Capital and Financial Plan Advisory Committee
The Capital and Financial Plan Advisory Committee shall be an advisory committee to the Board of Selectmen for fulfilling its duties under the Town Charter to annually prepare a program and a long-term financial plan for the Town.
Purposes:
1. To advise the Town Manager and Board of Selectmen concerning the development and implementation of a (minimum) 3-year financial plan for the Town as required by Articles 3 and 4 of the Town Charter by:
a. Assisting the Town Manager to prepare an initial financial plan that identifies capital needs, sets priorities for capital expenditure requests to present to Town Meeting, and reconciles funding capital needs with meeting ongoing operating expenses;
b. Ensuring that the overall capital and operating needs for the various town departments are addressed in a single presentation that reconciles the needs of municipal and school departments;
c. Recommending policies and procedures to promote all town departments to forecast capital needs and request capital appropriations in a timely manner;
d. Formulating a template for revising the initial financial plan annually;
2. To recommend to the Board of Selectmen policies and procedures the Committee may find, in its work, would improve communications on financial matters with the Committee on Finance and Taxation and to Town Meeting to expedite consideration of operating and capital budget requests.
3. To make recommendations to the Board of Selectmen concerning capital expenditures, including priorities and funding sources (i.e., cash payment, bonding, grants, combination thereof, etc.) set out in the Town Manager’s proposed budget as submitted to the Board of Selectmen for fiscal year 2014.
4. To make recommendations to the Board of Selectmen concerning capital expenditures, including priorities and funding sources (i.e., cash payment, bonding, grants, combination thereof, etc.) as contained in petitioned warrant articles for fiscal year 2014.
5. To advise the Board of Selectmen concerning the need for a permanent capital and financial plan advisory committee.
Composition:
The Capital and Financial Plan Advisory Committee shall have five (5) members and be appointed by the Board of Selectmen. Citizens with training, education and experience in accounting, auditing, budgeting, business planning and related fields shall be encouraged to apply. The Selectmen shall invite recommendations for the appointments from the School Committee and Committee on Finance and Taxation.
1. The Town Manager shall be a member, ex officio.
2. The Superintendent of Schools shall be invited to be a member, ex officio.
Budget Expectations for Fiscal Year 2014:
The Committee may rely on revenue forecasts for Fiscal Year 2014, however, its work shall be based on an expectation of level service budgets for the municipal and school departments. If the Committee, in its work, would recommend either an increase or decrease in the level of service for any departments, such recommendations may be included in the Committee’s reports along with the Committee’s reasoning and the anticipated effect of such changes on capital and/or operating budgets for the respective departments. Organization and Charge to the Committee:
1. The Committee shall be appointed on or before August 15, 2012 and hold its organizational meeting on or before September 1, 2012.
2. The Town Manager shall include a progress report for the Committee’s work in the Town Manger’s reports to the Board of Selectmen.
3. The Committee shall report on items 1 and 2 in the Purpose section as soon as possible, but no later than December 1, 2012.
4. The Committee shall report on items 3 through 5 in the Purposes section as soon as possible after submission of the Town Manager’s budget recommendations and the deadline for filing petitions for warrant articles, but not later than January 20, 2013.
5. The terms of appointment for this Committee shall expire upon dissolution of the 2013 Annual Town Meeting unless otherwise extended. |
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