Budget Prep, Water Enterprise Fund Discussed at Warrant Hearing

Representatives of town boards and committees, lead petitioners and even a few representatives of lead petitioners took to the podium Monday night for the Wayland Finance Committee's 2012 Annual Town Meeting Warrant hearing.

The hearing, held in the Large Hearing Room at , was intended to allow members of the Finance Committee and residents to learn more and ask questions about the articles, and was not designed as a time to debate the actual merits of each article.

Still, several articles caused a bit of a stir even within the confines of "identify[ing] the purpose of the article ... to get any issues on the table for both parties to work on later,” as FinCom Chair Cherry Karlson described the hearing's purpose.

In particular, a petitioners' article seeking to restructure Wayland's Finance Committee and the town's budgeting process brought multiple people to the mic with questions and comments.

Donna Bouchard explained the article and said Wayland was in a "very unique" position in that the Board of Selectmen appoints the Finance Committee.

“That actually makes them [the Finance Committee] an extension of the executive branch,” Bouchard said. “We are one of the only municipalities in Massachusetts that prepares our budget this way.”

Bouchard's article proposes that the Finance Committee be restructured to include two members appointed by the Board of Selectmen, one member appointed by the School Committee and four members elected during the town election.

The second part of the article alters the preparation of the town budget so that it falls to the Board of Selectmen, with the Finance Committee operating in an advisory capacity.

The current Finance Committee members raised questions about whether the elected members would need to have any particular qualifications in order to run.

"The qualifications were not necessarily specific," Bouchard responded, "but they would just have to convince the voters that they were qualified to serve.”

Another article that received some discussion dealt with the official establishment of a water enterprise fund, which would serve to "codify the practice" that is already taking place.

The article, sponsored by the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and Board of Public Works, would make official a practice that has been taking place for a number of years.

Karlson explained that the Finance Committee had been reluctant to support this official action in the past because the town's reserves were not as well funded as they now are and the enterprise fund would have "limited our flexibility." Furthermore, there was some concern about what impact creating an enterprise fund would have on Wayland's bond rating.

With better-funded reserves now in place, Karlson said, “Now is the time to go ahead and create and enterprise fund.”

Residents raised a few concerns including who would hold control of the enterprise fund and questions regarding the usage of current surpluses in a fund that was operating as an enterprise fund.

WayCam recorded the nearly three-hour hearing and will make video available on the cable access channel's website soon.