Font ResizeAYER -- The Ayer Finance Committee voted unanimously Wednesday, March 10, to approve of a capital exclusion approach to seeking voter approval for a one time, one year tax assessment to fund 9 items totaling $514,524.
"We were told when we started this process that there was no money for capital (items) other than for enterprise funds," said Capital Planning Committee Chair Mary Spinner, "since this is non-enterprise (need), there was no other way to do this other than exclusion."
Unlike a Proposition 2 and a half override which increases taxes permanently, a capital exclusion raises the money to purchase items through a one-time increase to real property owners' tax bills. Since the average home value is $276,000 in Ayer, the one-year charge would be around $120.
The amount to be raised was reduced $90,000 as a result of the vote on March 6 to regionalize the schools in Ayer and Shirley into one district. $110,000 remains on the capital exclusion list to pay Ayer's portion of a feasibility study for facility needs at the Ayer Middle-High School.
The other items include: for DPW: $141,000 for a new 6-wheel dump truck, $35,000 for a three-quarter ton utility truck with a plow, $25,000 for a new vehicle for the Supt. and $9,500 for a grass mower attachment for a DPW multi-service vehicle.
Also on the list are $65,024 for an emergency generator for Ayer Town Hall, $58,000 to comply with new laws for uniform street signage and $41,000 for
FinCom Chairman Brian Muldoon agreed with Spinner that the capital exclusion approach was best. He said with school regionalization, there's a high likelihood for overrides in the coming years to fund school facility construction.
"What I don't like is that we're borrowing $400,000 and we're paying $100,000 to borrow $400,000 for five years," Muldoon said of the bonding expense projected by Town Administrator Lisa Gabree, "at a time like this, I just can't see us spending money to finance this."
Muldoon urged his fellow FinCom members to put the $514,524 capital exclusion proposal forward for a vote on the April 26 ballot. If successful there, the proposal would advance to Town Meeting where "all these line items can be spoken on or modified."
FinCom member Scott Houde asked about the merits of funding a vehicle for the DPW Supt. Muldoon replied, "I'm not going to pull stuff out of this. I don't have enough information and I don't want to second guess another committee's job."
FinCom member Jesse Reich added that, for Town Meeting, a list should be prepared to show all of the other departmental requests that didn't make the list this year to show that these are the strongest needs on the priority scale. "Just to let people know that we're not being cavalier in a tough year," Reich explained.
A capital exclusion attempt was made in 2006 to fund the cost to replace the Town Hall roof. That initially passed but was later reversed in favor of borrowing. The cost is still being paid back with interest, Spinner said. She said this time the ballot language will provide voters a short, concise summary of the question before them. Spinner called the last go around on a capital exclusion ballot question, "a page and a half long and very confusing."
The FinCom took the action a week after being visited by Ayer Board of Selectman Chairman Connie Sullivan who spoke against the capital exclusion funding mechanism, stating his fear that it would become an annual event. He urged the FinCom to instead work with the selectmen to perhaps reprioritize and thin the list and see if the remaining items could be funded within the existing budget.
