Members Present: Marlene Freyler, Justin Dohrn, Claire James, Jason Allen
Members Absent: Caleb Connor, Karen Hambleton, Carol Troy
Meeting opened at 12:03pm.
Review and Approval of 10.9.19 Meeting Minutes (should be 10.2.2019 minutes)
Motion was made by Claire James to approve the minutes. Motion seconded by Justin Dohrn. Motion carried 4-0.
Review of all Projects Submitted & Estimated Tax Impact
Claire provided the committee with a summary of the submitted projects and estimated tax impact for 2020:
Preliminary Capital Costs – $943,700
Offsetting Funds – $453,965
Total to be funded via Property Taxes – $489,735
Claire also reminded the committee that had the Boat Launch, BSNYS and Library expenses been included, an additional (approximately) $20K would have been added to the “Total to be funded via Property Taxes”. These items will need to be moved over/added to the Town’s operating expenses now that they will no longer be reflected in the CIP.
It was explained that based on a total of $489,735, the tax impact per $1,000 of property owned would equal $2.46. The tax impact projection for 2018 was $2.48, so the 2019 number is relatively flat by comparison but is also not inclusive of items that were built into the 2018 numbers (Boat Launch, BSNYS and this year’s Library projects), which would have rendered the tax impact resulting from the CIP a bit higher.
Claire advised the committee that she will be obtaining the current trust fund balances from Harry Wright and will include this update on the next version of the spreadsheet.
Following discussion amongst committee members, several changes to the CIP spreadsheet will be updated for the next meeting, including:
- The Heating System, Computer Server & Workstations and Town Hall Restoration project will be grouped under one heading titled “Executive/Community Center”.
- The expenditure of $155K listed in 2020 for the Highway Department will be taken out, as it is uncertain what the actual expenditure year will be. Instead, $65K will be shown as savings in the 2019 Town Roads and Bridges fund and the $90K figure will be removed from offsetting expenses.
- The Heating System cost will be confirmed and the appropriate amount to go into offsetting will be updated if needed.
- 2002 Gravestone Repair fund – the $1000 annual allocation will be changed to $500 annually.
- 2006 Main St. Improvement fund – Claire expressed hesitance about adding this line item to the 2020 CIP, due to increased tax impact. However, CNHRPC advised that having a full match “in hand” would increase the Town’s chances of obtaining the TAP grant money for new sidewalks on West Main St. If the Town does not set aside the funds to complete this match in 2020, the next opportunity to do so would be in 2021, which would in turn make it less likely that the town would receive TAP grant funding until 2023 (given that the grant application cycle is every other year). After much discussion amongst committee members, Marlene suggested including the $50K needed to complete the TAP grant match in the 2020 CIP. This would increase the tax impact by approximately .30 cents for each $1,000 of property owned (roughly 9%). However, given that the “return” on that $50K could be ten-fold, the committee members felt it was worth the one-year increase.
Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 1:50pm.
Next meeting date is October 16, 2019, at 12:00pm at the BACC.
Minutes submitted by Claire James.