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The $1,686,585 question
Weston Town Meeting asked to decide
Jun 4, 2008
by Brian Gioiele
Taxpayers will be asked to spend $1,686,585 from the general fund next week.
The Board of Selectmen, in a special meeting Tuesday, May 27, voted unanimously to request spending the general fund money ($1.1 million for OPEB — other post employment benefits — liability funding and $586,585 to cover the remaining costs of the high school auditorium renovation).
The Board of Finance, which joined the selectmen at that Tuesday meeting, then immediately approved that request, sending it to a special Town Meeting set for Wednesday, June 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Weston Middle School auditorium.
The money to cover the proposed $1,686,585 in expenditures will be coming from the town’s ever-burgeoning general fund. Earlier this year, the finance board moved to keep the town’s fund balance at 12% of the total town budget, currently estimated at $63.4 million for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
Estimates put the general fund at about 16% of the soon-to-be finalized fiscal year 2008-09 fiscal year budget.
Using 12% as the target goal, the general fund would need to be $7.6 million. That means the town needs to draw down the fund balance by as much as $1,715,000, which it plans to do by spending it on some of the impending costs facing the town.
One problem with moving such a large chunk of money from the general fund lies in the town charter, which states that supplemental appropriations approved by the finance board “in any fiscal year shall not exceed 2% of the current tax levy.” Any larger such cash shifts require Town Meeting approval.
Unknown
The $1.1 million for the OPEB liability funding was an appropriation discussed for some time. But the additional money for the high school auditorium remained an unknown until Tuesday, when the selectmen and finance boards received a final recommendation from Joe Fitzpatrick, Building Committee chairman.
The Building Committee recommended accepting a bid from AP Construction — the lowest of four bids received for the renovation project — of $2,157,434. There is already $1.5 million — with $1.2 million remaining from the high school roof replacement project and another $300,000 raised by private donations — set aside for that work. An additional $586,585 is needed to complete the job.
Mr. Fitzpatrick said that with the approvals, the hope is to start construction right after school ends in June and have the work completed in time to stage the high school’s fall play scheduled in November.
Last spring, the auditorium renovation cost was estimated at $1.6 million, which jumped to $1.9 million in December and, most recently, as high as $2.2 million.
“We feel strongly that we need to fund this properly,” said Mr. Fitzpatrick. “We need to do it right.”
“This was handled well by Joe,” said Building Committee member Allen Swerdlowe.
“We don’t want to featherbed this project, but we realized that all the surfaces in the high school auditorium need to be touched. Nothing was left out, but at the same time, nothing has been gold plated.”
OPEB
Local leaders sought the OPEB funding to prepare for the estimated liability for post-employment medical coverage required by new General Accounting Standards Board (GASB) rules. According to estimates received last Tuesday, the town will need $11,048,900 to cover what is already owed.
In the already approved fiscal year 2008-09 budget, the town has budgeted $304,000, which is some $305,000 under what would be needed to meet the annual contribution. First Selectman Woody Bliss said placing the $1.1 million in a trust fund for this expense will provide at least a “short-term reprieve.”
The town has some 30 years to cover this figure, but some years are expected to feature larger financial hits, which town officials are attempting to alleviate early in case future bonding is needed for potential capital expenses.
Kaestle Boos report
Kaestle Boos was recently commissioned to report on potential capital expenses facing the town. It came up with a list that exceeds $40 million.
At last month’s selectmen’s meeting, Selectman Gayle Weinstein asked that local leaders not forget other coming costs, particularly those associated with the Lyons Plain Road firehouse work, construction of a new Booster barn, wetlands remediation on the school campus, work at Revson field, and the $44-million laundry list of facility improvements listed in the Kaestle Boos report.
The selectmen and finance board have often discussed using a bond issue in the next couple of years to help start funding those facility improvement projects. But the finance board recommended a priority list be formed before any further action is taken.
“The Kaestle Boos study will move us faster to bonding than we originally thought about doing it,” said Michael O’Brien, finance board chairman. “That’s why the OPEB funding is so important. We have to keep that number in line so the town can maintain its Aaa rating.”
The selectmen and finance boards have agreed, however, that there is nothing that can be done about projects suggested in the Kaestle Boos report or projects such as the Booster Barn until final plans and cost estimates come to their desk.
Surprise costs
Selectman Glenn Major asked if, by bringing the general fund down to 12% of the total budget, there will be money available to cover surprise costs, such as the chance to purchase land.
“If we have the opportunity to purchase land, we would do that as part of a bonding package,” said First Selectman Woody Bliss.
Tom Landry, town administrator, in a letter dated Dec. 21, 2007, cited several reasons for maintaining the 12% retention level with the fund balance. Among them, he said it helps to offset the “high debt level carried by the town as compared to other Aaa-rated communities for bond rating agencies,” and, “there is a standing $400,000 heart and hypertension judgment against the town, which, if we lose the appeal, will have to be paid from general fund balance proceeds.”
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