school and town services. My opinion is that our children deserve better, and the thought of having more teacher cuts and curriculum changes that will negatively impact them will be devastating to our school system. I also support our police and fire chiefs, who deserve the funding to bring staffing levels to where they should be for a town of our size. I hope you will do what is in the town's best interest and then advocate for that decision. Thank you for your consideration. Best Regards, Meagan & Matt Putney 7 Strawberry Hill Lane Saunders. Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 7:15 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: Fwd: Concerned Citizen BOS packet Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Kerin Bakst <kerinbakstggmail.com> Date: January 26, 2018 at 7:13:03 AM EST To: <selectmenkci.reading.ma.us> Subject: Concerned Citizen Dear Mr. Arena, Mr. Halsey, Mr. Ensminger, Mr. Berman and Mr. Friedmann, I've been watching the last few weeks of meetings on RCTV and appreciate the time and consideration you are giving to the budget discussions. Next Tuesday, I strongly urge you to set an override amount that fully funds the amounts requested for our school and town services. My opinion is that our children deserve better, and the thought of having more teacher cuts and curriculum changes that will negatively impact them will be devastating to our school system. I also support our police and fire chiefs, who deserve the funding to bring staffing levels to where they should be for a town of our size. I hope you will do what is in the town's best interest and FULLY fund the town at the levels that have been requested. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Kerin and Justin Bakst 6 Gardner Road 3 children at Killam Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 8:32 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: Fwd: Override BOS packet Sent from my Whone Begin forwarded message: From: Stacy Mazzarella <smazz2002naol.com> Date: January 26, 2018 at 8:00:58 AM EST To: <selectmenkci.readin .ma.us> Subject: Override Please FULLY FUND the amount that has been requested for our school and town services, which is $4.7M. Thanks, Stacy and Carmine Mazzarella Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 8:32 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: Fwd: Override BOS packet Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Elizabeth murray <murray.elizabethgverizon.net> Date: January 26, 2018 at 8:31:03 AM EST To: <selectmengci.readin .ma.us> Subject: Override Dear Mr. Arena, Mr. Halsey, Mr. Ensminger, Mr. Berman and Mr. Friedmann, I've been watching the last few weeks of meetings on RCTV and appreciate the time and consideration you are giving to the budget discussions. Next Tuesday, I strongly urge you to set an override amount that fully funds the amounts requested for our school and town services. My opinion is that our children deserve better, and the thought of having more teacher cuts and curriculum changes that will negatively impact them will be devastating to our school system. I also support our police and fire chiefs, who deserve the funding to bring staffing levels to where they should be for a town of our size. I hope you will do what is in the town's best interest and then advocate for that decision. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Beth Murray 147 Belmont St Sent from my iPhone Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 8:51 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: Fwd: Override - request for full funding BOS packet Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Karen Kalafatas <karenkkarenkjitterbu s.com> Date: January 26, 2018 at 8:47:13 AM EST To: <selectmen(j�ci.readin .ma.us> Subject: Override - request for full funding Hello, I am a Reading resident and parent. My husband and I moved to Reading from Arlington several years ago with our daughter specifically for the wonderful community, starting with its excellent schools. We are deeply troubled by the financial future of the services that will continue to make our town strong, and make Reading a desirable place for all, including others considering a move here. I write today to ask you to FULLY FUND the amount that has been requested for our school and town services, which is $47M. The thought of having more teacher cuts and curriculum changes that will negatively impact our kids be devastating to our school system. I also support our police and fire chiefs, who have requested funding to bring staffing levels to where they should be for a town of our size. An average town in MA passes an override every 8 years. Our last one was 14 years ago. Thank you for your consideration - this override is CRITICAL to keeping our schools and town in intact! Respectfully, Karen Kalafatas Karen K Founder /Director, Jitterbugs Music Classes Karen K and the Jitterbugs www.karenkjitterbugs.com 617.922.3839 Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 10:08 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: FW: Town Override BOS packet Robert W LeLacheur, Jr. CFA Town Manager, Town of Reading 16 Lowell Street, Reading, MA 01867 townmonaqer@ci,readina.rna.us (P) 781 - 942 - 9048; (P) 781 - 942 -9037 www.readinama.aov Town Hall Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 7:30 a.m - 5:30 p.m.;Tuesday: 7:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.; Friday: CLOSED From: Beth Hudson [ mailto :bethhudson53Cabgmail.com] Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 9:50 AM To: Reading - Selectmen Subject: Town Override Dear Mr. Arena, Mr. Halsey, Mr. Ensminger, Mr. Berman and Mr. Friedmann, I've been watching the last few weeks of meetings on RCTV and appreciate the time and consideration you are giving to the budget discussions. Next Tuesday, I strongly urge you to set an override amount that fully funds the amounts requested for our school and town services. My opinion is that our children deserve better, and the thought of having more teacher cuts and curriculum changes that will negatively impact them will be devastating to our school system. I also support our police and fire chiefs, who deserve the funding to bring staffing levels to where they should be for a town of our size. I hope you will do what is in the town's best interest and fully fund the town at the levels that have been requested. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Beth & Matt Hudson 14 Tamarack Rd Saunders, Caitlin From: LeLacheur, Bob Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 10:09 AM To: Saunders, Caitlin Subject: FW: Override BOS packet From: Dove, Emmy [ mailto:ebalon@hsph.harvard.edu] Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 10:07 AM To: Reading - Selectmen Subject: Override Dear Selectmen, I have a 2nd grader at Killam. I support the override. I support the SC proposal in full (which is a huge reduction from their initial ask prior to the last vote). I'm one of the dreaded residents who moved here —5yrs ago for the schools. I'm a details person so I do believe in deconstructing budgets and penny - pinching where we can. Perfection is hard to find and everyone hates the manager (at least, my grandmother has hated every Red Sox manager for eternity, haha). We all think we could do better, but when push comes to shove, most wouldn't step up to the plate to do the work of the School Committee, Superintendent, Town Manager, or Selectmen. I do appreciate your efforts. A few things: I spoke to a Lexington mom this week who gave me some insight into the budget issues of a "top tier" school district. She sends her kids to private school due to challenges in the public school system. Class sizes are large with limited teaching aides. The art room is gone. The art teacher travels between classrooms with an "art cart ". The music room is gone. They are looking to build modular classrooms. This is all to say Reading is not unique. Districts that have long been viewed as "top tier" and within a certain proximity of Boston are all facing these struggles (even ones with better commercial bases). I actually think this is an opportunity to become even more competitive with some of these districts by acting to maintain our schools. Secondly, I think people are largely in agreement that we need to expand our commercial base. I'm going to come right out and say that does not mean small businesses. I favor them for the town center, but I don't think of them as primary providers of tax revenue. We need industry ... a good midsized company, if we can find the land. To do that, we need well- staffed police and fire departments. A biotech or pharma company (for example) won't even consider coming to a town that can't reliably provide those services. Towns are graded on this stuff and it's public information. My parents recently retired and moved. They were looking ideally for places with low property taxes as they didn't want to contribute to schools they didn't need. They are on a fixed income, after all. Well, it turns out that they didn't like the towns that didn't invest in schools. Those towns also didn't invest in the library or other town services. The town centers were often absent of independent, small businesses that contribute to a sense of community. They were just places, not communities. Finally, despite the general sense that people would prefer more frequent overrides of shorter duration, I have great concerns that this town will not be ok with voting on another override in 3 -4yrs. Perhaps many of you will have moved on from your current positions by that time, but I urge you to consider more than a band -aid for this large, gaping wound. The School Committee did its job by reducing the requested budget in response to town sentiment. Please honor its efforts and request in full. Thank you, Emmy Dove 160 Charles St.