05/03/2021 Annual Town Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Dear Mashpee Voters: This document is the Finance Committee's report on the Warrant Articles enacted by the Board of Selectmen for the Town Meeting of May 3, 2021. The Finance Committee is composed of seven volunteers appointed by the Town Moderator. As mandated by the Mashpee Charter, our purpose is to review all articles posed on the Town Meeting Warrant and provide recommendations and conclusions, as well as the impact on the tax rate. Also required is that the Finance Committee provide written explanations of all articles on the warrant. There are six (6) articles in the Special Town Meeting Warrant. Three (3) of these are to "clean up" matters pertaining to either Fiscal Year 2020, which ended June 30, 2020, or for Fiscal Year 2021, which will end on June 30, 2021. The remaining three (3) articles are: • Article 4 is the first time that an article such as this is being proposed. The article will appropriate and transfer funds from the Transportation Network Company Per Ride Assessment (TNC) Receipts Reserved Fund to the Department of Public Works Road Maintenance Account. These are for fees assessed to transportation network companies (e.g. Lyft, Uber, etc.). Half of the amount of fees collected are given to cities and towns to be used for road maintenance. • Article 5 is to appropriate and transfer 15% of the Revenues Available for Appropriations to the Capital Stabilization Fund to provide funding for future capital improvement projects in accordance with Board of Selectmen policy. • Article 6 is to appropriate and transfer funds from the Capital Stabilization for the purpose of purchasing and customizing an existing property to house the Department of Natural Resources. The Warrant for the May Annual Town Meeting includes nineteen (19) articles. Over the past month, the Finance Committee has met with the Town Manager, various Department Heads, and other Town officials for guidance, clarification, and their expertise on all articles submitted. In the following report, under each article, we have explained and offered our recommendation. Included in these articles are the Town Manager's recommended spending budget of $62.3 million (Article #2) for the new fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2021 and $1.8 million for capital improvements (Article #3). The proposed FY2022 Operating Budget represents a 1.9% increase over the current year's Operating Budget. This increase is driven by contractual obligations in Personal Services. The Capital Improvement Budget represents a $194,646 decrease from the prior fiscal year and has no impact on the tax rate, being funded by the Capital Stabilization Fund, Revenue Available for Appropriations, and other reserve funds. 9