It's being 6:31. Like to call this Thursday, March 12th, 2026 meeting of the finance meeting to order. Today we'll be following the published and posted agenda. Will be broadcast live through shelter. Oh >> my god. >> Is that Denise?
>> I forget her name. >> Did she hit her head? >> She hit her head on the edge of the on the edge of the >> She tripped over the Yeah, she's >> here. Can we pause broadcast please? >> Yep. All right. It being 6:35
with the call this Thursday, March 12th, 26 2026 meeting of the plans media order. Tonight will be following the published and posted agenda. We'll be live broadcast via chancellia and recorded for future viewing. Uh we're also available through Zoom, although we ask people if they are going to be speaking uh if they would uh unless
they're going to be speaking not to join the Zoom chat. First item on our agenda this evening is approval of minutes from March 5th, 2026. Has everyone had the opportunity to review them? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> All right. Do I have a motion? >> I make a motion to approve the CH finance committee meeting minutes of March 5th, 2026.
>> Second it. >> Okay. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> Unanimous. Moving along, we have review the fiscal 27 budget for the library. And with us this evening, we have Leslie Kimell, our director. We also have trustees of the library in the audience as well.
>> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Happy almost uh FY27 everybody. It's crazy to be thinking that far in the future. Um but I'm glad to be here tonight to tell you a little bit about what's happening at the
library and what we're looking forward to in the new fiscal year. Uh so our budget uh it's uh one and a half% of the town bud budget and for FY27 we're looking at a 5% increase. The drivers which I don't think will be of any
surprise are uh costs for utilities, technology, general inflation, um and then state aid eligibility. So state aid is really important to libraries and certainly to our library. Um we uh in our last uh dispersement of of state
aid, we're getting um just about $100,000. So it really does make a difference and that eligibility is essential to us being able to um maintain some things above and beyond the town appropriation. So we do need to meet three uh things in order to be
eligible. The first is that our municipal appropriation uh needs to increase by 2 and a.5% over the average of the past three years of appropriations. Uh the second is that we have to spend 13% of our appropriation
on things that people borrow whether those are physical books or um online resources. So things that are of direct service to the public. And then we need to be open uh a standard number of hours a week for the size of our town. For us
that's 59 hours a week. Um under normal schedule we do meet that um very adequately when we do not have the Sunday hours. if we were not able to be open on Sundays, we still make it. We're just really really close. So, um, state
aid, as I said, is just more important than ever now when times are are pretty lean. So, uh, one of the the budget impacts Oh, sorry, that's the Sunday hours. I'm in a different order. I think I moved something around on myself. Uh
so the Sundays um really just it's the second year that they're not in the appropriation for obvious reasons. Times are really really tough. Uh just as a a note that they do remain uh really important and valued by the community in FY26. The board of library trustees was
able to use state aid funds that we had to keep us open on these Sundays through the the winter. Uh so state aid is incredibly important to us and certainly we can see as we're reviewing things that you know when we do reach a point
when it's possible to restore the funding for those hours it's just incredibly important to the community. So, um, a budget driver, as I said, general inflation, our buildings, uh, are the the new library is 26 years old
this year. And, um, McKay, of course, is even older older than that. We see 179,000 visits in a year. And, uh, you know, that takes its toll on on buildings. So, we've been uh really glad
to have been able to take care of some big projects and projects that we have underway with capital funding. Um but certainly the day-to-day maintenance uh supplies, repairs, um definitely impacts our budget and is something that we just have to have to
keep up with. Our buildings are warming and cooling centers uh during emergencies as well as um being open more hours a week than any other town public buildings. So another um impact on our budget, one
of the big ones this year is technology. We're up against a couple of things. One of which is that the consortium which has always provided our licenses for Microsoft Office 365 is no longer going to be able to do that. So we will be taking on the cost for those licenses.
Uh fortunately we have uh town it doing a great job helping us do what's going to be a very big migration. So we appreciate that. And then uh there have been some uh cuts to state online resources that folks in town really rely on. So we'll be taking on some of those
costs and then just a general increase for those electronic subscriptions and licenses. Uh we are we take very seriously uh the need for digital access and equity here in Chelmsford and in the region. We have been able to get a
couple grants in this past year that come to $50,000 together. And one of the big parts of of that project is setting up uh technology centers at five of the housing authority sites with them. And that's just a place where um folks need
more access to technology. And this is going to allow them to have that right where they live. It's going to support uh the housing authority is launching a new portal that residents are going to have to use. So, it allows them to access that port portal and also get the
support that they need uh in order to use that effectively. And then we're also with that grant money going to be able to purchase some Chromebooks and hotspots that will be used for um longer term education and then also for
long-term loans for folks who really need something a little longer because they don't have that technology in their house. So they might be able to uh if they're working on a semester of school and they don't have good access to technology, they'd be able to borrow
something for that whole semester. Um so we're really excited about those grant projects. Um and they make a a really big impact in addition to all the other access to technology and education that we're doing in the library.
And here's our uh gem of a success story uh McKay, which um it just gets better and better every year. You know, it reopened in 2023 after uh quite a large ventilation project that the town did
and um some other significant improvements. We're looking forward to should the capital um plan pass at town meeting, we'll be able to do those essential accessibility projects that need to get done over there to really
make the building completely up to code for accessibility. Um, we're excited internally even though, you know, budgets are tight, we've been able to uh figure out how to open McKay for five
more hours each week. And that's made a big difference already. We're seeing a 19% increase of use over uh at the McKay branch. And uh something that's coming up, we've been, you know, really getting involved with the Vinyl Square strategic
action committee and uh working on planning a spring festival at McKay this year on May 16th, which is the same day that the clock tower reveal is happening in the square. So, uh we're just really excited. We're hearing great things from
folks in the neighborhood. It is a building that's older and it costs us to keep it up and maintained, but we're really seeing people respond to the programs that we're able to offer there. You know how popular the summer concerts are. Uh so, uh that's
that's my favorite thing. McKay, I say that every year. Um and then, you know, the library really does a lot for a dollar. uh the value that people get. Libraries
work on a cost sharing model really. Uh the library buys something and everybody in town gets to use it instead of every single person purchasing that same thing. So the money that goes into the library, people in town get a lot more
than that one tax dollar that they're spending. Now, in addition to that, we're really fortunate that we can um add even more value because of the support we get beyond our appropriation.
So, we have many generous people in town who make gifts to the library or include us in their estate. Grants, as I mentioned, not only that digital equity grant, we got a wonderful grant from the cultural council to uh support the summer concerts at McKay. Uh, and our
friends of the library, I really can't say enough about them. Uh, they bought the 247 pickup lockers, which was a huge investment. And we're hearing from people who really struggle because they have a long commute or because they're
juggling a lot of family and work commitments that they maybe just find it hard to get into the building during our open hours. And this gives them access to materials they otherwise wouldn't have. And then our friends of the library pay for about 75% of the
programming that the library does. So our municipal appropriation has $12,000 for programming in it and in uh FY26 the friends are giving us $38,000 for programming. So, you know, we often say to people if you take a look at that
super busy library events calendar and now, you know, imagine that 75% of that was not on that page. And that's that's what our programming would look like. So, uh, you know, the things that, uh, the Chsford Public Library are able to
offer to the people of Chumsford are significant and the people of Chelmsford make it possible for us to do everything that we do. We're very very grateful. So in um FY26, we launched our updated
strategic plan just like the town did their strategic plan. Um and for us, it's really really focusing on connection this uh stretch of of five years. We want to build on the connections that exist. uh and we want
to forge new connections with um people and organizations and parts of the town that we haven't been introduced introduced to yet. So, we we're making great progress on our FY26 goals. Um
some of which are to uh expand our communication in languages other than English. We've purchased some pocket talk devices which are the ones the ELLL program at the school uses. They're wonderful translation, two-way translation devices that not only allow
you in the moment um very good translation. Uh it also will scan documents um and translate them and also give you text. So if you're having a translation and you also have maybe some hearing impairment, you're still
maintaining really good communication. So we're also bringing that over to signs and information that we're putting out. So, those are ways that we feel like we can connect more effectively with more people in our community. Uh, one of the goals for FY26 was to host a
community gathering at McKay. As I said, we've got this crate on uh May 16th coming up, a really family um oriented event outside, some great lawn games, uh, and just ways for people to get together and celebrate. We're really
excited about that. Uh and then you know really looking at in FY26 increasing our availability as much as we can. So making sure that we are if we can getting a few more open hours onto the books, giving people that access to
materials outside of our regular hours. Um, and just, you know, using our pop-up library and getting out to new stops, reaching new people with that, introducing ourselves to new people in the community. And then looking to um FY27,
which is where this this budget comes in, you know, again, just really expanding that push out into the community, meeting new groups, meeting new people, connecting folks in town with more volunteer opportunities. We know that that's a real um interest of
folks in our community. We heard that from the applicants to the civics academy that people really wanted to know about how can I give back? How can I contribute? Uh and we are a a perfect organization to help people make those connections. We're piloting some new
services and programs at McKay and really building that relationship with the vinyl square committee to make sure that we are a great involved active partner in North Chelmsford. Uh and then hosting we're looking to
host some community conversations about topics that are relevant to Chelmsford today and that people want to discuss together. and you are all invited to join us in everything that that we have to offer,
all the things that I've talked about. Um, and then the two special events coming up. We have the volunteer fair on uh Saturday the 28th, which is uh just a if you've never been, it's really loud, but it's awesome. Uh, tons of
organizations, community organizations who really need um people's time and talents to help them achieve their goals. and people from the community who are coming because they really do want to give back. They want to make that connection. They want to find a way to
help a cause that they believe in. So would love to see you there. And then um one book Chelmsford is in its uh 19th year which um is just a wonderful uh experience to be having. So uh for
anybody who doesn't know one book chsford our friends of the library purchase 500 physical copies of the book to be distributed free to members of the community and you will all get one of those tonight. Um and they also purchase
um digital copies. So uh for people who prefer to listen to a digital audio book or read um an ebook, people have uh open access to that as well. and then we all come together uh when the author comes to visit which this year is on April
16th at six o'clock. Uh the book this year is uh it's set in New England. This is um a Massachusetts author Ben Shadic who's extremely well regarded. Uh the book is beautiful. Uh it it truly is.
It's written. Uh it somebody uh that I was talking to said uh they opened it up and they felt like they just slid right in like they it was like they were coming home into this uh these intertwined stories. As I said, it takes
place in New England. It's almost like the places in New England, the Cape, um other spots in Massachusetts, New Hampshire. It's almost like that's a character like the place. I definitely felt at home. I've lived in New England my whole life and I felt very much at
home in this book. So, I think it's going to be great to hear the author talking about that. The very beginning of this book was turned into a movie uh that came out in 2025. And it's incredible that his writing is so uh robust that they could make a movie out
of just one piece of this book. So, I definitely would love to see you at One Book on the 16th. um of April to listen to the author and I would be very happy to answer any questions anybody has about the library
or about the budget request. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Any questions? >> No questions. >> Already have one at home. >> David Bradlaw, library trustee,
>> our capital uh finance liaison. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. >> The only question I have is just around how you consider allocating, you know, resources, right? So, as you consider different programs and funding, and I
think you do a phenomenal job of of, you know, serving every pocket of the community, but I'm just curious how you think about that. For example, what is the trade-off that you make between more open hours on Sunday versus anything else that you're choosing to allocate money to? >> Yeah, that's a great question. Um and it
is weighing a lot of factors as as you all do here. So we're looking at um you know what's the success been of that sort of thing in the past. How many people are we reaching and not just what that number is? It's not just about reaching having a hundred people come to
a program. It's about you know what was the experience of those folks who came to the program. Was it, you know, some people who've never come to the library before or who don't have a strong connection to other places in town and this is there? So, we're we're trying to
get that feedback from people. We're looking at past success and numbers and then we look at things like that um map of of entry so that we can say, you know, we can see that a lot of people are coming to the library at this time.
So, let's make sure that we're we're offering a lot then, but also maybe we need to offer a little bit more at this other time so that people who could come then would would have it. And then there's the cost benefit piece of as
we're spending dollars to achieve this, which thing is going to achieve the most benefit for the most different people in the community. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> You're welcome. All right. Thank you very much.
>> Oh, thank you. >> Next agenda this evening, we have a review of the fiscal year 27 budget for the board of health. And with us this evening is our public health director, Donna Greenwood. >> Good evening. Thank you for having me this evening. I just kind of want to go through a few of the things that we do
in the health department and then we'll go to the budget, which is not a lot of changes. It's a very quick budget to go through. Um, so our mission is simple but vital to provide the highest level of wellness to our Chson residents and our employees. I am proud to lead this department and
honored to work alongside an exceptional small but mighty team. Together we continue to serve as a model of excellence in public across Massachusetts. Our leadership, innovation, and strong service delivery were recognized when we were awarded the first ever local public health
department of the year in Massachusetts by the Massachusetts Health Officers Association. We're very proud of that. Our public health initiatives and community programs address a wide range of critical topics. And in those topics and programs that we have, we do also
have the pocket talks that do all the different languages. So if we need to translate or they need to like read through what we're saying, they have that available to them, too. So I'd like to highlight a few of the things that we we do do at the health department. Um inspectional services. Um we provide
essential public health protection through inspections of all regula regula regulated facilities, including now 221 restaurant and food establishments. Each of those by the state have to be inspected twice um every year. And if
there's any follow-up inspections, we do reinspections of those restaurants to ensure that they stay in compliance. And also, we do seasonal camps, we do pools, we do tanning, body out facilities, hotels, housing units, any environmental concerns, and any
complaints that we get in that are either nuisance or environmental that we follow up on. Our health inspectors also review all new and renovated restaurants plans to ensure they're meeting compliance uh with all state regulations. We do lake water testing.
Uh we monitor the frozen desserts at the um ice cream stands. Anybody that does the shakes, they monthly have to send those reports in and if they're too high, the inspectors need to go out and shut them down, get them cleaned and get them up and running again. Um we do process every permit through the
inspectors. The permit fees collected in FY25 was $93,000 109 and we're on target to do about the same this year. The health inspector's work ensures safety, prevents illness, and supports businesses in in meeting all required standards.
In short, our inspection program is a core public health service that safeguards residents and maintains the health and safety of our community every day. So, some of our public health initiatives, we continue to implement and strengthen a wide range of public health initiatives and community
programs that support the physical, mental, and social well-being of our residents and community. These programs are built for long-term sustainability to address both current and emerging health needs. Looking ahead, we continue developing new initiatives and critical
areas such as mental health, substance use, nursing services, and essential support programs. Our goal is to ensure residents have consistent access to the resources and care they need to live safely and healthy and stable lives.
Many of the programs that we do run, we do apply for grants that we are up against many other communities or um health initiatives to achieve those. And I'm glad to say that we we do obtain a lot of those grants so that we can run the programs that we do. Under mental
health initiatives, we continue to prioritize mental health through a range of community programs focused on engagement, education, and prevention. Under community engagement, as you know, we have our fall festival that we've been doing annually. It's September 26th this year. And on those everything is
designed, we first started it after COVID, as I think I've mentioned in the past, to get the community back out and about into the environment and out and about and enjoying life again. And what we do is we make sure that anybody can attend these and enjoy them. So we get
donations from businesses and other uh facilities so that we can have free activities for all residents that attend. The only cost to anybody would be if they want something from the uh food trucks. Um literally we have we're
so high with having over 3,000 people attend. We have two face painters that come all free. We have balloon twisters. We have the horserawn wagon that's free. bouncy houses. We just go on and on and keep adding things. We have the princess show and all the other things which again that's all through the great
donations of um some people in our community. We attend health fairs. We have a parent cafe. We do the walking group. We participate in the CPAL event every year. We do youth meditation buried in treasures uh and support groups for that veterans breakfast and
we do a plant positivity which is between the youth and the seniors. Um, under mental health we have education, we do youth mental health first aid, healthy relationship workshops, STDs and older adults, house, uh, hoarding 101, verit and treasured
workshops, cognitive behavioral therapy for hoarding disorders. My team also just recently created a suicide prevention coalition. Our first awareness program was a softball game against the fire in the police department. I will tell you that the fire department did win over the police
department. I won't tell you the score. Um but it was it was really a lot of fun. We had a lot of participation. We support Pride Month, participate in statewide behavioral health awareness campaigns and dist distribution of local provider resources. We started maternal mental health
recently. This is a new program that we are initiating with our first community baby shower in May. We have donation boxes that are set up here in the town hall and also at the senior center. All of these initiatives strengthen community resilience, increase access to support, and help address growing mental
health needs across all age groups. Our substance use initiatives, we continue to address substance use through essential education and prevention. Our community programs have been escape the vape symposium held at the high school, hidden in plain sight exhibits, which is
where parents can go and they see where they can find substance use in in their children's rooms. Soba truth presentations. So SOA karaoke is done every month. Meditation programs for individuals in recovery and their families. Narcan trainings, community
locks on boxes uh are free for Narcan. We do the annual candlelight vigil and ongoing education and partnership with the Chumsid public schools and in the community health fairs. The opioid abatement funds um that we have obtained. We have an assessment going on at this point. We're
currently working with a consulting firm to conduct a comprehensive community needs assessment to guide the allocation of the opio opioid abatement funds. This assessment will identify local gaps and priorities, ensurings that funds are directed to the most effective services
and individuals in substance use disorder and their families. The results will support the development of targeted programs, expanded services, and resources that directly address Jumpsters's highest priority needs. that will be out in the next month and a half that assessment. We also have resident
support services to ensure residents can access critical resources that we provide a wide range of support services including housing assistance, SNAP application and benefit support, fuel assistant resources, emergency preparedness education, and we
just started our monthly dropin hours. It's going to be the last Thursday of every month. And that last first one that we had, it's amazing how many people don't know what services that we do offer, we actually had some people that came in that had no idea that it existed for them and we were able to the
the one of the particular ones that came in, we were able to get them into Vinfin immediately that day. So, it's it's really important to get the word out of what we're able to do. Um, and then our nursing services. Our nurse provides essential clinical and educational services to Port Community
Health, including the flu vaccines, we do the community ones, we do the school-based ones, which we just picked back up this year. She also does inhome visits for people that can't leave their home. Um, and then we do the ones right at the senior housing. for certifications and screening. She offers
CPR and first aid training including youth training that we have started this year and that one fills up really fast and they do get certified blood pressure checks, cholesterol screenings and A1C screenings. We do the medical waste disposal which is the shops drop offs which we've been doing many years which
it was today. um student training. She um hosts Middle Sex Community College students. Once a month there's a new student that comes through. They have to do uh five rotations that they pick um through the Middle Sex Community College which it requires and public health is one of those and every month we do get
one that spends time with us. So internships and practicum programs that's new that we had just started. We actively support workforce development by hosting interns from high schools, colleges, and universities, providing hands-on experience and helping build a future of the public health workforce.
We partner with UMass LOL established internship programs, and we are one of the top ones on their list. We host undergraduate students completing their capstone projects, hostgraduate students that are completing their practicum placements. We offer internship opportunities for the chumps public high
school, which we will have our first one this this uh spring. We also participate in the Massachusetts Health Office Association's internship program. These partnerships strength both our department and the pipeline for well-trained public health professionals for our future. So, we're going to go
over the salary sheet. Um that's going to cover. Basically, on our salary sheet, you'll see that we just have the basic town um salary increases for everybody. There is just one change for the community wellness and inspectional
specialist. there's a slight one-step increase once she um obtains her registered sanitarian certificate which is very difficult um to get. There is a bottom portion on the sheet that I had turned in that I'll discuss that's a three-year history um that I'll
discuss at the end of my summary of the budget. Any questions on the the budget as proposed? No. >> Okay. Very good. Now I'll go to the expense sheet. And there's really no change in the
total for there. It uh it stays the same in total, but I did need to change a couple of the accounts around a little bit because of u increases in costs. So, um account 5452, mosquito control expense. I needed to increase that up by
$1,300 because we want to be able to continue to do the entire town on the mosquito control. um and that central mass mosquito that does it through the helicopter. Um and then any um swimming pools that are abandoned, we just send those into and they'll also cover those.
Um account 53410 telephone expenses. We used to have one of the um telephones covered by a NEPA coalition group which was funded by the state uh and that no longer will be covered. So we had to increase that by $300 to cover that phone.
And then to offset those expenses, um, in 52490, vehicle maintenance, I was able to reduce that by $1,000. We do have a new, um, electric car. Um, so the expenses right there, well, eventually that'll end up going up a few years down the road, but right now I could use that
money in the mosquito account. Um, account 54860, which is a newspaper advertisement. I reduce that by $400. We only use that right now if we're having a specific regulatory um hearing that requires that and not all of our regulations require that. So was able to
reduce that. And then under dues and subscriptions, we no longer have two nurses since Sue had retired. So we I was able to reduce that by $200, which was a nurse's license. Any questions on my basic expenses?
>> Okay. Uh my budget summary, our health department continues to provide highquality services even while operating with reduced staffing. These reductions created short-term savings of $239,000, $75 across FY25 and FY26.
But they have also placed significant strain on the department at a time when the public health demands continue to rise. In FY25, the assistant health director position was not backfilled when I was promoted into the health director role, consolidating essential leadership responsibilities into one
role. In FY26, we lost a health inspector through town budget cuts. Although NEPA, which is a fourtown statef funded coalition, temporarily helped fill an inspectional role, so we didn't have any gaps. Their funding remains uncertain. When our social
worker left for a clinical position, I made the difficult decision not to refill that role despite its importance so that we could restore the health inspector position and maintain regulatory compliance. The social worker position remains unfunded even though it
provides critical support to residents. Our FY27 salary budget reflects these structural reductions even as responsibilities grow. to maintain strong reliable public health services. It will be essential in the future to please adjust the budgets to restore
both of these positions. In my number one top position that we I would want to restore would be the social worker position. These roles are key to leadership capacity, regulatory oversight, and supporting our most vulnerable residents. I thank you for continued
support of the Chsford Public Health's mission. >> Any questions? >> Any questions? >> Quick question. >> Yes. Um on the social worker, do you have any money in your budget for outs to outsource any of of the needs?
>> I do not. I do not. Right now, myself and my community health and wellness um person have been taking on when somebody comes in that has the needs. We're not social workers, but we in between certain things that we stop what we're doing to help those residents um or
employees and try to get them the resources that they need on the spot. Um but we don't have the social worker that is there to do those things. >> But you do have a referral. >> We do do a referral program which is a support services that we do. Um they
it's tough to get somebody in right into mental health therapy immediately. As you know, there's a long waiting list for those for those things that are out there. Uh, one of the things that we're not able to do any longer is support groups. That was really our in one of the biggest intentions of the social
worker. We can do peer support groups, which is what we're going to try to do this year. Uh, but we can't do the actual ones that need the licensed social worker. >> Do you have any opportunities though for grants? not for the particular
positions. Uh where the grant funding is able to just at this point be for specific programs that we want to run on a a certain mental health or substance use program like Emerson Hospital will get grants from them. Greater Little Health Alliance, we apply for grants for
them, but that's on programming. It's not on staffing. >> So you couldn't say I need a social worker to run all these programs. There's no, we have not found a grant out there and we have tried that would actually cover staffing for a municipality and we have not found one
at this point. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Next agenda this evening, we have a review of the fiscal year 27 budget for the community preservation fund and also review of article 24 for the transfer cemetery restoration funding and article
25 varie playground accessible playground equipment. Uh with us this evening we actually have uh Darlene Lucier, our town accountant. Um and uh as as Judy Carvin in indicated to me, she's not available this evening. >> Yes, she that's right. But she is the
current uh chair of the community preservation committee. >> That's correct. >> Good evening. >> I'm going to speak on um the I think the first article is the cemetery for the $8,000. Is that Do you want me to do the budget first? >> Bud budget first then we'll go into the articles. Thank you.
>> Okay. Um yes. So um the the budget they that I had sent you these are through December. So they're really not but they pretty much um we do this in I kind of do it in three stages. So the first the first
part of this budget is actually current projects that are on the books that have been approved through town meeting. Um the first column is the br the the balances that are brought forward from the prior year and then the second uh column is the articles that have been
approved at town meeting. Uh and then this the third column is any bond proceeds that we borrow for and then the total budget. And then we have the expenditures um through and I apologize I think that might say June 30th but that shouldn't be expenditures that
should be say December 31st. Um and then any debt payments. So I I split out the expenditures and the debt just to show you what we were spending on debt for the for these particular projects and then the available balance. So, if you
look at um one Smith Street, um we we had a borrowing of 2.6. We then spent that 2.6 David needed. That that money went came in the door and right out the door, but we actually had um a we do have a a first interest payment on
there, which was the $49,000 that we paid for that. Just to give you a little example of what if you go down, you'll see um the debt payments that we make. Um, and will you maybe >> I'm sorry to interrupt, but I don't have any of these things. >> Did you send them out and I
>> I'll be happy to send send them out if you don't have them. Elaine, >> I apologize. I don't need I know these things are all tiny. >> They were forwarded. Jim, I forwarded them to you. I assumed that you would attach them. That's my That's my fault. >> Yeah. No, because it just I can't see. And if I go like this
>> I apologize. >> No, no, no. Because it's it's all it's all important stuff and I I just really want to understand it. >> Yeah. So like I said, these are the projects that are already been approved through town meeting just a kind of expenditures that we've that we're charging to the projects. Um if you do
go down, we'll just if you want to go down to where we we talk about the um the historical where it talks about the headstones for fathers one um on the projects, you'll see that there's a balance there. I'm going to be talking about that's one of the other articles that they want to use. They're going to
be reappropriating the $8,000. Back in um fiscal uh 25, we had an appropriation of $8,000. We're just going to be It was only appropriated for forefathers. I think that David wants to be able to use that money for other um the other cemeteries. So, we're going to be
reappropriating yet because we haven't used any of that money that was appropriated in 25. So, you can just kind of see how that it's these are just the current projects that are always already um on the books. Um if the middle section is I said we
always do it in three sections is the money that we've actually collected through the tax base. So we have a commitment of $1.6 million is committed um through the tax base. Uh we've collected through the December
we've collected $775,000 um leaving us of like a $800,000. When we collect this, we collect almost all of it at by the end of the by the end of the the year of the collections. There's a small amount that will go to t to to
um to the tax collection at the end, but we collect a lot of most of this money. And then what I do is I actually that's for fiscal 26. And then you'll see and this is what I'm saying these small amounts that aren't collected from the prior years. And I we do break these
break these out into fiscal years fiscal 25, 24, and 23. You'll see the money that we have collected. We've collected everything for 23 2023. You'll see for 24 I have a small balance like to collect with $215,000 and those are um leaned to the taxpayer.
So you'll see that those actually get leaned. Um and then 25 we have $4,100 left to collect on that. So um like I said, we do end up if those the collections that are not collected end up getting leaned to the taxpayer. So
they are collected um later in the later within the fiscal years. Interest income that's the income that we get on it. And then we have our state match of 257,959. Um
we're seeing the um match decline a little bit just because we've had well this we've had um more communities are joining CPC. So the and the and that's just causing that number to go down. But I this year we We're I'm I think I'm
thinking about $250,000 we should be for our revenue for for Fur 27. So that's just kind of our collection rate that we do there that I do in this um the second section. The third section is really where you want to kind of look
at and these are what your fund balances are. Um the three on the top have to do with the current projects that are on the books. So those are those fund balances that are in those three buckets. Um and so those are the
the fund balances for open space, historical and housing authority. So if you take those numbers, you can kind of go back to the top sheet and you'll be able to find if you add up those three buckets, you'll be able to come to those numbers. So those are the open projects. And I kind of do a total that will say
active projects on the books are $2.2 million almost $2.3 million. the reserve for expenditure after all of the town meeting um articles and money that we take out of that account. Um we started the fiscal
year with 1.6. We took some money out of the reserve account. So our current fund balance there is 1.154. So we've got a little over a million dollars in your reserve. your undesated fund balance, which is
kind of like because this fund sits alone, it's very similar to like what your free cash balance is um with the general fund. This is the amount um that when we go to borrow um the bond rating companies,
they look at they look at this when we're going to borrow something very large out of CPC. They want to know what is your undesated fund balance or your free cash? What do you have available? You got to remember that if this fund goes away, we are not collecting any money through
our tax base. >> We're still on the hook for all the debt. So, we want to make sure that we have money in our undesated fund balance that's going to cover the debt that we've already incurred on these projects. >> Um >> the debt outstanding
>> that's outstanding. Correct. So in the undesated fund balance right now we started um with 3.4 when we add and how that is is because if you look at our revenue versus our expenditures
we have we have a surplus there where I and what the auditor doesn't want me to do is we put that to it goes automatically to your undesated because we haven't designated any excess revenue at this point. So, we put I put that number over to the um undesated fund
balance. So, as of December 31st, we had a $4 million undesated fund balance. That may that number is going to fluctuate during the course of the fiscal year because we're we're going to be expending
some of those projects up top. So that's kind of a that's a moving target that but we're we we've been the last few years we've been staying within that three three and a half million dollars within the um our und designated fund balance.
The last three categories are the 10%s >> that we have on the the town meeting warrant you'll and the articles and you'll see we put the 10%s in those buckets. um what policies been with CPC is we put them in we put the 10%s in but then we
take the we take the 10% or we take the those amounts out to cover the debt for those particular projects under those categories. Um so for instance for open space we probably we put $150,000 in at
town meeting said okay we have to cover we have open space projects for $150,000 for debt and additional so we'll take take it right out of that bucket first and then we'll go to your undesated fund balance and pull that to pay the debt for the projects that are in those
buckets. So those are the balances in those those 10% bucket buckets. Um so at this point right now um as of December December we had um $3.6 million of revenue that came in. We spent 2.7.
So we kind of had a a surplus of $800,000. Again there's going to be the larger projects. We haven't started yet with the center um square. Uh we've just got a consultant coming on now. We're starting to pay those bills. We
appropriated a million dollars. We're going to be borrowing another million dollars. So, you're going to probably when that project ramps up, you're going to be seeing a lot of expenses coming in. So, it could be at some months that when I run these reports, your expenses actually exceed the revenues coming in.
So, it's kind of a >> um it it just runs differently every month. Um, and the last sheet I want to just talk about is just to show everybody what our our debt balances are and what our projections are for debt. Again, like I said, we want to make sure that
we always carry enough in our undesated fund balance to pay off any out outstanding debt that we have for 27. Um, the pro we only have a projection right now for the utilities um, central square one, but we're looking at about
1.1 almost $1.2 $2 million of debt for 27. But as you can see with this this um debt projection, it it's it decreases very quickly a year. You know, if we are not taking on any more large projects, you can see how
our our the debt definitely declines for CPC. So we would I you know at some point we would be able to take on you know another large project if if a land purchase or something came in we would be able to handle it within that budget to do that
if something came up. >> Um one of the things we don't want to do we've done we did probably maybe eight years ago we paid cash for a land purchase and it kind of really hurt CPC. we always want to go ahead and borrow. Um, and and it's I hate to say that
about that, but it's even though we have the cash sitting there, we're we're better off to go ahead and borrow and pay it off in the long run because we're getting such good um interest rates for borrowing would be something not to borrow for a project.
Any questions? >> Let's kind of see if we see, you know, Michelle, the account is it's in very good. I I feel it's it's good. It's um financially it's in a good standing, probably in one of the best standings it's been in a while. So, it's I feel
very comfortable with this account at this point. >> So, do we anticipate in fiscal year 29 we'll have uh athletic field borrowing happening? >> We could. Yes. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> Not the turf surface, >> but it's only can be used for the Yes.
It will not be you know Jay is we're out evaluating the condition of those >> the one at >> it can't be used for the turf >> has to be done first because it's used more than the high school. >> Yep. >> But no it cannot be used for the synthetic term. >> It can't be used for the turf. It's the it's the preparation only. There's
certain there's one thing about CPC. It's very specific about what you can use the money for. And when we did the high school one the turf you we even though we had turf fields under here that was not for the the turf itself. Mhm.
>> Okay. Any other questions? >> All right. And we'll go right along to the uh two warrant articles. So, this is when the if you want Oh, yes. This is 25. You want to do this one? Yep. This is the financial article um that we're going to be um for the 20
for for for and I and I think it's actually going to be article 23 if I think I might have when I did this >> it's 23 right >> it's 23 so article 20 it's the articles um for town meeting
it's for this one for financials it's going to be 23 >> y >> um again we talked about we put in the the first thing we do is We um this one is talking about the debt um and how much we do. So like I was saying, we put
in the 10%s into the buckets and that's one of the slides. But for the debt payment, we're going to be pulling $150,000. We're going to be putting $150,000 in open space, but then we're going to be pulling $150,000
out of open space for the debt payment. Same thing with community housing. Um and then um I'm sorry the um uh open space and then community housing and then um 1315 for community
preservation historical because that is what the debt payments are. We do exactly what how much we have to pay for each individual bucket for the debt. And then we're going to be pulling the 736,757 from the reserve to pay the total debt
service for 27. Um >> so hold on. Okay. >> So this next the um the next article is we always put in um if you want to just scroll up to the next slide the we
always put in $50,000 in administration fee. That's just a st that's a standing um administration is it's the small little things that come in for CPC. We we we pay the membership. We CPC is um charges us a membership to be part of
them. It's all the little small stuff that comes out of there. It's all administration fees come out of that account, but we do appropriate $50,000 from there. the three buckets we put in 150,000 each and then we put $250,000 into the um the budget reserve.
So that's just and it's supposed to be about 10% of the budget of your total budget is goes into those. Um so again, we put those monies in and then we kind of pull them out when we need them for debt. What we're projecting for the fiscal
year reserves um we're going to be looking at about 1.67 67 is going to be the search charge or the on the tax base estimating about 255 like I said it was 257 this year so we're estimating we'll probably get
about 255 it has been um declining over the course of the years of $1.9 million in total revenues that should be collected for fiscal 27 and again this is just a little with the reserves that we need for the 10% allocations. We put in the 150 for each
of the buckets and then 250 into the reserve. The last these are just these are the actual debt payments that you'll see um coming for 27 and I also put the year that they will be um expiring. Um so
you'll see what we what I did was what we are actually con bonded for and what our payments are and that is con that's debt and interest in those amounts. So we have 1.68 um 1.168 which is going to be paid out
for debt for fiscal 27 for those particular projects. The the Smith Street and the underground those are projected. We haven't yet gone and borrowed for those. So, we're just we're we haven't met with our bond council yet on those to get what the actual rates are going to be, but those are just kind
of an estimate. >> And that's going to be the budget for fiscal 27. Any questions? >> Any questions? C Darlene, can you speak to the other two articles on the >> So, I just don't know. Um I'm not So the only thing about the playground I don't
have the amount. >> Do you want to talk on the playground? Oh >> yeah. I mean I know the one on the cemetery. Um I can speak to the cemetery one. >> Yeah. Let me just pull up the uh the warrant uh presentation that Paul sent initially. Y >> that has the actual warrant information
and articles there. >> Was 74,000. Okay. I knew it was more it had to be more than what >> we could and I just don't have a lot of detail on the um >> on what they're buying and all that, but >> I'm going to pull up a slide. Yeah,
>> sure. >> Hopefully I can get get to it before Nope, I didn't. >> There we go. >> Perfect. Um, so this was this is Yes, I can speak on this one. Um, so back in um
I'll just So back in fiscal of 23, we allocated $8,000 um to do the headstones um at the old father's forefather cemetery. That was in fiscal 23. We spent $7,437.50
in fiscal 24 of that $8,000. So, we have a we had like a little balance left over of $562. I let that roll over. I didn't recoup it. I said to David, if he really needed to do like one more stone or something over there, please use that money. He
hadn't. He then came back in fiscal 25 and needed another $8,000. Um he's we've been doing they've been doing multiples. They've been trying to do the stones over there when they come up. I mean, they're just so fragile. Um, so the $8,000 that was appropriated at
the fiscal um 25 town meeting has not been touched. He hasn't spent any of that money. So the balance in my in the forefather's uh historical CBC fund is the $8,562 that we have left over from his appropriation from 23.
He's asking for um the $8,000 to actually be used um you know for for all of the cemeteries to to move them not just that cemetery. So um I don't that's just a reallocation of that that article and you see the
pictures of what the some of the things that have to be done and what he needs to do. There's no issue I don't see any issues there. where I don't see I mean it's this is a very straightforward just a reallocation kind of just a language just to change the language on it and where he can use where he can
specifically use the funds for >> what happened behind it is they the cemetery got a $20,000 donation that John facilitated >> by the fist foundation that could only be used for historic >> cemeteries at that cemetery so the work had done he just
>> with other funds >> planted this CPC money so now David says So, these funds are available for the other ones that didn't get the specific grant or donation. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I don't want to give the impression that David didn't do his job. >> No, no, no. And he's received a second year. >> I was just going to say,
>> yeah, the general the Fisk Foundation has been very nice. >> We just got a second one and they split the split between John. It's been split what? Between the library and the cemetery. Yes. >> 20,000 per year to the library and the
cemetery. So, extremely generous. >> That's great. Oh, that's awesome. >> Yeah. Wonderful. >> Great. And then the only other other one was the for CBC funds is the Farney playground uh allocation. >> Yes. And there again, they're going to be taking this from the um general
reserve account, which we have plenty of money to take the $74,000 from that. That's um if it was, you know, if it was had hovered like a little bit under the 50,000, we could have really used that under the open recreation account because we have that. Um um but because
it went over that u but there's plenty we I have no you know I I have no concerns um we have plenty of money in the general reserve to be able to pull pull these out. And I think if um I was actually involved in the original Vney
Park way back when um and I knew that that um playground equipment wasn't going to last very long because it was all kind of just pre-treated uh wood and it was splintering and it was really bad. Um >> it was great at one point. >> It was great at one point. >> Yeah,
>> it was Yes, it was state-of-the-art. as as my dad >> 20 years ago. >> My daughter said that the the the slides became the point where you'd slide and there was a 4ft drop from the slide. So >> yeah. So this um and you can see this is where the appropriation is and I think
that that's all very reasonable. Um and it's a a great you know it's a great little playground there for that neighborhood and and just like the library and and all that. So um yeah. So that's I don't have no um with $74,000 we have plenty of funding within CPC to
do that project. >> All right. Any other questions? >> All right. Thank you, darling. >> All righty. Thank you. Next on our agenda this evening, we have a review of the fiscal year 27 budget within the Shoba Valley Technical School District. With us this evening, we have uh the superintendent, Denise Pigeon. Uh
also in the audience, we have our business manager and members of the uh school committee. >> Thank you so much. Um I just want to first start by saying thank you for um inviting into the journey of building the FY27 budget. Um, I know we we met as
as at the tri board meeting um a couple times in the fall and several of you were able to attend our um our town officials breakfast and meeting again with the Chumsford leaison. I just I really need to to share that um I greatly appreciate those meetings. We're
attending those meetings right when we're in the thick of developing our budget and I find it incredibly helpful and collaborative. Um if you go to the next slide, I always like to start our presentation with just grounding um grounding everyone that's listening and
sort of the who we are and where we came from. So again, Nishoba Valley Tech is your regional vocational technical high school. Chelmsford is one of our eight u member towns. Um Chelmsford is our largest member town and you've been with us since the beginning.
When we talk about the budget, again, the the the big picture here is is the why of what we do and and what our budget is funding. Um, as a um chapter 74 vocational technical school, pretty much our our our specific mission um in addition to providing a a a traditional
academic education as required. We um have our students major in one of our offered technical programs. Um, so this slide just gives you an idea of the programs that we're offering and what's what's really popular right now. Um, construction continues to be booming at
Nshobetch and and um in terms of the labor market needs. So 47% of our students are enrolled in one of our construction programs or transportation programs. 31% of the students enrolled in health and services and 22% in arts and technology.
Um when we build our budget timeline, we actually work backwards. Uh because of our regional agreement and some of our requirements, we start with the date of our very first town meeting um the last, you know, many years. Westford has been that first town meeting at the end of March and then we have to work
backwards. So we are required to have our budget approved by the school committee um 45 days prior to the first town meeting. So that starts us working backwards and sometimes that turnaround is really tight which is why we begin building the budget in October. Um so from October to December we're really
working through that expense budget. We're getting um information from the staff. It's coming to the administrative level and it's going back and forth and back and forth as we work through. Then it gets to budget subcommittee level and same thing there's multiple iterations that go back and forth between budget subcommittee. Um I do want to point out
that um we have a couple members of the Chelmsford representatives on our school committee that sit on budget subcommittee. So thank you for the many many hours that you've spent with us. Um and then it goes forward to the full full committee. Um prior to our public hearing on the budget and finalizing, we
always host a town officials breakfast. Um this year it was very well attended. So again, thank you to those of you that were able to to join us. Um our culinary arts students did um host and serve a wonderful breakfast. And I have to share that this week they did it. They placed
first yet again, secondyear row in the statewide ProStart competition. Um it was really wonderful to see them get off the bus um the other evening after earning that giant banner. And they will go to nationals again for the second year in a row. >> Um so sorry I got off topic. Um
>> well they are award-winning. Um, so we we have our our budget ready to roll and then just like everybody else, we anxiously await the release of the governor's budget. Um, and then typically we only have a couple of weeks to turn it around um because of that 45day window. So that release of the
governor's budget to when we vote quick turnaround time um but we we always manage to make it happen. Um, when we talk about the budget, I always like to also start with enrollment because the assessment, there's a big component of the assessment that is driven by enrollment. Not the entire assessment,
but a good portion of the assessment. So, um, town by town, it's important to understand if enrollment is increasing or decreasing. It's also important to understand if total enrollment is increasing or decreasing. And then it's also important to understand if your percentage of the overall portion of our
um, of enrollment at NT is changing. So for Chelmsford up six students this this past year. Um and your percentage of the overall um enrollment in NT is slightly up um by just about you know point I think it's 0.56% of an increase in
enrollment. Um this is FY26 and um for those of you that came to the budget breakfast you know that um I actually went on a little bit of a deep dive into the chapter 70 formula. Um, thanks for bearing with me through that
presentation. Um, I knew heading into FY27 that I was going to have to take some time to to talk about the one piece of our assessment that is probably the most confusing to understand and that is the required local contribution, the RLC. This is the one part of our
assessment that we have no control over. We do not, you know, we do not make up this number. It does not come from us. We we anxiously await the release of the governor's budget and that's when this number comes out. So, this number when the governor's budget came out, um I know I I talked to Paul and I talked to
a few others. The very first thing everybody was like, whoa, you know, what's happened with the RLC? Why is it up 7.74%. So, we did have to do a bit of a dive to understand that. Some of it is the chapter 70 formula and the and the multi-year phasing in of the um of the
of the different um pieces of the student opportunity act. And then there were also some other changes that happened. Um, so if you go to the next slide, um, some of our towns really saw some significant variations that, you know, at first glance don't really seem all
that explainable. Um, but they are when you dig in. So I'm just going to use, um, Chelmsford as an example. Down six students, but their required local contribution went up 120,000. Um, so those are the types of things that that stuck out. And when you dig into those
changes, there are several factors of that chapter 70 formula that are at play. Um, and if you go to the next slide, we'll we'll kind of dig into that again. Um so I'm not going to go through the whole formula like I did at the other breakfast at the breakfast but um
just a high level when the state is is running this formula this chapter 70 formula the first thing they do is they determine um a foundation budget or what they believe is the minimum a budget that is needed for an adequate education and there's a a long formula there's all sorts of uh spreadsheets um that go
along with it they determine that that foundation budget and then they run another calculation um for the RLC or a community's ability to pay. Very complicated formula. Um looks at things like the property wealth of property
wealth, income, all sorts of factors. And then um they backfill with chapter 70 or that's how the formula is is supposed to work. Um so what's happened with the RLC is in some of our towns the the calculation has changed for that
wealth factor and that ability to pay. So if you go to the next slide. So municipal revenue growth factor. This is one of those components of that formula and in some of our towns they had a very significant increase in their municipal revenue growth factor of more
than 1%. That happened to both air and pepper this year. So that's why their RLC went up so much. Um and um the other piece which is not true of Chelmsford, there were significant enrollment drops in seven of our eight towns, not at NHobate but overall K to2 population. So
I know Chumsford's population is increasing which is um not what's happening in the other regions across NOBEC's region >> where they came from. >> So just so sure on the municipal growth factory is that increase in property values is that what's driving it? So
like towns like Peril >> saw an increase of new maybe new houses, larger houses. So they even though they dropped six students, their their um yes, their municipal revenue growth factor increased by more than 1%. So that shift in in what the state believes
is their ability to pay went up more than one might have expected. >> And Paul can probably explain this better than I can. >> Growth of property tax pays local receipts and those on those related to growth factor.
>> Okay. >> Um you can go to the next slide. So I just wanted to set the set the stage with that because that is the biggest portion of our assessment. Um the rest of our assessment, you know, there's other small pieces of it. Um but swinging from
the assessment, we also will present our total budget, our overall budget, our spending. the assessment is only about it's 69% of the of the total expense total revenue for our budget. So understanding our full budget is important. Um I know I I tease at times
that our budget driver slide I can just copy and paste it into any municipal or regional school districts budget presentation because all of us are seeing the same thing. We've talked about this um over the over the past several months. A very significant driver for us is always those, you know,
salary increases, staffing increases. Um, good news is our teachers contract is settled for this year and next year. We'll be going into negotiations for FY28. Um, and then followed a year later by our other um our other units, our custodians, cafeteria, pair of professionals, etc. Healthc care. Um, if
we go back to where we were in the fall and the first time I heard that we were looking at potentially 20% increases, um, I still find it interesting that we're celebrating 10 to 15% increases, but um, we have come we have come along. So, that is that's a significant increase, but better than where we
thought we were going to be. Um, transportation for Nishopek, this is interesting because our transportation contract is going up. It's a 5% increase. We're in a one-year extension of our contract, but when you get to the assessment, you're going to see that our transportation costs overall are slightly going down. Um, that's because
we were able to have some savings in some of our special transport students that have graduated out. Um, and that so even though we're having a 5% increase, you're getting to see that we it looks like some savings. Um, vendor contracts, again, everything goes up. Um, for us in
particular, the HVAC contract is an issue. We have a very much aging system that we're hoping to replace soon. And I'll talk about that in a future slide and other you know other costs so we can we can move forward. >> Are there any um in our transportation
contract um both for the show and for chumps is there anything in there where they can raise because of the fuel cost going way up. Can they raise >> I think they can charges on us?
Yes, >> there is our fuel sages based on transportation contracts, paving contracts and so forth. >> So it goes with the market. It also come down too. >> I I understand that but >> yes, >> even though I am right now usually >> theoretically I say like
>> yes, >> usually it goes up. I've never seen like actively >> rare it goes actively down. >> Like unless you bring it to their attention to bring it down, right? Like >> no problem. You have to put a cost estimate in your bid, what your fuel price is per gallon, and then it's
adjusted based on what it is. >> That's okay. Thank you. >> And there aren't that many biders out there when it comes to transportation contract. >> Yes. For historically, we've received one bid. Yeah. Yes. Um so we again began that process in October, had multiple
iterations of the budget through December into early January. Um we made a lot of adjustments. We knew that um across the board everybody was in the same place as we were. Costs are going up um and and we know that it's tough times. So we u really worked hard to
reduce the budget. The first rounds that were coming in were were much higher than I knew we could um bring forward. So we did a lot of things to try to make adjustments. So we did do some significant deferrals of capital. Some of this is deferred a couple of years in a row. Um for example, we are still
holding on um replacement of three of our minibuses. we do have the benefit that we have, you know, a transportation program that can help us keep these up and running and and make the maintenance changes that we need. So, we we rely on our tech programs to help reduce those costs as well. Um, we also um made the
decision to hold off on an OPED payment. So, there is no um typically we put in anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 OPED in the budget. Um, and we did remove it um from the FY27 budget um prop that you see here today. We do hope that if we
have some savings in the health care costs that we would be able to make an additional payment. So hopefully it won't actually affect our our progress moving forward. Um but the other piece is we're doing really well with our oped um trust. Thank you Paul for participating on that. Um we've been making regular payments so we're we're
in we're in good shape moving forward with that. We looked at everything technology um software wherever we could um reduce or have efficiencies and we made those. We also again I know you've heard our stories. We'd love to apply for grants. Um we we were able to secure
a $399,000 grant and able to pull the dust collection system replacement for carpentry out of the budget. Um so it will still get done, but it's going to get done through a grant. Um and you know, we continue to do those types of activities to be able to still get what
we need, but also reduce costs. So the budget that's um being presented today is significantly less than where we started. Um this slide digging a little deeper into what's going on with capital because you will see we do have a significant increase in ask for capital but that ask is balanced with the
reduction in debt. Um we're continuing to move forward. I think I'm four years in a row now telling you we're working through one wing at a time replacing our fire suppression system. We are um planning this summer to do a very large section of the building. Um and that's
the what the 750,000 and and hopefully maybe even another section in the back of the building can get done. I'm very much looking forward to being able to not have to keep telling you that we're still working through this, but we're getting there. Um, we also know that one of our biggest capital needs coming up
is HVAC. I think you've heard me talk about it for a few years. We were thrilled that the MSBA accelerated repair project reopened. We put in our application and we were accepted in. So, very excited. Um, we've just kicked off that beginning phase of the feasibility
study to replace our HVAC system with a heat pump conversion. Um, the school committee did take a vote to utilize our stabilization funds to pay for the feasibility study. Um, we do anticipate we'll get a 55% reimbursement rate on
that. Um, but there's no expenses for feasibility in this budget. We will be coming forward in either the fall. I was hoping for the fall, but I'm not so sure we're going to get there that fast. Um maybe in the spring to go forward with the full project to bond for the full
project. And the timing of this is is critical because we just paid off the largest piece of debt that Nobitech had, which was the big building project between 2003 to 2005 been paid off. Um so we've increased our capital ask balanced with the decrease in debt. And
sort of the planning moving forward is as this debt phases on, we'd also be able to drop back our our capital ask um so that we can try to keep that assessment as level as possible. That's the same methodology we used with the last roof project. Um and that's that's what we're trying to do. So again, steps
of the MSBA, we're in feasibility right now. I'll hope to have a warrant article and be before you um next year talking about the big project. Um we can go to the next slide. So, the the bird's eye view of the budget, um, we
have a a $20.3 million budget. Um, it is a 4.81% in increase over last year. Um, again, we've come down pretty significantly from where we started. There's not a lot of new here. It's the things that I talked about in our budget drivers. Um, but you can see, and it does kind of
stand out if you see that the capital and debt. Um, that's a that's a a piece of our strategy. So, we've increased capital assets by 325,000. debts decreased by just about the same. >> Um so this slide again 20 million $20.3 million budget. Um that budget is funded
through basically two categories of of funding. Funding that comes direct from the towns through town assessments and funding that comes um through non-town assessment revenue um like chapter 70 and um we are also using a portion of our END to offset offset costs in this
budget. So, um, town assessments 69% of our of our overall revenue plan. You go to the next slide. Now, this looks um more closely at the total assessment. This is all eight towns, not not just Chelmsford. Um, so you can see this is
the year-over-year assessment and the change. Um, 764 students to 770. So, up six students. You can see the RLC again that state formula is the most significant portion of the change of the assessment. Um given that significant
change, the school committee did um level fund that additional assessment column. So no change. You could see a slight savings in transportation. Again, as I I mentioned earlier, the the why of that capital's up 325, debts down uh by about the same for the total assessment
change. Then looking at what happens specific to the town of Chelmsford, that is the next slide. Um, so up six students slightly up in your percentage of overall enrollment. 253,298
of that change is all connected to that RLC calculation. Um, up a little over 2,000 in additional assessment. Um, same with transportation. And then you can see the change in capital and debt based on the way that um we have we have put that in the budget for a total change of
263302. Um and then I always like to end with the other things that we do in addition to running high school. Um we also have quite a bit of adult programming at night. This program is not part of the budget but it is something that's available to residents. Um we're running
another round of cohorts is kicking off uh this week actually where we have um adults who are um unemployed or underemployed doing job retraining in various fields. Um th this is completely state funded and at no cost to the participants and it can really be a true
uh vector changer for people. Um 200 hour retraining programs and we'll be running another round of cohorts in the summer as well. So, if you know anyone out there that's looking to retrain, um, have them get in touch with us and we can help them get in touch with Mass Hire to get connected with these programs. And, um, um, you have the the
presentation and you also have the the more specific budget handouts. I'm glad to answer any questions you might have. Oh, you know what? I forgot to mention one more thing. Um, when we talked about the technical programs, we are um, we do have our eyes on potentially adding two
new technical programs. um and that is HVAC maintenance and um a facilities or a property maintenance program. And we did put our um grant application in for a pretty significant grant. We're hoping for some good news in a couple of weeks.
Um if we get that grant, it would would likely be um over um over three million to be able to move forward with adding those two new programs. So, we're hoping for some announcements soon. >> Excellent. >> That's great news. And would you be offsetting any other programs or just
net additions? >> Um, we're always looking at which programs are uh potentially in need of phasing out. Um, we we have phased programs out as we phase programs in. Um, so we do that annually. But more than anything, if you were to see how many students are enrolled in
construction, I think you'll see that they'll spread out. Um, our electrical and plumbing are are are our two largest programs right now. Um, and I I know that there are students who would be looking to switch into those other fields, and we also know that there's other students that will be coming up through the grades that would want those
programs. >> Um, I know that Chumsford's your largest sending town, but by population, who's the largest like percentage of population >> in terms of like the total town population? like like like say uh who's uh
>> our second largest I I always say is pepper and towns and combined so it's the north middle sex region is our second largest town >> saying is relative to their population the most proportion of students it's probably thank you >> smalleriz
send a significant portion of students yeah >> got Just another question on um OPED. So what's the mechanism to remember to add that back in in the future? >> Well, I won't forget and I have a member on the board of trustees. Um his name is
Paul Cohen. Um no, we won't forget. Um and our school committee is really good about this. Like this was not something they wanted to do, but I think we're we're pretty hopeful that um again, you know, we're careful when we budget with for health insurance costs, but we typically do have realize some savings at the end
of the year. So I think we could still potentially make it work. Um and we might also be able to make an additional payment at the end of this year to also offset offset that. So um we will not forget. >> Excellent. >> Thank you. >> And then the the last question I have is just on you were mentioning um the
stabilization fund was used for the MSBA feasibility study. Yes. >> Just curious how much is in the the stabilization fund? >> That's a great question. I I wrote it down. I knew somebody might ask. Um so our stabilization account has one about 1.8 million. Um we try to keep about 8
to 10% of our total budget. It was a a long process to get to that point. We haven't funded it for many many years. Um but over over the course of time there was 100,000 200,000 300,000 payments that went in there. Um, so this feasibility study, we're still um in the
process of of negotiating the fees, but it could be anywhere from 600,000 to 900,000 for this study through through um the schematic design phase. We would anticipate a 55% reimbursement of eligible costs that would go back into that uh into that account. Um so then
futuristically, we may want to start increasing it again. Um but we were happy that we were able to do it this way so that we didn't have to put it into the assessment. That's why that's really the why that we had this account in the first place. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions?
>> All right. Thank you very much. >> Thank you so much. >> I also have to say um from a person who works on presentation material all the times. Good size type, interesting graphics. Well, in full disclosure, I have to give a little credit to Gemini for helping me
with the with the images on April 27th. >> Oh, yes. I I am so sorry, but um we have this running issue where we have two towns that have a town meeting on the same night. Um and um this year I will be attending the Airtown meeting and I
will be sending some staff members to Chelmsfordtown meeting. However, sometimes I can still make it and you'll see me come in at the end or if I if I can make it here for the presentation, I will do the presentation. If I can't, we will have other staff members that are ready to roll and then I'll continue to rotate um where I am.
>> So, I apologize for that. But I am double >> challenge this year. >> And I appreciate your understanding on that. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, the next item on our agenda this evening is a discussion of the
budget hearing and springtime meeting warrant article schedule just as an update. Um, so this evening we've had the board of health, the community preservation fund, then those articles, the library and valley school district. Um, so that ends the budget reviews. Uh,
as far as the warrant article reviews, we have no meeting next week as a reminder um on the n on the 19th, but we have our final meeting or should be our final meeting on the 26th of the month. >> Um, and that at that evening, we'll have the general bylaw and zoning bylaws. Um,
both Kelly Bees and also uh Crystal Valley from the planning board will be here to present um those zoning articles. Again, I've reached out to Brian Lutina to see if he wants to present on his zoning bylaw amendment. I haven't heard anything um still, but uh the invitation remains open for the for
the 26th um should he so choose to come. Um the that evening then we'll proceed to our review and voting on on the articles. So we'll go as we always do um straight through from 1 through 36 this
year. Um, and we'll uh present, review, discuss, and vote um after the presentation of the zoning bylaws. Speaking with Chris, he said he didn't expect to be more than an hour. Okay. >> Uh on his um zoning bylaws and also including actually Kelly Behoning
bylaws. So, um that shouldn't be a terribly long meeting, although it would be certainly longer than this evening. Um but that will get us done with our review in March. um which will allow us a couple couple a little bit little bit of extra leeway to get the planning book
the book book and report together, the letter together and then off to the off to the um uh printer. The town meeting as as uh town manager mentioned earlier is 27th this year, the the last Monday in April. uh which means that the uh
town manager's review uh of the warning warning articles will be at 6:30 uh on the 22nd at the senior center um >> 20. So the review on the Wednesday prior is the 22nd. >> Yeah. Oh 7
>> at 7 p.m. Excuse me. Um, so I welcome anyone here, but also all all the town meeting representatives at home that would like to come and learn a little bit more about what's been voted on, what the warn articles are, what the budget looks like to go that evening and to have their questions answered through a review of all the articles so that
they're ready and ready and raring to go at on the 27th at the Springtown meeting. Um, 36 articles, but there's a large consent agenda, I think. Um, I've heard there's going to be two >> two consent agendas >> because the the voting like >> although well okay yep understand what
you're saying. Um, with but with that uh I imagine I I don't think we'll go more than two nights. Um, I would hope that we don't go more than two nights. Um, but for us we'll be done probably I think voting and review will take an hour and a half. Um, so we'll be out of
here probably nine o'clock next uh not next week but the week after. All right. Is there any public comment? Seeing none and none in the Zoom room, I will entertain a motion to adjourn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor?
>> See you in two weeks.