Tax projections
The Capital Planning and Investment Committee discussed chair George McKenna’s long-term financial projection, which has been refined in the last couple of weeks. The projection anticipates funding all the capital projects the town has identified as significant needs and estimates the impact on taxpayers. The Excel chart will be published in the warrant booklet for the Annual Town Meeting.
Members discussed whether the full predicted cost ($5.48 million) of the renovations to Hildreth House submitted by the Municipal Building Committee should be included in the projection, given the building committee’s plan to raise money for the addition through philanthropy.
Capital committee member Keith Cheveralls noted, “Right now there’s no commitment on the table from anyone for anything.”
The committee decided to add a footnote to the $5.48 million, stating that the town was carrying the full cost of the renovations, rather than factor an arbitrary number into the projections themselves.
The projection carrying the $5.48 million shows that if the capital plan is fully funded it would result in a 26.8 percent increase in the average tax bill by 2020.
The recommendation to the town states that Town Hall excluded debt would add $126 to the average tax bill, which would decrease over the 20-year loan period.
Master Plan funding
The Capital Planning and Investment Committee members also voted to recommend that no further money be spent to study Devens for phase two of the Master Plan, since plenty of data on Devens has already been gathered, they said. Committee member Debbie Ricci suggested that “no additional funding be made available until the report from phase one is complete and available for review.” The committee passed her resolution as well.
