5/8/1995 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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TOM ......... ToWn of Jmrnaobpee Y 16 GREAT NECK ROAD NORTH ` '• I MASHPEE, MA 02649 ' ABL cQ f t 4 I To WN OE MASHPEE Report of the Capital Improvement Committee April 26, 1995 The Capital Improvement Committee is established under the bylaws of the Town of Mashpee for the purpose of studying the capital needs of the Town and making a multi- year plan and budget for carrying out necessary capital projects and acquisitions.This Committee is comprised of a member and an appointee of both the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee,as well as a representative of each department,board or committee having one or more projects within the period encompassed by the capital plan. Both the Town Accountant and the Executive Secretary serve an advisory role as non-voting members of the committee. The committee is charged with developing a six-year plan and presenting to Town Meeting the first four years of the plan. After many years of inactivity, a new Capital Improvement Committee was appointed this year and has worked diligently to prepare a plan to present to voters at the May 1995 Town Meeting. The Committee started with the Executive Secretary soliciting capital project requests from each department, and has for the past several months conducted weekly meetings in order to funnel the many capital requests into a realistic multi-year program which meets the needs of this fast growing Town without negatively impacting the Town's financial position. Based on this work, the Committee is pleased to present at this time the Capital Budget for fiscal year 1996,contained in the Town Meeting warrant, along with the attached Capital Program for the ensuing three year period. With this the first year of what will become an annual planning process, several assumptions were made regarding the financial capacity of the Town which served to guide the Committee's actions. Without having had a coordinated plan in the past for capital improvements to use as guidance,the Committee first sought data regarding what may be expected for continuing revenues to support capital projects. In this regard the Committee has relied heavily on the "Long Range Financial Plan for Mashpee",presented to the Board of Selectmen by the Mashpee Finance Committee,including its excellent analysis of the current long-term debt structure of the Town. Incorporating these materials into the plan, the Committee has reached consensus on theguidelines that a.) current year financing requests will not exceed available funds of i the Town; b.} in current and future years every attempt will be made to fund projects within the limits of Proposition 2 1/2; and c.) The existing debt levels of the Town should be f stabilized and maintained so as to avoid converting funds previously spent for capital items into operating budgets. The attached chart entitled, Town of Mashpee Debt Service Inside 21/2 serves to illustrate this latter point. This chart shows a ten-year analysis of debt levels inside Proposition 2 1/2 for both the status quo and for the implementation of projects recommended through the capital improvement program. i f