The proposed town budget for fiscal 2023 (click to enlarge).
Following are some of the spending-related warrant articles that will be voted on at the Annual Town Meeting on Saturday, March 26.
The proposed town budget for fiscal 2023 is 3.0% higher than last year’s. A summary (right) can be found on page 8 of the Financial Section and Warrant, with a detailed breakdown beginning on page 57.
Voters will be asked to approve spending $1.18 million from Community Preservation Act funds on 14 line items. Debt service for the Town Office Building renovation ($304,660) and the Wang property purchase ($111,550) accounts for 35% of the total. The largest other requests are $310,000 for Town Hall athletic field drainage improvements, $205,000 for library parapet repairs, and $119,950 for improvements to access to Codman Community Farm (in concert with $210,000 already approved for driveway work in 2020 but never spent due to the pandemic).
Projects that will be funded by the Community Preservation Fund if voters approve at the March 26 Town Meeting.
Debt service for fiscal 2023, excluding debt service for Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School and after application of a proposed Capital Planning Committee offset, is $4,32, representing a very slight decrease versus FY22. About 90% of the town’s debt service is for the school building debt, most of which was bonded in February 2019. The second tranche of bonds were issued this month, with payments starting in September 2022.
The Capital Planning Committee recommends spending $621,094 for 17 items, the most expensive of which is $240,000 for a heavy hook truck. The other items range in price from$4,902 for Lincoln’s share of a skid steer loader for Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School to $60,000 for repairing the roof on one of the Hartwell pods.
Proposed cash capital expenditures (click to enlarge).
The committee is also seeking $154,866 for classroom, town buildings and library maintenance, plus $350,000 to remove the modular classrooms on the school campus. The cost for that removal plus field restoration are expected to be fully offset by future proceeds from sale of the modular classrooms. Another school district has offered to buy them for $550,000.