2026-09-16 - Finance Committee Meeting

0:06It's 6:35.

0:09Our first item on the agenda

0:10reporting in progress.

0:12Our first item on the agenda is the

0:14approval of last meetings minutes.

0:19All three of the So, we're going to

0:21approve the February, the April, and the

0:23May meetings. They're all in the folder.

0:26I hope everybody's had a chance to read

0:28them and review them. And to start with,

0:30I'll entertain a motion to accept the

0:34February 25th minute meeting minutes.

0:38A motion.

0:38I have a motion.

0:40And I have a second.

0:42Any discussion?

0:44There being none, all those in favor say

0:46yes.

0:46Yes.

0:49Yes.

0:50Yeah. I got Yep. Three yeses and one

0:52abstension of four yeses and one

0:55abstension. I'm sorry. So that is a

0:57vote. Next, I will entertain a motion to

1:00approve the April 28th meeting minutes.

1:03Make a motion.

1:04I have a motion.

1:06Second.

1:06I have a second. Any further discussion?

1:10There being none, all those in favor of

1:12approving say yes.

1:14Yes.

1:14Yes. Yes. Jamie Christian

1:17abstain. So, we have four yeses and one

1:20abstain.

1:21Next, I'll entertain a motion to approve

1:23the minutes of the May 18th meeting.

1:27Make a motion. I have a motion.

1:29Second.

1:30I have a second.

1:32Any discussion?

1:34All those in favor, please say yes.

1:37Yes.

1:37Yes.

1:38Yes.

1:39Four yeses and one abstension. [snorts]

1:42That is a vote. All right. Next on the

1:44agenda, grab your copy of the free cash

1:47statements. We're going to go through

1:48and

1:50talk about our free cash.

1:51I might have forgot to put stuff in the

1:52drop box, but I think I emailed you guys

1:54the free cash

1:56we got. packets.

2:01All right. So, let's go through free

2:03cash. How how you know I was looking for

2:06a topic to talk about at this meeting.

2:08So, let's take five minutes first to

2:10talk about how you determine what free

2:12cash is and how it's what it means to be

2:14certified.

2:15Okay. So once the year is all closed out

2:19and we had our final AP and payroll

2:21warrants and everything, I go through

2:23and put together a balance sheet with

2:25all of our general fund and then all of

2:28our grants, donations, um, agency funds,

2:32like any any fund that the town has

2:34custody of, I go through and I put

2:35together a balance sheet for everything.

2:37And then from there, um, I have a format

2:41and I have to put into the state's

2:42format to do that. Once it's all

2:44balanced and reconciled, and I've gone

2:46through and looked at accounts that are

2:47in the negative, make sure that

2:48nothing's incorrect or was uh like if

2:51something was accidentally coded to the

2:53wrong GL account or um uh if just things

2:57weren't put in the right places because

2:59sometimes that happens. I'll ask like

3:00departments, hey, are you expecting your

3:02grant to be this negative or are you

3:04expecting money back like and things

3:06like that. So, I'll work with some of

3:07the admins in the uh departments that

3:10have grants and we'll go through and

3:11we'll reconcile just to make sure if I

3:13do have negative grants that they're

3:14actually negative and then if they're

3:15not supposed to be negative to find out

3:17kind of like where the money went. Did

3:18it get coded somewhere wrong? Do all

3:20that stuff and then I put together this

3:23in the state format and we submit it to

3:24the state and then once it goes to the

3:26state, the state does their thing and

3:27they usually have questions about what

3:29things are and then they certify free

3:31cash. So it's a long process of looking

3:34at a lot of things um and putting

3:37everything in a format because our

3:39accounting software does not do that. I

3:40have to do it all manually. Um so

3:43basically what they do is they take

3:45everything that was essentially

3:48collected less your turnbacks or plus

3:51your turnbacks from whatever you didn't

3:53expend from your expenditure budget more

3:56or less. And that gets you what you see

3:57on the very top of the first page there.

3:59It says unreserved undesated fund

4:02balance. So it's like $6 million. So

4:04it's just kind of like a rolling balance

4:06every year

4:07and everything rolls up into there. So

4:09like your revenues obviously add to that

4:11number. Your expenditures take away from

4:13that number and then from there they

4:15take out what you have outstanding for

4:18property tax receivables and real estate

4:20receivables. So that's everything that

4:22we haven't collected on for current year

4:26just for those two. doesn't include

4:28motor vehicle, boat or uh tax title or

4:32any of that. So that this is all like

4:33current year that isn't in tax title. So

4:35like it's usually like 20 it'd be like

4:3726 25 and probably part of 24.

4:42So anything that we haven't put into tax

4:44title. So that's all of our outstanding

4:46uh receivable at the moment. And then

4:49from there, if in a perfect world we

4:51didn't have any negative or deficit

4:52grants, that number would essentially

4:55get you what your free cash is. But

4:57because we had

4:59a bunch of grants that were in deficit,

5:02they essentially those are hits against

5:05your free cash number, assuming the

5:09state basically assumes that you're not

5:10going to collect on these. So you would

5:12have to fund them somehow,

5:15but at some point we would collect from

5:17these. They just assume you wouldn't

5:18because they have to assume that because

5:20if you didn't collect on them for some

5:21reason or something was classified wrong

5:23and I missed it,

5:25we would have to make that balance up

5:27somewhere.

5:28All right. So, so take the the first

5:29one, the DEA task force, $258.

5:32Yeah. Right. So, that's saying that they

5:35gave us $258.

5:37So, that's basically saying that between

5:39what we expended and what the state has

5:40reimbured us for, we're negative $258

5:44still.

5:44Okay. So, we overspent the grant.

5:46Correct. Yeah. So these aren't negative,

5:48but these are all def. So all of these

5:50grants should be negative. They're all

5:51negative numbers. So whatever the number

5:53is there, those are all what we're in

5:54deficit of

5:56on all of those grants.

6:00So $281,000

6:02correct is what we're deficit on.

6:04Correct.

6:05And we have to make that money up.

6:07Correct.

6:08Okay.

6:08So usually it's timing of grants coming

6:10in or like some of this like you see

6:13police outside detail billing. That's

6:15just like we've we've paid payroll out

6:18for details because we can't not pay a

6:20police officer if they do a detail or a

6:21traffic officer. We're waiting to be

6:23refunded.

6:24A department overspending correct

6:26budget.

6:26It's just that we haven't gotten

6:27reimbursed for the grant yet. Yes.

6:30So it's like time. It's just a lot of

6:31it's timing.

6:32So like if you see like we had a big hit

6:34for green communities, we're waiting for

6:36the state to refund us. It's just slow.

6:38Right. We had a we had a grant for it.

6:40We expended the grant funds.

6:42The state is has already stated that

6:45they've released the funds, but it

6:47hasn't hit our it didn't hit our bank

6:48account before Ashley closed, right?

6:51We have to account for this now because

6:53what if we did not get that right to

6:55that point.

6:56That's basically what get as a hit

6:58against our certified free cash. So,

7:00next year we'll have that grant funding,

7:02you know, it's probably already hit our

7:03bank at this point.

7:04Yeah, probably.

7:05So, when we reertify for next year,

7:08that'll show as a as a net surplus,

7:11right?

7:11Gotcha. Okay. So they basically they

7:13have to assume that you're not going to

7:15collect on it because they can't assume

7:17that you're going to because if they did

7:19and they certified your free cash higher

7:22and next year you don't collect on that

7:23then

7:24right

7:24you could end up in a situation.

7:26So that's the same as going back to that

7:27real estate tax receivable.

7:29We're going to get that money. We just

7:31don't have it. But we have to account

7:32for the fact that hey

7:34you may not get it.

7:35Right. It's basically a liability on

7:36your books. So, you have to just account

7:38that you're going to have to pay it at

7:39some point. Or in this case, like what

7:42if we never collected on that real

7:44estate? We budget based on collecting

7:46100% of our real estate, but we don't

7:48always collect 100%. Right.

7:49I got you.

7:50And then if you turn to the back page,

7:53um

7:54they basically offset whatever your

7:57deferred revenue is. So that's your

8:02your personal property and real estate

8:05plus whatever is sitting in your overlay

8:07account. So your allowance for

8:09abatements. So basically we have a sum

8:11money sitting in that account for people

8:13to come back. So if we have to give you

8:14an abatement on your property tax cuz

8:16let's say you come to us and say my

8:19house is worth less so come give me come

8:22into my house and give me a new

8:23assessment

8:24and we would have to lower your real

8:25estate bill because your house your

8:27value was less than what we valued it

8:28at.

8:29We would take the money out of this

8:30account. So that's what that's sitting

8:32there.

8:33So they do a formula of all that and

8:35then they end up with a free cash

8:36balance of the 2.8 million.

8:38Right. So that was the number that I

8:39could not figure out how to come to that

8:41number. All right. looking at the number

8:43over here minus the number over here

8:45minus this number. I couldn't figure out

8:47how did you come up with 2.

8:48Yeah. So, it's the 6 million minus the

8:51combination of the 33 and the 698,000

8:54minus the 281,000

8:57minus the 2.4 million gets you to 2.8.

9:00Did I? Okay. Then I must have messed it

9:01up. All right. But that's how you get

9:02it.

9:03Yep.

9:03I gotcha.

9:04So that's for our free cash. And then

9:07they also obviously I have to do the

9:09same process when I do water and sewer.

9:11So that's what the other two pages are.

9:13They're certified retained earnings, so

9:16it's not called free cash. And

9:17essentially, they get the same thing.

9:19They just don't have usually grants. So

9:22they don't get it's the calculated the

9:24same way, but they look at different

9:25things for water and sewer because it's

9:28they don't have grant money going in and

9:29out like we do.

9:30So theirs came in, water came in at one

9:32a little over a million, and sewers came

9:34in at like 2.4.

9:36Yeah.

9:37So that's how we get to that number.

9:39Yep.

9:40All right. free cash number.

9:41Uh to get into the weeds just a little

9:44bit, what compromise or what comprises

9:47that 2.8, right? Is it mostly uh under

9:52expenditures by departments? Is it over

9:55grants that we get? Is it fees that we

9:58collect on?

9:58It was mostly fees that we collect that

10:00we don't that we don't

10:03account for budget,

10:04right?

10:04So like we underbudget for motor

10:07vehicle, we underbudget for

10:10fees, permits,

10:12pretty much any of our any of our

10:14revenue outside of property tax.

10:17We

10:17am receipts in this number.

10:19Um, no.

10:20Okay.

10:21Um, so we essentially under budget for

10:24things of like, uh, meals tax, um,

10:28cannabis tax,

10:31permits fees,

10:33the anything that I can't really like

10:35say because those are all

10:38um, very very

10:39they're very right. So like court fees

10:42are in there. So like I can't say like

10:43what happens if our court officer

10:44doesn't go to court because she's out

10:45for three months or something because

10:46she got injured or something like I

10:48can't account for that revenue. So we

10:49always budget on the lower end anyway.

10:52And when we set our tax rate I can only

10:56increase those fees by so much every

10:58year. I can only go plus or minus 20%

11:00per do rules unless I have a really

11:02really good explanation. Um

11:06and

11:07we've always been under like

11:09underbudgeted them because we've always

11:10been conservative.

11:12The revenue side

11:13it's mostly right revenue.

11:15How how much would you say of that is

11:18coming from

11:20non-spending by the the town

11:23departments.

11:24I think total I had like around a

11:26million in turnbacks.

11:28Okay. That's what I was wondering what

11:30the ratio was between, you know, under

11:32revenue projections, right, versus what

11:34the

11:35because I know the departments have

11:36always done very well here and not

11:38overspending or

11:40right

11:41they're doing and I just want to always

11:43have in the back of my head, okay, yeah,

11:45the police department does this and the

11:47fire department does that. They don't

11:48overbudget. They don't overspend their

11:50budgets,

11:50right? Yeah, they can't overspend their

11:52budget. I know they can't. Okay, but

11:54so they did.

11:55How many places spend right to the last

11:57penny? Okay, these these guys don't they

11:59spend what, you know, it seems like they

12:01spend what they need.

12:01Yeah, a lot of our department heads

12:03don't spend right to the penny.

12:04Um, a lot of them will come to me at the

12:06end of the year and say, "Hey, I have

12:08some money left. Could I do this?"

12:10And usually it's stuff on the capital

12:12list or

12:13like small capital projects that

12:15technically wouldn't qualify to come

12:17onto our capital because they're like

12:19maybe like three or four grand. So, they

12:21would they come to me and they'll say,

12:23"Hey, do you mind if I could I do this?"

12:24And it's usually I usually say yes

12:26because they saved me money somewhere

12:27else.

12:28Yeah.

12:28So,

12:29okay.

12:31So, that means we have 2 point I got to

12:33get my glasses.

12:34Yeah. 2.8. 2.8.

12:352.8

12:37this year, which I think is an all-time

12:39record.

12:39Well, it's actually No, I think two

12:41years ago was our

12:42was our record amount. We had a little

12:44over three. This is actually within 1%

12:47of what we had last year.

12:48Okay.

12:51All right. Good.

12:532.8. Any

12:56any questions of the two of them?

12:59Christian, Jamie, any questions on

13:02No.

13:03On this?

13:04No, I appreciate the explanation.

13:06Okay.

13:06I do have a quick question if you don't

13:08mind and I ask it. Um,

13:09that's why we have these meetings.

13:11So, let's say that the police department

13:13has a budget of 2 million and they spend

13:151.5 million. You said something about a

13:17turnback and I apologize. I'm the term

13:20seems self-explanatory, but they don't

13:22roll into the next budget year with a

13:24Oh,

13:25no. So any budgeted account items have

13:28to close out at the end of the year

13:29unless they're we what we call an

13:31incumbrance. So they can essentially,

13:34for lack of better terms, save the money

13:36into next fiscal year, but it has to be

13:38for items that they

13:40committed to

13:41committed to buying by June 30th. So

13:44whether they bought it and just didn't

13:45get an invoice or they had like a signed

13:47contract for doing let's just say they

13:49like they just did work outside PD they

13:51put stone down and put some protective

13:54barriers up so people can't crash

13:56through the PD um like things like that.

13:59So they had a signed contract to do that

14:00work before June 30th but they just

14:03didn't get the work done so we didn't

14:04have an invoice to pay so they can

14:06encumber for it. So that is the only

14:08thing that doesn't get essentially so

14:10that number gets rolled into their FY27

14:12budget. Um but everything else has to

14:15get closed out at the as of June 30th.

14:18So they start fresh with the new budget

14:19for July.

14:20It gets rolled in as a separate line

14:22too. So it's not like it it's a cost

14:24plus. It's you've committed this money

14:26to the specific purchase and then once

14:28that purchase is made it zeros out that

14:30account. They can't spend that on

14:31anything else.

14:31Right. Yeah. They are only they are um

14:33we do what we purchase orders for them.

14:35So they are

14:37married basically to that vendor for

14:39that dollar amount only. And if so,

14:41let's just say they said that they

14:42encumbered $1,000 and it only ended up

14:44costing them 500, they can't go and

14:46spend the extra 500 on something else.

14:48That will essentially close in the next

14:49fiscal year. They can only spend it to

14:51that vendor for that specific purpose.

14:53Awesome. Okay. Thank you for that.

14:54You're welcome. [clears throat]

14:56That's probably what gives town meeting

14:59control over their budget because they

15:01can't just say, "Well, I'll save it."

15:03Right.

15:04Right.

15:04So, the only

15:06I guess not really. So the only people

15:07that I guess really get to keep their

15:09money at the end and it isn't really

15:11even keeping it is water and sewer

15:13because they'll so their retained

15:15earnings can only be spent for water and

15:17sewer purposes individually. So

15:19essentially they keep their money

15:22because sewer keeps sewer water keeps

15:24water whereas the town free cash is for

15:26all of the departments.

15:28Okay. So essentially water and sewer

15:29could not spend their entire budget say

15:31hey I want to keep this and then wait

15:34for retained earnings to be certified

15:35and then they could spend it on a

15:36capital project

15:37but it has to be water and sewer

15:39correct only for water and sewer. Yeah

15:40they can only spend their money for

15:42their because that's all rateayer money

15:44they keep water and water and sewer and

15:46sewer they can't

15:47right they can't intermingle so like

15:49we all say water and sewer but it's too

15:51separate.

15:52Yeah. So sewer couldn't say, "Hey, water

15:54has an extra million. We need it to put

15:55a new pipe in."

15:56Interesting.

15:57Water has water keeps water money. Sewer

15:59keeps sewer money.

16:00They don't play well together.

16:02Even though they're the same commission.

16:04Also, revolving funds are separate.

16:08Correct. So the only thing with

16:09revolving funds is all of the revolving

16:12funds have a threshold. So whatever if

16:15they're over that threshold, which we

16:16vote at town meeting every year,

16:18if they're over that threshold, that

16:20threshold gets closed to general fund.

16:22So, it's usually like all building

16:23permits every year gets turned back. Um,

16:26he usually turns back at usually at

16:27least 100,000, right?

16:29Obviously, in more current years, it's

16:31been quite a bit more than that because

16:32all the Amazon permits, but um all

16:35theirs all have thresholds and if they

16:37hit so like let's say their threshold is

16:3810,000, but they have 20,000 as of June

16:4130th. General fund takes 10,000 and then

16:43they keep their 10.

16:45Oh, wow.

16:45And if it's under that, obviously they

16:47keep whatever is under that. I wouldn't

16:48take.

16:49It's almost like they keep a petty cash

16:50box

16:51kind of. Yeah.

16:51In each department.

16:53Yeah.

16:53To work on.

16:53And then like your receipts reserved for

16:55appropriation that you see your RFAS at

16:57town meeting. They keep all of their

16:58money. That can only be spent at town

17:01meeting.

17:02I did not realize it. Thank you.

17:03Yeah.

17:05Now that we know how much money is in

17:07the piggy bank. Okay. Let's move to the

17:10next one which is the draft capital plan

17:12and a prioritization of requests and an

17:16opa operational request. All right.

17:18So I apologize to Christian Kristen and

17:21Jamie because I didn't put this

17:23the paper plan you guys have in front of

17:25you in the Dropbox.

17:26It's just a fancier version. I'll drop

17:27it in later of the Excel spreadsheet

17:30that was in last our last meetings. It's

17:33this is just fancier.

17:36Um,

17:37just let me just explain something to

17:40Alicia. So, what we do with this is we

17:42we take a look at everything that

17:44they've proposed. Okay?

17:47It goes it it's part of the warrant. A

17:49lot of it's part of the warrant and then

17:51next week when we meet with the board of

17:52selectmen, we go article by article and

17:56we support it and they support it or we

17:58don't support it and they whatever.

18:00Okay. So this this meeting is more let's

18:03figure out where all the numbers are

18:05and then next week is when we do the

18:07actual approval.

18:08Okay.

18:09Thank you.

18:11All right.

18:12Off you go.

18:13So if we look at the paper that's in

18:15front of you or the spreadsheet, the top

18:18portion is all the current debt that we

18:19have um that is currently already voted

18:23and we're obligated to pay. So that's a

18:26total of the 1.69 million

18:28and that's already in the operational

18:29budget. So this is just as we're looking

18:31at the global capital plan. These are

18:33other capital

18:35um projects that have privacy been

18:38authorized but we're still obligated to

18:39pay on and try to look at it as what is

18:41our true capital

18:42outline.

18:44So if you go from there and then down to

18:47the next section those are all the

18:49requests that I have currently which are

18:51the same requests that you had in front

18:52of you at your at our last meeting. The

18:56two differences that I will note is we

18:58talked about um the Fay Mountain Farm

19:02money for the I keep wanting to call it

19:04ARPA, but it's not ARP,

19:08right?

19:08Yeah, APR.

19:09APR. Um, we're gonna hold off on that

19:12for now because we're not quite at the

19:14point of

19:18getting there yet where we still need to

19:20meet with the committee and we're trying

19:21to do some more due diligence with the

19:23state to figure out kind of where we are

19:25on that process.

19:26What is our true obligation here? I

19:28think that based off of just a singular

19:29conversation that happened between a me

19:31a person from the state and u a member

19:34of the committee isn't sufficient enough

19:36to say that we need to move forward at

19:37this time with anything until we engage

19:39in additional conversations about what

19:41is it what is it truly that we want to

19:45do with Fame Mountain and Farm? What

19:47what is the vision for over there? And

19:49is that vision something that may be

19:52workable with the state before we just

19:53go and say, "Yeah, we're willing to just

19:55cut a state check to the state for a

19:57certain amount of money because we

19:58didn't live up to a 25-year-old

20:00promise." But there's also questions

20:01about the um

20:04um you know, statute of limitations on

20:06the requirements of of that agreement

20:09that we need to work through as well.

20:10Right.

20:11So, too many whatifs to have it on the

20:13capital plan for now. So, we're going to

20:14hold off on that. So, so you're saying

20:16that the 210 is not

20:18correct. Yeah, we took it off.

20:20Um,

20:21you said you took it off, but it's still

20:22on my chart.

20:23Well, yes, it's on the chart that's in

20:25there, but it's not on the paper that's

20:27in front of you.

20:28Oh, all right. You know what? I'm

20:29looking.

20:29It's not in the fancy one, but it's on

20:31the one from last week. Yeah.

20:32Or last meeting. I keep

20:34the other side of this one.

20:35Yeah, it's not.

20:37Okay. So, you know what? [clears throat]

20:38You get rid of my PayPal

20:41and then

20:41looking at the wrong numbers. the I

20:44guess we kind of have if you want to

20:46call option A option B going. So in

20:49front of you you'll see that there was a

20:51um a an item on here for parking lot

20:54repaving for engineering for the police

20:56station for 75,000.

20:58Um

21:00at the board of selectman's last meeting

21:02the senior center feasibility study came

21:04to talk to them about putting the senior

21:06center on for town meeting and I can I

21:10guess Andrew can explain more. So, you

21:12know, essentially outline the different

21:13options that were, you know, that that

21:16the town could take relative to it based

21:18off of timelines and what seemed to have

21:20like I guess the most board support was

21:23to actually look at new construction and

21:26to look at the uh land that is at the

21:29what was slated to be at the former

21:31public safety building. So looking at

21:34kind of our our

21:36the way that we had attacked the fi the

21:38fire substation project and saying that

21:41okay the first you know really first

21:42step was feasibility the second step was

21:45schematic design and design development

21:47and putting some you know taking some

21:50free cash putting it toward that

21:52project. It's a healthy number but it

21:54gets you into that project. It gets you

21:56a building [snorts] design and it gives

21:58you a probably a 75%

22:00cost estimation as to what that cost

22:03would be

22:04and I think enough information to inform

22:06the voters on a potential on a on the

22:10cost of a project itself to fund. So by

22:14putting some real money toward it,

22:15designing that building, the next phase

22:17would be um the uh the contra the the

22:22actual construction document phase which

22:24is a little bit more intensive.

22:27Um but with that with that number, you

22:30could essentially sell the project. So

22:32you're kind of clearing a lower a a

22:35little bit of a higher hurdle um by

22:37asking for a good amount of money.

22:38Hopefully, you don't have to spend all

22:40that money because if you come up with

22:42your all your schematic design plans and

22:44you're under budget and the project gets

22:46approved, then the any money that's

22:48remaining could then go into the actual

22:50construction phase.

22:51So, at least it's it's committing the

22:54town to a path.

22:57And then our our game plan with that was

22:59because it's g if it

23:00if we're going to use the Masonic home

23:03road

23:04site, it's obviously right next to our

23:06current police station. If you could put

23:08the building close to the current police

23:10station, you could almost

23:12create ancillary parking

23:13parking for the police station because

23:15they need parking

23:16and then it would solve their parking

23:18problem

23:19and then also give the seniors a

23:21building. So we could use

23:23kind you're kind of I guess killing two

23:24birds with one stone sense. So instead

23:26of engineering for parking lot redesign,

23:29if you're going to build a building over

23:30there, you might as well just add that

23:32in the parking one. So we would

23:35essentially take the 75,000 off the

23:38table for the police station parking lot

23:40repavement.

23:41Y

23:42that would then become 500,000 for

23:44senior center and this isn't on your

23:46paper but it would essentially become

23:48500,000 for the senior center

23:50feasibility study and then further down

23:54um in your paper you see that we were

23:55putting money into stabilization. I

23:57would still do that, but instead of the

23:58250 into regular stabilization and the

24:01300 into capital, I would do either a

24:04hundred into regular and 50 into

24:05capital, or you could flip-flop it, but

24:07I would essentially only do 150,000. And

24:11that would in turn leave us with like a

24:12little over $900,000 in free cash.

24:15It'd be like a 900 whatever. So, we're

24:18at 925 right now. It'd be like nine

24:21right at the $900,000 mark or so.

24:25What what's our 10% number? Our

24:28stabilization.

24:29So, we're we're already currently at 12.

24:32What do I have it here?

24:33We're over 10.

24:34Yeah, we're at 12 right now. We're

24:36currently at 12.47 of the current FY27

24:39operating budget.

24:40So, we're over 10.

24:42So, I would still be putting money aside

24:44because we didn't get to do that last

24:45year. So, we would put money aside still

24:47this year and still get the senior

24:49center study done and still leave money

24:51sitting in free cash for the spring for

24:54any um needed capital projects if we

24:58have it. And then we always obviously

24:59save it for snow and ice.

25:00Yep.

25:01Right.

25:01So, we would still leave ourselves with

25:03almost the million-dollar cushion which

25:05we try. And this this used to confuse me

25:07just to make sure that we all everybody

25:09knows there's a difference between free

25:11cash certified free cash and free cash

25:14that you're using as a term. Okay.

25:17That's available to us down the road.

25:19Well, no, that would in my really the

25:22same dollars.

25:23Yes. So the 2 you have 2.8 2.8 million

25:26that was certified, right?

25:27You can only you have that money to

25:29spend until June 30th, right? Once June

25:3130th hit that that money goes away and

25:33you have to wait for it to get

25:34reertified again for FY28.

25:36So we're allocating 1.9 now.

25:38Correct.

25:391

25:401.9

25:42whatever the rough numbers.

25:43Yeah.

25:441.9 with

25:46and you're going to leave like 900,000

25:47on the table. Y got

25:49and then that money we could roll would

25:52stay until the spring at our next town

25:54meeting

25:55and then we could vote from we usually

25:57vote from there to fund if there is a

26:00snow and ice deficit [clears throat]

26:01rather than raising that on the recap

26:03for taxes. So we spend that from free

26:05cash and then if we had any capital

26:09projects that came up or emergencies or

26:10whatever that could wait until May that

26:12we needed to do, we could spend the rest

26:14of that or just let it essentially

26:17close. we don't spend it and then it

26:18becomes part of free cash for the next

26:19year.

26:20Gotcha. Now I noticed that you were 300

26:23on capital and 250 on stabilization. Do

26:26you have was your ratio there because

26:28you know you got some capital stuff

26:30coming?

26:32I think our game plan is yeah we also

26:34didn't put any money toward capital last

26:36year. Um, so we we want to try we we had

26:40really rated our capital stabiliz I say

26:42rated but you know we took a healthy

26:43balance out of our capital stabilization

26:45account back when we did the fire

26:46station project

26:47and we did recover some of that money

26:50into there through taxation

26:52u two years ago to kind of bring us back

26:55to that million dollar mark but we

26:57really haven't um contributed to it. We

27:01like to get it back up. Uh there is

27:03another project that we'll want to talk

27:04about that we that we discussed today.

27:06That may be another thing that we'll

27:08have to look at capital stabilization if

27:11uh timing comes in spring. Right. So

27:13all right. So if we take that 250 and

27:17and you said bring it down to 100.

27:19Yeah. So essentially you could do 100

27:21into stabilization, 50 into capital, or

27:23if you really wanted to flip-flop them,

27:24you can. And you have 150,000 to spend

27:27either

27:28right

27:28either way. And that then frees up the

27:31senior center of money.

27:32Correct.

27:32Half million dollars.

27:33Correct.

27:37All right. And then sewer and sewer. We

27:39don't

27:39Yeah. Sewer and water. Those were

27:40requests from the water and sewer

27:41commissioners. And then you'll also see

27:44uh what you didn't see at your last

27:45meeting, there's a $25,000

27:47office renovations for the sewer

27:50facility um that got added because they

27:52just voted on that at their last

27:53meeting.

27:54Yep.

27:54So that's obviously going to come from

27:55sewer retained earnings.

27:57Okay.

27:59So you can you redo this with

28:02Yes. Yep. I I wanted to get a feel from

28:04you guys first because the other thing

28:06is is um I think the select board kind

28:09of wants your seal of approval on that

28:12if that's how you guys want to move

28:13forward before

28:14you senior.

28:15Yes. I think before we switch it because

28:18then I would in the warrant that way but

28:21it's not on your capital plan that way.

28:23So I can the warrant's okay.

28:25You want a formalized motion? the

28:27warrant. Uh, yeah, it would probably be

28:29nice.

28:29All right. Can we hold on? Can we talk

28:31about that a little bit more? I feel

28:32like I feel like this this came on

28:34pretty quick and I like I'm not fully

28:36understand. So,

28:38the request is 500K and it's in the

28:42warrant already.

28:43It's in a draft.

28:45It's in the draft warrant, right? And

28:46it's not it's not the warrant for

28:48posting. It's it's the it's the booklet

28:50version of how we outlay it.

28:52No, I know. So if you look at article

28:55five. So article four if you if we want

28:57to look at it really quick has all the

28:58obviously all the separate motions.

29:00Yeah.

29:01Those are all the capital

29:02right besides

29:03requests that are in that were that we

29:05talked about last meeting aside from the

29:07$75,000.

29:09Actually I lied. The $75,000 is in here

29:11but I would take that out if you guys

29:13want to move forward with article five

29:14which is the senior center design

29:17feasibility study. So that's where the

29:18$500,000 is sitting currently. And it

29:21has nothing this has nothing to do with

29:23the the location we had previously

29:25talked about. This is a new location and

29:28a new idea.

29:29Correct.

29:29Coming out of the select board.

29:32Yes. So I think the way that we would

29:33move forward is if we're going to do it,

29:35we would look at just doing it at the

29:38Masonic home road location. Essentially

29:40what it came out to was that as they

29:42looked at the other location,

29:44the comparative cost of renovation and

29:48acquisition of the property was

29:50equivalent to new build for the same

29:53square footage.

29:55So

29:56yet either whether you chose down there

29:59or built brand new on an unknown on an

30:02unknown site, you were generally talking

30:04about the same the same dollars. and

30:06they felt that by pursuing that property

30:11for a new build was a much more tenable

30:14idea than to try to do an do an 11

30:18million renovation on a prop uh on a

30:21property.

30:22Okay. And we spent 75k I believe on the

30:26previous

30:2750 on the previous on whatever what we

30:30last year.

30:3050. And what they did was they compare

30:32that what they did was do a do a

30:34building analysis and comparative. So

30:38they analyzed the

30:41um cost it would be for renovation to

30:44that building. They looked at this

30:46building to see what would it exp what

30:48would it the constraints beyond

30:50expansion of this building. So to

30:53essentially achieve similar so almost

30:56connecting the two wings over here and

30:58trying to provide additional parking and

31:01the costs were comparable but the the

31:03constraints of trying to develop it and

31:05the the final product was not

31:09didn't really pan out. And then compared

31:12to to those two was unknown site. We're

31:15not selecting any particular site, but

31:17based off the current cost per square

31:19footage for new construction, what would

31:21a similar size building cost? It was

31:24generally pretty much the same, 11,

31:27you know, 11.2 million, give or take.

31:30Um, either way,

31:32okay. And this new 500k

31:37will basically set us up like we did

31:39with the fire station with this is like

31:42a full feas feasibility with designs for

31:45that other location and to get us to a

31:48point where we pretty much know exactly

31:50what it's going to cost in order to do

31:52that.

31:53What it's going to look like then you'd

31:55have a more hard concrete number to go

31:57to town meeting to approve a project.

31:59And then if we we're going to go for a

32:01debt exclusion, you could also go for

32:02that too,

32:03which which would happen in May. So

32:05basically we're we're

32:07not even this May.

32:09Not even this.

32:09You like to because really if this is

32:12approved,

32:12good question.

32:13You have to hire an OPM and architect.

32:17You need to go you need to do all your

32:19due diligence. You have to design this

32:20building. I mean, you're probably

32:21talking at least eight months worth of

32:23work that they're going to have to do to

32:25develop this plan. working with a build

32:28with a with a building committee to to

32:30develop this. So, realistically, if it's

32:33approved in

32:35October, you're probably talking

32:38next October,

32:41close to next October that you might

32:42even be ready to take a next step, but

32:45you also have to pair that with

32:47a debt exclusion vote, right? So you may

32:50you know then we're going to talk you

32:52know then the next discussion will be

32:53about timing of a town meeting pro you

32:56know town meeting approval of the

32:57project then debt exclusion of of a

32:59project

33:00right

33:01question

33:01and see there's no I'm sorry to

33:04interrupt I was just going to say and

33:05and there's no state or federal

33:07elections next November so that's

33:09grading the following

33:10May so there are well there's not

33:13but even if there were it's hard to you

33:15have to have all your ducks in a row

33:17what is it like 30 60 days prior

33:20to get on to. So they're hard

33:21saying there's no opportunity. So we're

33:23talking about the dead exclusion vote

33:25being sometime in

33:26May 28. Right.

33:28Right. Gota

33:29right and realistically you may need

33:30that time to try to

33:32say all right we've done this now we

33:34need to go to a due diligence period to

33:35really

33:36sell this. Right.

33:37Answer all the answer all the questions

33:39get all get all the tweaks

33:41worked out of it. You know get all the

33:43public feedback and then come back and

33:45make any changes that need to be made.

33:46And then like with the with the fire

33:49station, we actually put the debt

33:50exclusion vote

33:52before or the sorry the ballot vote

33:55before the town meeting vote. So we

33:57needed that,

33:58you know,

34:00that assurance. You know, it was kind of

34:01a

34:02wonky time frame that you're asking for

34:04approval on a project before you've ever

34:07authorized the debt to do it.

34:08Right.

34:10Now, if we spend the money for the PL

34:12I'm sorry, Jeremy.

34:12No,

34:13for the plan

34:15and it goes through and we agree to

34:18build new senior center, does the town,

34:20and I I apologize for not knowing this.

34:22Does the town have to do any kind of

34:23borrowing to put up the senior center?

34:25So, and the reason I ask is because from

34:27LA this time last year to this time this

34:29year, we're interest rates are up almost

34:32a single a full 1% on a borrowing. And

34:35that doesn't sound like much, but it is

34:37absurdly a lot when you get into the

34:39bigger numbers, right? Do we take into

34:41account just how much more expensive

34:43this project might be in another year or

34:44two as to where it would be when it

34:47first started getting discussed? I

34:48believe it was 5 years ago. I mean, we

34:50are in a vastly different rate

34:51environment and this project might start

34:54out at 10 million, might very well come

34:55into 15 to 20 million. And do we take

34:58into account any of that?

35:00Um, we try to. Um I as you remember with

35:02the fire station project, it was a very

35:05um

35:08a very

35:11weird time for the construction market

35:13where things were were going up

35:15significantly and we even saw [snorts]

35:17between when we did the feasibility

35:19study to when we ended schematic design,

35:21a $3 million escalation, the estimated

35:24uh cost. Thankfully, the bids did not

35:26come in that high. they came in actually

35:28closer to where where they were

35:29estimating at feasibility. But I think

35:31that you know that is a a consideration

35:34that they're that when they actually do

35:36estimate when they do the estimations

35:38you know professional cost estimators

35:40they'll say well what are you looking at

35:41doing construction? Okay. Well that at

35:44that time it's going to be this right

35:46and as you mentioned about the the uh

35:48interest rates that's why we're very

35:50aggressive with our stabilization and

35:51stuff to have the highest possible bond

35:53rating. Um, right now we're at a double

35:55A plus, you know, just under that AAA.

35:57And from all intents and purposes,

35:59everything that keeps us away from AAA

36:01is way is out of our control. Sure.

36:03So, we've done everything that we can to

36:05to have a solid double A double A plus

36:08for the best interest rate possible.

36:09So, when we use when we're looking at

36:11like looking at financing for things, we

36:14usually plan around the four and a half,

36:16four, four and a half, even 5% interest

36:18rate, and we've been borrowing at like

36:20three.

36:21Oh, wow. So, we usually plan for the

36:23worst, hope for the best.

36:24Yeah. And we're using these numbers to

36:26try to basically say that we're going to

36:27exclude this we're exclude the debt from

36:29this project. So, it's not going to

36:31impact our operational budget, but we

36:32understand that the long-term debt will

36:34be added to the tax bill,

36:36right?

36:36So,

36:37thank you.

36:39And we just borrowed at the 3% too.

36:40One of the reasons why I asked about are

36:42we over the 10% is because that's the

36:45state recommendation. And when you are,

36:48you get a better bond

36:48rate. Yeah. So,

36:50yeah, they look to see make sure that

36:51you're actually meeting your policy

36:52objectives,

36:53right? And in our policy, we have a 10%

36:55minimum basically in our stabilization

36:57balance. So, basically, they look at all

36:59of like our financial policies, make

37:00sure we're meeting all of those

37:01benchmarks and the finance committee

37:03goals. Make sure we're meeting those.

37:05And then they also now look at outside

37:07factors of economic growth and how much

37:09people that live in your community make

37:10and what um

37:12what their

37:13the Worcester County pension system

37:14which and the Worcester County pension

37:16system how how much they're funded for

37:18their OPED and it's like they're nowhere

37:21close. So we get dinged for all of those

37:23things and those things. So like our we

37:26meet our financial policies and do all

37:27that stuff that we can internally and

37:29we've worked really hard to do that but

37:30the outside factors and um are all out

37:33of our control. like the Worcester

37:35regional thing is always a big ding for

37:36us. And then the outside, we're just not

37:38obviously

37:40inside the 495 corridor. So, we're not

37:42as I guess we're just not in that

37:45wealthy belt. Even though we're doing

37:47well, we're just not in that belt where

37:49everyone usually is the AAA's.

37:50They look at county growth rates. So,

37:52essentially, we're being looked at in

37:54all of Worcester County. So even in the

37:56northern Worcester County area, they're

37:58basically saying, well, because, you

37:59know, the towns up, you know, in the

38:00north Worcester County area are

38:04affecting our growth down here in Charle

38:05because it's, you know, it's somebody in

38:07New York that's

38:08evaluating these.

38:10When you say growth, do you mean

38:11population or income?

38:12Both. Both. Okay. Okay.

38:14Population, income, economic

38:15development, uh, average, uh, me or

38:19median household income,

38:22you know. So,

38:23yeah,

38:24all those factors They look

38:25everything out of our control.

38:27Yeah. Sure.

38:27Look at every number.

38:29And they compare you to like Worcester

38:31and like big cities and obviously we're

38:33not a big city, but that's what they're

38:34comparing you to because you're inside

38:36the Worcester County.

38:37Sure.

38:38It's fun.

38:39Brian, Jamie, Christian, any questions

38:41on this uh budget on the um capital

38:45budget?

38:46And did you Good. Thank you.

38:48I actually just wanted to say we're all

38:51we're going to vote for is that it is

38:53going to be able to before town meeting.

38:56Correct.

38:56Correct.

38:57And then the town is going to be able to

38:58vote on this because I have some real um

39:02reservations about at least the

39:04acknowledgement that we have major

39:07financial

39:09commitments coming up with whatever we

39:11need to do for the existing school

39:12buildings and we're talking about a

39:15study for a new building. I'm not saying

39:19I don't think it's necessary to have a

39:21senior center and we have outgrown what

39:23we have. But I'm saying if we're trying

39:25to be fiscally responsible as a town or

39:28determine

39:30as residents what people can afford,

39:32they're going to have to weigh all all

39:34of these things out. And I just I would

39:36like to give them the option to weigh it

39:38out and like the vote, but I don't want

39:40to be the one responsible for making the

39:41decision that somebody can afford a new

39:43building.

39:44Right. Yep. No. And and that's that's

39:46the goal here, Jamie, is to give

39:48everybody the option, give them the

39:50ability to to to say yes or no. Right.

39:52Okay.

39:54Again, our job is to make sure that we

39:55can fit it within a fiscal policy that

39:58we we want to follow. All right.

40:00And again, I mean, obviously, it's

40:02$500,000. It's a lot of money, but just

40:04because we spend it doesn't mean you

40:05have to move forward with the building.

40:07You could get there and maybe cost

40:09escalations go really high or the town

40:11just decides they don't want to move

40:12forward with it. I mean, obviously you

40:13spent the 500,000, but at least it gave

40:15them that opportunity to see what the

40:17cost would be.

40:18But but to your point, Jamie,

40:19I guess to that exact point, Ashley, I I

40:22don't want to spend $500,000 if the

40:25citizens in the town are not going to

40:27vote to move forward on this. I feel

40:29like we could save the money now,

40:32right?

40:33If we know we would not have the backing

40:36of the of them, the voters.

40:40So that's why I think we left it as a

40:42separate article too because we did it

40:43with the fire station anyway. So it's

40:45separate from all the the that capital

40:49article even though it's like four

40:50different motions. It's separate from

40:51that. It's its own article, right? So it

40:53can get discussed at town meeting too.

40:55So if we're going to move forward with

40:57it, we are going to make it its own

40:58article.

40:59Yep. And that and that's the that's the

41:02whole reason Jamie just to give

41:03everybody the chance. All right. And and

41:05now next on the agenda, if there's no

41:07more questions, Brian, thanks for

41:08joining us. Do you have any questions on

41:10the capital plan is is presented?

41:13No, I think you guys covered everything.

41:15Okay, good.

41:16If we are if you guys are okay with

41:17doing the 500, can we just vote on it

41:20just so we have the seal of approval? I

41:22think the board

41:23we do have we did have the senior

41:24standard feasibility proposal down the

41:26agenda, but if you want to do it now.

41:28All right.

41:28I guess if you want to talk about the

41:29proposal, we can, but

41:32no, I'll make it as simple as possible.

41:35I'll entertain a motion that we support

41:37article five of the draft town warrant.

41:41And that basically just says for those

41:43at home because they are the ones that

41:44are on Zoom or that can't see it, it's

41:47just it's an article to allow us to

41:51obtain OPM to go for and uh basically

41:55allow us to go to the next phase for the

41:57$500,000 for the purpose of the senior

41:59center.

42:00And again, Jamie, we're we're approving

42:03the written article. We're not spending

42:06the money. Yeah.

42:06That's the town's job, right?

42:08Okay.

42:08And that would also change. So, if we're

42:10going

42:11and I guess maybe this is a question for

42:13you guys. So, if if that if we're going

42:14to do it, that's obviously going to

42:16change the uh stabilization numbers and

42:18get rid of the parking lot for the

42:20police station. [clears throat]

42:21And I made those. That's why I asked you

42:23if you're going to redo this. If the

42:25500,000 I guess fails on the town

42:27meeting floor, did we want to change and

42:30bring stabilization back to what what is

42:32in front of you for the 250 and the 300?

42:35That would be

42:36Can I ask one more question before we

42:37vote?

42:37Yeah.

42:38So, if we vote to put this on the town

42:41warrant, I read looking at the back, are

42:45we then stating that we agree that not

42:47adding a police officer and a fire

42:49inspector is how we as a finance

42:51committee are going?

42:52That's separate.

42:53Okay.

42:54I haven't I haven't brought that up yet.

42:57I will do that next, but that would be

42:59separate from this.

43:00Oh, if we're not

43:01I had two requests for additional

43:02personnel come in.

43:05Do we have that the agenda to talk about

43:07operational?

43:08It's in under our update.

43:10Okay. See, plus that's an operational

43:12thing versus capital.

43:13Oh, so it's

43:15I just threw it in there because it came

43:16in as an ask for October's town meeting

43:19and I apologize again for not knowing. I

43:22thought it was one bucket of money and

43:23we had to decide what we were

43:24supporting. That will be separate.

43:26That's an operational.

43:27I know it's under capital plan update,

43:28but it's realistically that was that's a

43:30separate update that we wanted to

43:31address.

43:32Sorry.

43:32Afterward. It's okay.

43:33No, no, no.

43:34By you asking those kinds of questions.

43:36Okay. Everybody gets to understand how

43:38we operate.

43:39Okay.

43:39So, don't ever be afraid to ask the

43:41question, right?

43:43So, I didn't hear any further discussion

43:45from the three at home. Jeremy, you got

43:47anything? No. I just I was going to ask

43:49if you entertained a motion or you made

43:51a motion. No,

43:52I can't make a motion. I will entertain

43:54a motion to uh to support article five

43:58in the draft warrants.

44:00I'll make the I'll support the motion.

44:02All right. So, I have a motion. Do I

44:04have a second?

44:05I'll second. I have a second. Any

44:07further discussion?

44:11There being none, all those in favor say

44:13yes.

44:14Yes.

44:15Yes.

44:15Yes.

44:15Yes. Uh, do I have to do

44:18I'm sorry. I got to do roll call.

44:20Christian, yes or no?

44:22Yes.

44:23Brian, yes or no?

44:25Yes.

44:26Jamie, yes or no?

44:28Yes.

44:28All right. So, that's three there and

44:30three here. So, that's

44:32unanimous. So, we will support that

44:35motion.

44:36And then I guess my second portion is if

44:40for whatever reason if if this does make

44:42it through the because the board of

44:43selectman also has to put their seal

44:44approval on this. If they do and that

44:46500,000 fails on the floor, do you want

44:49to change the amounts going into

44:50stabilization?

44:51Yeah, but by the time we do that

44:54article, we'll have already done

44:55the stabilization transfer is the

44:57article after.

44:58Oh,

44:58so you'd have to make a so on the floor

45:01make a motion to

45:03right

45:03as part of the motion that you make.

45:05You'd have to indicate that you're

45:07recommending a different amount. So what

45:09I'll do is when we do the whole articles

45:11out I will give you guys the

45:14stabilization transfer article. So if it

45:16does fail right

45:17if you want to we can change it on the

45:18floor.

45:19Gotcha. Yes.

45:20And what is stabilization do? What does

45:21that actually mean?

45:22So stabilization is basically for lack

45:24of better a rainy day fund. So it's a

45:27savings account that you need the

45:30majority of time to vote yes to put

45:32money into and then it needs twothirds

45:34vote to come out and you can only use

45:36it. So capital stabilization can only be

45:38used to capital purchases like cruisers

45:40or buildings or like capital items. You

45:43couldn't use it to fund a a body.

45:45Okay?

45:46I wouldn't recommend using any of these

45:47to fund a body, but capital capital

45:49stabilization can only be used for

45:50capital items. Stabilization could be

45:53used for anything. Okay?

45:54Our goal is to fund it to a level of of

45:56funding at least one year's worth of

45:58capital request. So that way if for some

46:00reason our free cash

46:02took a hit for for some unknown reason,

46:05we could actually defer back to our

46:06capital stabilization to continue our

46:08capital plan.

46:09Okay. Thank you.

46:12Yeah, I I would be in favor of adjusting

46:15that new mo the motion six.

46:17Okay. So what I'll do is when we do the

46:18motions at or the who's calling what at

46:21town meeting, I'll make sure that goes

46:22to you guys and then we can change on

46:23the floor if we need to.

46:24If we need to.

46:25Okay. So, I will be removing the police

46:28station parking lot. We're going to do

46:30the 500,000 for the senior center and

46:32then it would be 150 100 and then the 50

46:34to the two stabilization.

46:36Okay.

46:37So, we're good on that then.

46:41Yeah, that was the only that was the

46:42only change I had.

46:48All right. So, that's that's that. Uh

46:51so, now number five. Now Jamie, we get

46:53to talk about the schools and their

46:55votes coming up.

46:57Do you want to talk about our meeting

46:58today or

46:59uh Yeah. So we

47:00we have two we have two parts to the

47:02school.

47:03Oh,

47:03but you want to do the capital the

47:05ballot vote coming up first?

47:07Yeah, let's check. Yeah. So obviously we

47:09have the ballot vote that's coming up uh

47:10that's September 29th 29th. Um,

47:14essentially it's a 11 a little over 11

47:17million uh capital request from the

47:20school for a loan authorization. Loan

47:22authorization requires a ballot vote of

47:23the member towns. Um, if approved, the t

47:27the town has to decide how it's going to

47:29fund it. If it takes no further action,

47:30we have to try to figure out a way to

47:32fund it through our operational budget.

47:35So, I believe our our cost impact based

47:38off the capital plan is about $6 million

47:41for between our proportionate share of

47:43Shepherd Hill at the two Charlton

47:45schools of what's in that. Um, Dudley

47:48has opted that at the same meeting

47:50they're going to have that the ballot

47:53vote for the school, but also the debt

47:56exclusion vote on that on that school

47:58borrowing and an override vote.

48:01Obviously, we're not in that position

48:03that we need to consider all all three

48:04of those at once. But if it does pass,

48:08uh considering it's a $6 million

48:09project, I would implore the town to

48:12consider a uh debt excluding the town's

48:16portion of that in May. Um because we

48:19won't be in a position to obligate any

48:22funds and we'll see what the results of

48:24of that election are before we make a

48:27internal funding decision. And I don't

48:30think we would see I'd have to double

48:32check the information that we got from

48:34the school, but I don't think we would

48:36even see it in the FY28 assessment. I

48:37don't think you're going to see FY29.

48:39Their little matrix there showed like

48:42different years and different amounts.

48:43Is that because they would only borrow

48:45as they spend over five years

48:48and some of the items that they're

48:50doing. So when you borrow, you're only

48:51allowed to borrow for the what the state

48:53determines the life of that

48:55asset is.

48:56Asset is. So like buildings you can

48:58usually borrow for 20 years, but if

48:59you're doing, let's just say you're

49:01doing um

49:02phones, sidewalks,

49:03right? Those things probably only have

49:05an asset life of like five years. So you

49:07can only borrow for the life of what the

49:09asset is. So some of their borrowing, if

49:11you looked at that paperwork that was

49:13sent out, some of their borrowings,

49:16they're only obviously borrowing as they

49:17do. So they're borrowing probably pieces

49:19at a time, but then some of it also

49:21you're paying portions of it off in five

49:23years and then portions of it, I think,

49:24in 15.

49:25Okay. So it's different.

49:26It get kind of convoluted as you try to

49:28follow the

49:29and not all of them were were being done

49:31the same year. There were some that were

49:32being done

49:33right. I think it's a stagger 29 and 30.

49:36Yeah. So that's why you see some of

49:38sometimes um the cost spikes a little

49:41bit because they're probably adding on

49:42new debt

49:43and then some of it falls off as you go

49:45down because they're only borrowing for

49:46a couple years.

49:48And another thing that was a little

49:49confusing, you may want to explain how

49:52the majority vote goes per town. So the

49:55majority vote is the

49:57total amount of voters between both

50:00towns,

50:00right? to figure out. So if say 60% of

50:04Charlton vote v voters vote in fa v v v

50:06v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v

50:06v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v vote in

50:07favor of it um you know it depends on

50:09what what what the turnout is and you

50:12know only 30% of the Dudley voters do

50:14but it's a lower but it's a lower

50:16turnout and

50:18um you know essentially it ends up pass

50:20you know it ends up passing by the

50:22number of people that actually came out

50:24to vote between both towns. So one town

50:26could fail it but it could still pass

50:27overall. You're looking look at it as a

50:29it's a district vote. So a combination

50:31of the voters from Dudley and Charlton

50:33together as a district. Don't look at it

50:34as Dudley verse Charleton.

50:36They're looking at it as a total of

50:37voters coming out. So if 2,000 voters

50:40between the two towns come out and 60%

50:42of it passes, it doesn't matter if

50:44whether they were Charlton or Dudley

50:45voters. If it passes by 60% or 51%, it's

50:49assessed to both towns.

50:51Yeah. I mean, so even if every person in

50:52Dudley voted no and every person in

50:54Charlton voted yes and we had more

50:55people show up to the ballot, it's

50:57passing for both towns because it's a

50:59we were 5050 in Charleton and they were

51:0175 against in Dudley, the whole thing

51:04fails.

51:05Exactly. 5050.

51:06If the numbers are there, right?

51:08But I'm That's the ratio.

51:09Yeah. So they look at it as it's it's a

51:11district vote. So it's a majority of

51:13both combined total voters.

51:16Yeah. that that I thought again was a

51:18little strange when I first heard it and

51:19I want to make sure everybody

51:20understood.

51:21And then also what's different is that

51:24because it's a district vote and it's

51:26their borrowing if it passes we have no

51:30choice to pay for this debt. So if it

51:32does pass whether we exclude it or not

51:35we are getting assessed the balance

51:37which is different from town borrowings

51:40because normally if we are going for a

51:42project and say we need an exclusion

51:44vote and the exclusion vote p fails but

51:46the town meeting authorization

51:49essentially passes we usually don't move

51:50forward with the project because we

51:52wouldn't be able to afford it or in this

51:53case if it passes at the district that

51:56if the district ballot vote passes yes

51:58and our debt exclusion ballot fails

52:02We would still have to pay for it.

52:04Correct. Because it's going to get

52:04assessed to us.

52:05We just have to amend our operating

52:07budget to account for it.

52:08Right.

52:08So at least see where the difference

52:10between capital and operating come in.

52:12Yeah. Very much.

52:13Yeah.

52:14So the school would assess us a portion

52:17of it would essentially come into their

52:18capital. So when the school gives us

52:20their assessment breakdown, it's

52:22operational capital and transportation.

52:24So this this borrowing would sit in that

52:27capital assessment from the school.

52:30Thank you.

52:30You're welcome.

52:31Okay. And if this does pass, they're

52:34going to start construction or they're

52:36going to start renovations.

52:38So, I think they would they would look

52:39to borrow sometime and it sounds like

52:412028 and then we probably wouldn't see

52:43the first payment. I think until 29.

52:45I was going to What was the timeline?

52:46I think so. I'd have to double check,

52:48but I'm pretty sure when I looked I

52:49don't think it would hit until 2029. So,

52:51you'd probably see it in your 29

52:53assessment. Yeah.

52:54Not your 28.

52:56Okay.

52:56Because usually the first year you

52:57borrow

52:59They're probably just going to we call

53:01it rolling a ban. So they're probably

53:02just going to borrow and they have to

53:03pay off interest. But if they borrow

53:05after July 1st, the first payment won't

53:07be due until the following July 1. So it

53:09would hit your FY29 budget.

53:11Do we have any capital projects coming

53:13off?

53:14No.

53:15From our perspective,

53:17no.

53:17Uh we put it in

53:19I couldn't remember.

53:20There's not.

53:21Hold on.

53:22Not until

53:24the next one. Yep. 2031, which is a fire

53:26engine replacement, but they're in

53:28generally a fiveyear cycle with their

53:30replacement. So, you hit where we pay

53:33off one, the next one.

53:34We're gonna buy another one, right? And

53:36it's going to be You want to talk about

53:37rising cost? You ought to see how fire

53:39trucks go, right, Brian? What's the cost

53:41of a fire truck today?

53:443 million for a ladder, 1.5 for an

53:46engine.

53:47Yeah,

53:47imagine that.

53:48They're not cheap and they take like

53:50three years to like build basically to

53:52get here

53:52if you can find them,

53:53right? So, a question I've always

53:56wondered and I think we should address

53:57it at the town meeting just because I

53:59know it's on a lot of people's minds and

54:00no one wants to ask it because I never

54:02have either. What is if if everything

54:04gets approved, let's say everything goes

54:06to floor and everybody is ra for all the

54:08last things. What is the most someone's

54:11taxes percentage wise could go up per

54:14year? Is there a cap on it? Because I

54:16know on like a prop two and a half, it

54:18can only go up two and a half%.

54:19But it's as a total of a town. So like

54:22your taxes could go up four and a half

54:24percent, but let's say Hanks only went

54:26up like one and a half percent.

54:28How? Because it's an average of the

54:30whole town.

54:31So think of think of it as a as a pie,

54:33right?

54:33Realistically, so that pie can only grow

54:36two and a half% per per year, right? But

54:39the assessed value of every little slice

54:41of that pie can shift, right? So res a

54:44residential property let's just like

54:47residential if it's growing at a much

54:49higher

54:50rate than say industrial

54:52then those then essentially that tax

54:56bill for a residential may grow at a

54:58much substant much more substantial rate

55:00because it's based off of that tax rate

55:03um is you know whatever the tax rate

55:05that's determined is

55:07um if you take your assessed value

55:12um divide it by a thousand and then

55:14times the tax rate is what your tax bill

55:16is,

55:17right?

55:17So, you know, depending on what the

55:19global value is and how your total value

55:22of your house compares to that global

55:24value of the town is kind of how that

55:28budget how that budget is broken out,

55:30right?

55:31So, I under I I understand that

55:34different houses assess it different

55:37amounts,

55:37right? Extremely well, actually. Um and

55:40I understand that Hank's house is worth

55:42a million and my house is worth 50,000,

55:44Hank's tax bill is going to go up

55:45exponentially more than mine at the same

55:47percentage. But how are the percentages

55:49different? Because I understand that if

55:51we we increase it by 3%. Obviously

55:53Hank's p tax bill is going to go up way

55:55up and mine is going to go up a lot for

55:57me, but only three 3% 3%. It's just 3%

56:00of different numbers.

56:01How are the percentages different?

56:03That's what I don't understand. So what

56:04we what we do when we kind of get to

56:07this phase of the year is that we have

56:09generally high confidence as to what the

56:11new new growth and the assessed values

56:14are going to be for all the prop for all

56:16the properties.

56:17So we're able to determine generally

56:20what the average single family tax bill

56:23is. So any any of the 100 class

56:27properties and what's what's the lowest

56:29highest you know median uh average. And

56:32so as we plug in our our you know our

56:35budgetary numbers,

56:37we kind of try to stick we we our target

56:40goal is about three and a half% about

56:43$180

56:45on the average single family tax bill

56:47that we're that is kind of like our

56:49target goal. And if all these if

56:51everything passes, we're going to be

56:52we're going to be there. It doesn't mean

56:54that anybody's individual ones may vary,

56:57right? um especially if you if you did

56:59an addition to your house or some or

57:00sure something like that. It might it's

57:02it might change it uh differently, but

57:04that's kind of the our target as we're

57:06doing this.

57:07Now, we h do have substantial excess

57:09money capacity right now. So, we could

57:12tax we could go and amend the budget

57:16substantially higher than what it is

57:19without a debt ex without a debt

57:21exclusion vote. I think right now that

57:23number is 2 millionish.

57:26I have it.

57:26It's approximately $2 million right now

57:29that we've left on the table that we

57:30have the authority to tax without an

57:32override.

57:34And if we did that, then that tax bill

57:37could go up to, you know, it could be I

57:41don't know if we even ran that number.

57:43I don't think we did. No, but

57:44but I we could essentially just by

57:46amending the budget tap into that number

57:48without going for a debt exclusion vote,

57:50but your taxes would go up obviously

57:52substantially. Well, and I think that's

57:54something that has needs to be addressed

57:58because the biggest fear out there is if

58:00things pass because right now, as Jamie

58:02mentioned, there's big things going on

58:03at the school. There's big things going

58:04on at the senior center. There's lots of

58:06big things and it's a very people are

58:08it's really tight out there right now.

58:09People are watching pennies. Um people

58:11need to know what the max is because

58:13they're going to there's a lot of fear

58:15out there that they're just not going to

58:17be able to afford to keep stay in their

58:18homes, right? Um, and I think that if we

58:20could appease some of that and let them

58:22know that sure, and I mean they know

58:25what their assessed values are, but the

58:26max it can go is say three and a half

58:28percent. That at least will give someone

58:29a number in their head as opposed to

58:31thinking that their tax bill will go

58:32from and I'm making up numbers now, but

58:35from $300 a quarter to $1,200 a quarter.

58:37So essentially we always so like before

58:39we even came before we once we got free

58:42cash certified Andrew myself and the

58:44assessor sat down because she kind of

58:45had an idea what new growth was at this

58:47point and we plugged all the numbers

58:48into their tax rate formula and kind of

58:51played around with okay well what if we

58:52did this what if we did that um and then

58:55when we plugged in obviously this is

58:58high level when we plugged in some

58:59numbers and did the math we want to stay

59:02like interested right around the $180

59:04mark which is like a three three and a

59:05half% increase to and That's what we've

59:07been growing every year. So, obviously,

59:09if you if you look at whatever our um

59:13median home value is right now, it's

59:15like right 5.45.

59:17Yeah. So, if you look at that number and

59:19you know what your home value is, if

59:20it's more than that, obviously your

59:21taxes are going to go up a little bit

59:22more. If your number is under that,

59:23obviously you're going to go down a

59:25little bit more. So, if you go by that,

59:27we always try to stick right at that 3%

59:29and we try not to go higher than that.

59:30Right.

59:31Okay. Obviously, if we did go higher

59:32than that, then

59:33really, if you if you look at a lot of

59:34other towns and especially the ones that

59:36are right right on the ed that every

59:38year they budget to the max,

59:40right?

59:41Go back two years uh you know, two or

59:43three years ago when that housing market

59:45was really going when $200,000 valued

59:48homes were going up to $400,000.

59:51Every other communities, their average

59:54single or their tax bills were going up

59:56exponentially, right? because it was

59:58growing so much more than than the

59:59industrial rate and they were being

60:01slammed with that portion of of the pie.

60:04But because we were able to get

60:06additional uh the new growth through

60:08Amazon and other factors, we've been

60:11able to use that factor to maintain a

60:13stable increase compared to the towns

60:16and really what um when we go out to

60:18bond they also look at what you've been

60:20doing. So that also plays into a factor

60:21of our borrowing rate too because it's

60:23looks at your financial stability.

60:25Nice. So that's why we look at it so

60:28closely too because we're really trying

60:29to get to that tripaa.

60:32We can.

60:32Thank you.

60:34So that's the election coming up on the

60:3629th. What else we got about the

60:38schools?

60:38So we met with them today. Um it was a

60:42um in how it say invest pre evaluation

60:46of

60:47better

60:49whether or not to accept heritage school

60:51into the MSBA program. And you know,

60:54obviously we we kind of dipped our toes

60:57into it with Shepherd Hill a couple

60:59years ago and didn't move forward,

61:00[clears throat] but we're really kind of

61:02leading up to that same point. So, um,

61:06what we kind of gathered out of that is

61:08on December 9th, the MSBA will decide

61:11whether or not to invite, uh, a heritage

61:14school into the program. So the first

61:16phase in that and the school needs to

61:19decide what grades it wants to consider

61:21as part of it. Whether or not it's just

61:23this just the grades that are inherited

61:25school right now or if they want to

61:26expand it to other you know to to other

61:31potentially consolidate other schools

61:34into a into a larger program. But they

61:36have to make that they have to make that

61:37decision I think before the end of

61:40before yeah before October

61:42second. So, um, if they're invited into

61:46the program, they have 270 days to

61:50establish a building committee and to

61:52appropriate funds for a feasibility

61:55study. And so, the feasibility study, as

61:59you remember from the Shepherd Hill

62:01project, is probably around a million

62:02dollars. You know, they're going to have

62:04they're gonna have to kind of figure out

62:06what's the right number, but it was, you

62:08know, the

62:09I think two million was like the cap.

62:11They were like $750,000 to 2 million. So

62:15realistically, they were saying the $2

62:16million number that's a that's a Voke

62:18school that needs to be built and they

62:20want to consider multiple lots. That's a

62:23$2 million assessment,

62:24right?

62:25You're probably closer this probably

62:27closer to the million dollars. Just

62:29we're going to use that as our as our

62:31benchmark for right now. So

62:34we would essentially either be looking

62:37and I don't know if I I kind of have to

62:38like build back from the timeline. So

62:40she basically said what they do is so

62:42December I think 9th they make their

62:44award. So, we will find out for sure

62:46December 9th or somewhere around there.

62:48The school will find out if we are

62:51accepted into this MSBA program and

62:52they're going to move forward and then

62:54they say they work with the school

62:55committee and or the school district and

62:57then they're also going to work with the

62:59town because um what's different about

63:00this project that was not done with

63:03Shephard Hill because Shepard Hills is a

63:04shared school is that this MSBA will be

63:08100% on Charlton. And what we didn't

63:10know is this all is so this is going to

63:12be like it's our project because it's

63:13our school even though it's a district

63:16school. It's in Charleston. So it's 100%

63:18off. So it's our ballot vote only for

63:20Charlton members and it's our town

63:22meeting vote. So and you wouldn't have a

63:24town meeting vote for um the district

63:28because the district borrows. So this

63:29will be our borrowing. We are going to

63:30100% own it. So, what they say is

63:32they're going to work with the district

63:33and the town to figure out what works

63:35best with our town meeting dates for the

63:38270 days because that's all they give

63:40you. So, what they'll do is they might

63:42give you your she called it something

63:44different than an award date, but I'll

63:45use they'll even invitation date.

63:48Yes, that's the word she used. So, even

63:50though they award us on the 9th, they

63:52could give us an invitation date of like

63:53say February 15th or something. And then

63:55we would have 270 days from that day to

63:58do the building committee to come up

64:00with the feasibility study money and um

64:04there's a few other things but those are

64:05those are the biggest hurdles was to get

64:07to really that that financial commitment

64:09and then once that once they do all that

64:11then you would have to go for they you

64:13would have a dollar amount and know what

64:15they're doing and then that's when we

64:16would have to go for the debt exclusion

64:18and then the approved project at town

64:20meeting. So that's obviously would be

64:22years down the road, but if it if this

64:25all does happen this year, it's closer

64:27down the road than I think what we

64:30originally thought. Obviously, if we

64:31don't get the award in December, then

64:33they have to go and re-enter the program

64:34again.

64:36So between the capital coming this month

64:39and then that potentially being on the

64:41in the back coming up, you're going to

64:43have two big school projects coming up.

64:45And obviously this redoing a school is

64:47going to be a lot more than $6 million.

64:50So you're going to have that coming.

64:51They're talking about remodeling or

64:53well it's either remodeling they have to

64:55that's all feasibility studies. The

64:57first part is to identify what grades

64:59you want to consider. And it doesn't

65:01mean that you have to include all of

65:03them at the end of the day

65:04but you know you can't you can't widen

65:07the scope after you've already been

65:09right approved into the program. So they

65:12may say, you know, preK through 8, but

65:15you know, realistically

65:17there's probably not really an appetite

65:19to fund a project so massive that we're

65:21closing two schools to build, you know,

65:25eliminating three schools to build one.

65:26So they may look at preK through

65:30four

65:30or something. Yeah,

65:32that's all up to the school committee. I

65:33think that they probably would work with

65:35the town because it's going to have to

65:36be an appetite obviously the town too,

65:38but they have to make that decision

65:39before October 2nd to be able to get

65:41into the program essentially to go

65:44further. So like this I guess tour kind

65:47of thing that we had today um was I

65:50think I like the second step of this pro

65:52process and then if they get awarded it

65:54in December then that would be like the

65:56next step to go for the feasibility

65:58and then if they don't then they kind of

65:59go back to this whole tour

66:02step again they'd have to reapply. If

66:03they get the invite in December.

66:05Yeah.

66:06Say, "Okay, we're going to give you a

66:07January 15th." That's your invite date,

66:09right?

66:10How soon after that do we have to come

66:12up with?

66:13You have 270 days.

66:15Oh, for the plan. No, but to finance it.

66:17270 days.

66:19Finance the feasibility. The feasibility

66:20study.

66:21Yeah. Then it's then it gets to the next

66:22phase. We even talk about phase two,

66:24right?

66:24So,

66:25okay. Okay. Yeah.

66:26So you you have just just have to fund

66:28the feasibility study for now and come

66:29up with the

66:29building. 270 days was the time you did

66:32the feasibility study.

66:34No.

66:34I got you.

66:35So they give you 270 days to secure

66:37funding for the feasibility study. Get a

66:39building committee together and I think

66:40and start the process of the feasibility

66:43study.

66:43Okay.

66:44I don't think it needs I didn't think it

66:45needed to be completed in the 270 days.

66:48They just give you the first few hurdles

66:49you got to jump through and then they'll

66:50give you the rest if you can get that

66:51done.

66:52Right. They kind of they kind of know

66:54where projects either thrive or die,

66:56right?

66:56Yeah.

66:59All right. And at some point, I'll just

67:02throw this out. We're going to need new

67:04high school.

67:05That's coming.

67:06Yeah. So, they did say that

67:09I I'm assuming the temp. So because we

67:12passed the feasibility study for Shepard

67:14Hill, when they went back to go look

67:16based on their the architect study that

67:19they had done of all the schools and

67:21Heritage being a high priority, I think

67:23they kind of pushed that forward more

67:26knowing that we were supporting Shepherd

67:29Hill. So maybe we would support

67:30Heritage. I'm assuming that played a

67:31factor into their decision. So because

67:33that was asked why they didn't go for

67:35Shepherd Hill again. So, I'm assuming

67:37that would be coming at some point,

67:40but

67:41and that's a big nut.

67:42Yeah,

67:43it's going to be a very big nut.

67:46Any other question? Uh Jamie, Brian,

67:49Christian, any questions on this school

67:52subject?

67:54Nothing from me.

67:57Nothing from me.

68:00No, I don't have any questions either.

68:01Good. All right.

68:03Then let's All right. So item six, the

68:05discussion of the feasibil the senior

68:07center. We've kind of done that. You've

68:10got a new request here for two more

68:12people.

68:13Yep. So um if you and this isn't in

68:17front of um those online, but I had So

68:21back in January when we were going

68:23through budget rounds, the fire chief

68:25had asked for his four bodies plus a

68:27fire inspector.

68:29We funded his four bodies, but we didn't

68:30fund his fire inspector. So, he did come

68:33back and ask for his the fire inspector

68:35position again. And then I also had a

68:38request from police um just looking at

68:41their um structure down there with the

68:45potential of um they have some things

68:48that they want would like to accomplish

68:50and then maybe with people retiring and

68:52what whatnot. Um they're just kind of

68:54looking at the future of the department.

68:57They were looking at adding another

68:58police lieutenant. So have you'd have

69:00the chief deputy and then you'd have two

69:02lieutenants. Um

69:04and they're just looking at obviously I

69:07don't want to put words but they're

69:08looking at doing that. So I had the

69:09request for those two bodies. Um

69:12when we

69:13they want that voted on and

69:15they would they wanted us

69:17they asked us to consider.

69:18Yes. So, um, when we were looking at

69:22once we got, um, free cash certified and

69:24we are pretty close with new growth, we

69:26plugged obviously all the numbers in and

69:28we played around with if we were to, um,

69:30amend the budget and add money in to

69:33support these positions. Um,

69:37we're just raising the tax bill higher

69:39than I think what we wanted to because

69:41we don't really have as much new growth,

69:43I think, as we thought we were going to.

69:45I I don't know if it's I don't think

69:47it's really that we thought we going to

69:48because as you remember when we we

69:50budget around we used $250,000 as our as

69:53our estimate for what our new growth was

69:56going to be next year knowing that was a

69:57very conservative number right

69:59but as you remember when I talked to

70:01this board I said to maintain our

70:03current level of operations based off

70:05our current staffing we realistically

70:07had to hit a million dollars in new

70:09growth year-over-year

70:11is kind of where we had to get that's

70:13kind of like had to be the new the new

70:15normal

70:15without saying that right because every

70:17body that you add is a long-term

70:19commitment that you have to build for

70:20future years in multiple operate

70:23operational areas of the budget.

70:26We hit our benchmark.

70:29We're pretty much on our benchmark as to

70:31what we need to maintain our current

70:33level of operations as we look at this

70:35year. But we're not blowing it out of

70:36the water. And I just don't think that

70:41bringing now midyear adjustments is a

70:44very good way it a very advisable

70:48approach and I think that if we take

70:50these under advisement and ensure that

70:53in the next few months as we develop our

70:55FY28 budget and we can get some revised

70:57projections that we can take these under

71:00further further further advisement

71:02consideration. I just think right now

71:05just coming right off the tail of

71:06looking at to all right where are we

71:09currently and where are we going

71:11let's put a pause on new any new hires

71:13right

71:15I concur with that me

71:18yeah no problem

71:19and I think no matter which way you look

71:21at it whether they

71:22whether they could do it within their

71:24budget now you still obviously have the

71:27long-term cost but you're still no

71:28matter what we're still adding benefit

71:31costs so like even if they can fund it

71:33even within their budget. Like even if

71:34they came to me and said I can fund it

71:36within my budget, I still have to fund

71:37for the benefit cost. So it's not just

71:40insurance, but it's Medicare and then

71:42retirement and all that. So I still have

71:43to take that into consideration. So even

71:45my assumption would be if they say they

71:47can do it within their budget, they're

71:48talking about every cost associated,

71:50right? Yeah. And they don't budget for

71:52all the rest of the stuff, right? And

71:54the thing is too, you know, as we're

71:55talking about the schools, you know,

71:57let's just say this um loan

71:59authorization passes in the end of

72:02September, but we can't get a debt

72:04exclusion pass. Well, now we have to

72:06factor in

72:07operational

72:07those that that amount into the

72:09operational budget.

72:10And also remember that for

72:14every time, well, let's just say if we

72:15had a million dollars in new growth, the

72:17school is 50% of our budget. the school

72:19is going to take half of maybe not

72:21exactly half of that, but your we're

72:24growing at a faster pace than what

72:25Dudley is. So, our um

72:28the minimum net school spend amount is

72:30going to shift more and more towards us

72:32because we're growing a lot faster than

72:33they are. So, that shift we have to take

72:35that into consideration too.

72:38And we had quite a few pretty high years

72:41with Amazon and that hasn't caught up to

72:43us yet because it's always I feel like

72:45the school formula is always like two or

72:47three years behind. three years.

72:48So we have to account for that too is

72:50that that's going to start catching up

72:52to us now. So I think the shift is

72:53really going to start shifting.

72:55Okay. So we're going to take under

72:57adisement for the future of

72:59Yeah. I told

73:00Yeah. I will tell both of them if you

73:02guys agree that they it's not a no. It's

73:05a no for right now, but come back to me

73:07in three four months when you're coming

73:08for budget.

73:09Jamie, Brian, Christian, you agree with

73:11that? You take that under adisement?

73:15I agree with that. But I would also like

73:16to say personally I think that they'd

73:19have to make a really strong case that

73:21this is necessary

73:23versus the other expenses that we have

73:26in front of us

73:27right

73:28in the in the future when we talk about

73:30right that's why I figured it'd be

73:31better to look at it during budget cycle

73:32than it is to look at it now because as

73:34in the budget cycle then we're looking

73:36at everything as a whole rather than

73:38just right now

73:41because we could probably afford it

73:42right now but

73:44I would like to look at it years. I want

73:46to look at it for long term.

73:47Right. Exactly. Exactly.

73:49And speaking of budget cycles and the

73:52rest of it, right? So, just to go over

73:54our schedule for upcoming. So, we've got

73:58uh we're meeting next week, next

73:59Tuesday. It's right with the uh board of

74:02selectmen and we'll go through the

74:04Yes.

74:05And we'll we'll do the support or

74:07or deny the October town meeting the

74:1119th. And then we've got uh two more

74:15regular meetings before we start the

74:17budgets.

74:18Correct.

74:18Right. In January,

74:20one thing I did want to mention when

74:21when you're setting up Ashley, you do a

74:24great job of setting up the schedules.

74:25Yeah.

74:26Start the first one at 6:45, not 6:30.

74:31Give us that first 15 minutes of the

74:33meeting. Okay.

74:33Okay. To get ourselves

74:35Okay.

74:35organized. That's that's the only caveat

74:37I would I would throw to that one.

74:39And then it's we've got down at some

74:42point in February. Yeah. Meeting with

74:43the school department because they're

74:44going to have proposed the next budget.

74:46Okay.

74:48That's all I have.

74:49You still want to just do your three

74:50meetings, your January, February, March

74:52for the budget hearings. Okay.

74:55Yep. Anybody got anything else they want

74:57to bring up tonight before I ask for a

75:01motion to adjurnn?

75:05All silent over there. Okay. Anything

75:07over here? We good? I'll I'll entertain

75:09a motion to adjurnn.

75:11I have a motion. I have a second.

75:13Any discussion? All those in favor say

75:15yes.

75:16Yes.

75:17Yes.

75:18Jamie.

75:19Yes.

75:20Brian, yes. It's unanimous. Thank you

75:22all very much. Good night.

75:25Good night.