===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Finance Committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, October 28, 2021 Location: In-person at Lunenburg Town Hall and broadcast on Zoom Present: Chairperson Peter Beardmore, Chris Menard, Dave Passios, Jay Simeone, Tom Balish, Tom Gray, Evan Watters Guests: Massachusetts Association of School Committees Field Director Tracy O’Connell Novick, Town Manager Heather Lemieux, Lunenburg Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kate Burnham, School Committee Chairperson Carol Archambault, School Committee member Brian Lehtinen, School Committee member Sophie Shapiro via Zoom, Lunenburg Public Schools Business/HR Manager Michael Cassidy, Town Accountant Karen Brochu, Select Board Member Lou Franco via Zoom, Select Board member Michael-Ray Jeffreys via Zoom 1. Call to Order –Joint meeting with Lunenburg School Committee Mr. Beardmore called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and read a statement concerning the Open Meeting Law, and how all public meetings are legally being held remotely. Ms. Archambault called the Lunenburg School Committee meeting to order. This meeting was recorded and is viewable on YouTube at https://youtu.be/Gp102JkcQdU 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Announcements: Mr. Beardmore explained that this joint meeting of the school committee and finance committee was to provide an opportunity for both committees to learn more about the Commonwealth’s Chapter 70 program, which addresses funding for public elementary and secondary schools, and also establishes minimum spending requirements for each school district and minimum requirements for each municipality’s share of school costs. Mr. Beardmore highlighted that the finance committee has noticed that as the school’s budget has risen, Chapter 70 funds have not, and that the intent of this meeting is to determine the best routes to improve the town’s standing. Mr. Beardmore also informed those in attendance that Lunenburg’s delegates in the state legislature were invited to this meeting, and they intended on being present, however, the legislative schedule had since changed, and both houses were in session, so none of the delegates could be present. 4. Public Comment: none at this time. 5. Chapter 70 Presentation and Discussion: Ms. Archambault introduced Ms. Novick who complimented both committees for getting together to learn more and discuss Chapter 70 funding. Ms. Novick explained the history behind Chapter 70, how it is calculated, and how Lunenburg’s figures are formed, as well as the circuit breaker and how it works locally, along with how Montachusett Regional Vocational School tuition factors in to Chapter 70 funds. ===PAGE 2=== Ms. Novick explained that the Commonwealth determines a base foundation for all districts, then considers how many low income students, and English language learners there are in each district and adds more funds based on those numbers. Ms. Novick explained that the inflation rate also affects the base foundation, but pointed out that increase in costs surpasses the rate of inflation. Ms. Novick alluded that without higher enrollment, more low income students and/or English language learners, inflation is the only other factor that would raise the base foundation. According to Ms. Novick, base foundation numbers are determined based on enrollment from the prior year. After the Commonwealth determines how much each district is required to spend, municipalities are obligated to fund 59 percent of that foundation budget, while the Commonwealth provides 41 percent. In order to determine how much each district is responsible for, all taxable property in each municipality is taken into consideration, as well as income tax filed, and sets them equal to each other to develop a common calculation to come up with a combined effort yield. Ms. Novick went on to talk about the Student Opportunity Act, which goes into effect this year so won’t be accounted for until next year’s numbers are determined. The act contains four financial changes affecting the the base foundation amount concerning health insurance, special education, English learning students, and low income students. Ms. Novick explained that in FY22 the state determined the town’s contribution to be $10,908,378, with Chapter 70 funds coming in at $7,500,000, and that since the base foundation can’t meet the cost of operations, the town spent over and above its required amount. Ms. Novick also pointed out Lunenburg’s enrollment pattern has had several ups and downs before seemingly levelling out. Ms. Novick also said that several municipalities have passed a Proposition 2 1/2 override in order to fund changes to the budget, and suggested looking at the base foundation determination and discussing an override with legislature representatives. Ms. Archambault asked about charter school reimbursement changes. Ms. Novick explained that those changes will be addressed when the Student Opportunity Act takes effect. Mr. Lehtinen asked about transportation and the circuit breaker. Ms. Novick explained that the state plans to eventually reimburse all funds for transportation, but the amount would come back in phases. At 8:25 p.m. the school committee adjourned, and the finance committee took a 5 minute recess. 6. Public Comment: Resident Dave Rodgers called in and said he found the Chapter 70 talk enlightening, and opined that the cards are stacked against Lunenburg because the State House does not care about municipalities beyond Route 128. Mr. Beardmore added that looking at other municipalities in the same situation as Lunenburg, and having a discussion with Lunenburg’s representatives could help the town’s case, and reminded those attending that the town has an obligation to do its best to educate its kids. 7. Finance Committee Business Meeting: a. Discuss conduct of public hearing on Nov. 4: The committee agreed to use the actual article numbers listed in the warrant as opposed to the letters they used when the warrant was in draft form. Mr. Beardmore informed the committee that Michael Ray Jeffreys would attend the meeting to give two presentations, one on Article 7 as a ===PAGE 3=== member of the T.C. Passios Building Design Committee Member, and another presentation on Article 8 as a Select Board member. b. Business pertaining to Special Town Meeting Nov. 16: Ms. Lemieux had no new items to discuss. Mr. Beardmore said more information will be discussed at the Nov. 4 hearing pertaining to Articles 3, 7, and 8. c. Minutes: Mr. Watters motioned to accept the minutes from the October 14, 2021 meeting, Mr. Menard seconded. Mr. Passios abstained. Motion carried: 6-0-1 d. Committee Reports: Mr. Passios explained how Mr. Jeffreys would present Articles 7 and 8 at the public hearing Nov. 4, and that final figures pertaining to those articles were still unknown. e. Items for future meetings: Next regularly scheduled meeting is Dec. 9, 2021. Topics to discuss include the Green Communities Committee street light project, follow up on Chapter 70 discussion with state representatives, and ARPA funds. f. Next meetings: Nov. 4, Nov. 16 (STM), Dec. 9. 8. Adjourn: Mr. Menard motioned to adjourn, Mr. Passios seconded. On vote, motion passes unanimously.