More than three weeks before the May 1 Annual Town Meeting (ATM), union contracts have been settled, the budget is set, warrant articles are sequenced with Finance Committee (FinCom) recommendations on all but one financial article, and the warrant booklet has been sent to the printer, to be distributed to Harvard households by April 24, a week before town meeting.
The last week has been hectic, with many parts of the budget dependent on the contract settlements, and final ratification of settlements not occurring until Monday, April 12. Meetings to determine the final numbers were complicated by the need to maintain confidentiality until settlements were confirmed, balanced against an absolute deadline of April 14 to send the book to the printer.
In addition to analysis reports, charts, and graphs from FinCom, the warrant includes reports from many other committees, including the Capital Planning and Investment Committee, created by Article 6 of last year’s ATM; the Economic Development Analysis Team (EDAT), created at the direction of Article 22 of last year’s ATM; the Harvard Energy Advisory Committee (HEAC), formed in 2009; and the Community Preservation Committee. The booklet also includes a synopsis of Town Meeting procedures, provided by the League of Women Voters of Harvard, which explains protocols and procedures for the conduct of Town Meeting.
A total of 52 articles will be considered by Town Meeting voters. At the request of the Planning Board, its articles are at the beginning of the warrant, before budget and other financial articles, rather than at the end as they have been traditionally. Three articles to amend the protective bylaw include one to define and restrict drive-through facilities, one to replace the zoning map supplement with a digitized and colorized version, and one to modify size restrictions of off-site directional signs.
Aside from the usual articles to close out funds remaining from old warrant articles and to move free cash to stabilization, Articles 9 to 11 create a “capital stabilization and investment fund,” initially fund it with a $400,000 transfer from stabilization, and provide for ongoing funding by policy with transfers annually from certified free cash. Versions of these articles were voted at last year’s ATM, but were invalidated when they were not declared to have passed by a two-thirds vote.
Article 7 is the Omnibus Budget, for a total of $19.8 million, which will be supplemented by articles 25, 26, and 27 to fund union contract settlements with police, dispatchers, and public works employees. Funding for the teachers contract is not voted separately, but is already incorporated in line 29, which appropriates a total of $11.1 million for school operations.
Article 8 completes the operating budget, by raising $350,000 for the Reserve Fund, to be used at the discretion of the FinCom to cover unforeseen and extraordinary expenses without having to convene another town meeting.
Articles 12 through 22, and Article 24 are inserted by the Capital Committee, and represent implementation of the first year of the five-year capital plan. Articles include funding for a pickup truck for the school department, mechanical upgrades to improve energy efficiency of the Bromfield School, a retaining wall and fence for Hildreth Elementary School, a highway garage roof, a new dump truck and spreader, Bare Hill Pond dam repairs, upgrades to the town water system, self-contained breathing apparatus air bottles for the Fire Department, refurbishing a fire truck, purchase of a new fire truck, and first-year borrowing costs for the dump truck and the new fire engine.
Most of the capital projects are funded by transfers from the General Stabilization Fund, which requires a two-thirds vote. Exceptions are Article 13 for $95,960 in upgrades to the mechanical systems at Bromfield, to be funded from the tax levy; Article 16 for $160,000 for a dump truck and spreader and Article 22 for $550,000 for a new fire truck, which are to be funded by issuance of nonexempt debt, to be repaid from the new Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund. Articles funded by issuance of debt require a two-thirds vote.
Article 23, inserted by the Municipal Building Task Force, requests $70,000 to evaluate the general building condition, required upgrades, and effective space planning of the old library, Town Hall, and Hildreth House. Incorporated into the capital plan, this article is also to be funded by the General Stabilization Fund, requiring a two-thirds vote.
Article 29, inserted by the Economic Development Analysis Team, asks for the creation of an Economic Development Committee.
Article 30 is a Proposition 2½ override question, inserted by the School Committee on behalf of the Bromfield School Council, asking for $107,000, to be combined with $31,000 of funding from the schools budget, to reduce the amount of user fees for Bromfield students. This article must pass both at ATM and at the polls in the May 4 town election. The Finance Committee takes no position on this article.
Articles 31 through 38, inserted by the Community Preservation Committee, would authorize nearly $300,000 of transfers from Community Preservation revenues, supporting open space and recreation, housing, and historic preservation, as allowed by the Community Preservation Act.
Article 41, inserted by the Harvard Energy Advisory Committee, asks to amend the bylaws, adding a “Stretch Energy Code” to regulate design and construction of buildings for effective use of energy.
Remaining articles, for the hardy who survive to the end of a long Saturday meeting, include a bylaw amendment to increase enforcement of junk car removal; an article to join a regional household hazardous waste program, an article to give the Agricultural Advisory Commission a small budget; an article to adopt the local option meals tax; an article to increase the town’s ability to impose or increase fees for services, licenses, permits, etc.; an article to extend the expenditure sunset for ballot box replacement by two years, to June 30, 2012; articles to re-authorize revolving funds for Council on Aging, Fourth of July Committee, and Ambulance Service; and articles to accept gifts of property and highway funds.