Town Meeting:The Budget Process

This section describes the process by which Lexington's annual operating budget is developed and prepared for presentation to the Annual Town Meeting, where it may be modified by a vote of the Town Meeting. Appropriation of funds can be made only by a vote of the Town Meeting.

The process of developing the financial requests which lead to the annual operating budget involves the simultaneous efforts of a number of elected and appointed Town officials. The timetable and regulations for development of the annual Town budget are specified in the Selectmen-Town Manager Act (Chapter 753 of the Acts of 1968, amended). All boards, departments, committees, commissions and officers of the Town (except the school department) annually prepare and submit budget requests for the following fiscal year to the Town Manager. A detailed estimate of capital expenditures for the next five years must also be submitted to the Manager, as well as to the Capital Expenditures Committee.

At the Town Manager's request the School Committee must submit a total budget estimate for the following fiscal year. The Superintendent of Schools, in consultation with staff, prepares a budget and submits it to the School Committee, which then prepares its proposed school budget. State law requires that the School Committee hold a public hearing on its proposed budget. The Lexington Public School budget then appears as a single line item to be voted as part of the annual Town operating budget. Lexington's assessment for the Minuteman Regional High School appears as a separate line item. The Town Manager prepares the annual budget for the Town based on these requests. The proposed budget, along with the original requests on which the recommendations are based, is scheduled to be submitted to the Board of Selectmen for its consideration by December 1. The Town Manager must also include his estimate of the School budget and of the expected tax rate for the following fiscal year. Meetings are scheduled with the Selectmen and the Town Manager for those departments or organizations making the requests. Recently the Appropriation Committee and, when appropriate, the Capital Expenditures Committee have been included in these meetings so that all who must report their final recommendations to the Town Meeting can ask questions at the same meeting. A series of Budget Collaboration or "Summit" meetings consisting of the Selectmen, School Committee, Appropriation Committee, and Capital Expenditures Committee also precedes the submitting of the budget to Town Meeting.

The Appropriation Committee has the responsibility to make reports and recommendations to the Town Meeting on all funding questions. Members of the Appropriation Committee attend meetings of various Town bodies likely to have articles on the Warrant requesting money, in order to keep the full Appropriation Committee informed and prepared to analyze and evaluate the requests to be made at Town Meeting. The Appropriation Committee publishes its recommendations to the Town, providing the Selectmen's budget figures and identifying those items on which it disagrees with the recommendations of the Selectmen. As additional information becomes available the report may be frequently updated and supplemented before and during the Annual Town Meeting. The Capital Expenditures Committee has the responsibility to review capital requests that are submitted to it in order to make a five-year projection of capital expenses for the Town. Capital expenses are those that do not recur annually and whose benefits accrue to the Town over an extended period of time. Examples include sewer and street construction, building construction, public works equipment, and land acquisition. The Committee studies and evaluates all requested capital items. In addition, the Town Manager and the Board of Selectmen are required to submit a copy of the capital budget, together with their recommendations, to the Committee. The Committee then makes its own recommendations about the current capital items on the Warrant. These recommendations and estimates of anticipated future capital projects are included in the Annual Report of the Capital Expenditures Committee. The Board of Selectmen makes the final decision about the form and presentation of department requests to the Town Meeting. The Board presents the budget articles at the Annual Town Meeting, except for the two school budgets. The Lexington School budget is presented by the School Committee, and Lexington's share of the Minuteman Regional High School budget is presented by Lexington's representative to the Minuteman School Committee. In its capacity as the Town's Board of Public Works, the Selectmen also present the articles proposed for the Department of Public Works. After any article on the Warrant involving an appropriation of funds has been presented to the Town Meeting, the Appropriation Committee and/or the Capital Expenditures Committee are required to report their recommendations to the Town Meeting before a vote is taken. Any member of the Town Meeting may discuss or debate the article prior to the vote.

The Lexington school budget includes some items which are required by the Commonwealth, and yet are only partially funded or not funded at all by the Commonwealth. Assessments for those specified state services and mandates must be funded by the Town which results in new or additional local services or cost obligations over which the Town Meeting has little or no control.