Town of Brookline FY23 Program Budget
Non-Departmental l Unclassified
Unclassified
The Unclassified portion of the budget represents miscellaneous accounts in the Town budget, including various reserves.
Out of State Travel
This budget covers the costs of out-of-state conferences, workshops, and training seminars for Department Heads.
Printing of Warrants and Reports / Town Meeting
This budget is for the costs associated with Town Meeting and for the printing and production of the Combined Reports, the Town's Annual Report, and the Annual Financial Plan. The budget encompasses salaries, services, and supplies and is level-funded for FY23 at $55,000.
MMA Dues
The Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) is an umbrella organization representing various municipal organizations. One of its most important functions is to lobby the State and Federal governments on behalf of member cities and towns.
General Insurance
The Town has several insurance coverages including property, boiler, auto, equipment, landlord liability, and fidelity bonds. Property insurance accounts for more than 80% of all the general insurance costs.
Audit and Professional Services
In accordance with State law, the Town contracts for an annual independent audit of its accounts. Professional services is for outside professional consulting services that may be necessary during the course of the year.
Private Day Schools
In grades 9-12, students may choose to participate in vocational technical education programs, such as automotive technology, culinary arts, or design and visual communications, in preparation for a future career. Students in these programs take academic courses in addition to their technical courses and must meet the same requirements for high school graduation that all high school students must meet, including passing the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System or "MCAS" tests. These vocational technical education programs are approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and are sometimes referred to as "Chapter 74-approved" programs.
Contigency Fund
This small contingency fund, which is administered by the Select Board and Town Administrator, is generally used to fund smaller, non-budgeted items and smaller, unforeseen items more appropriately handled from a contingency fund rather than through a reserve fund transfer.
Liability / Catastrophe Fund
This reserve was established by Town Meeting in 1997 via Home Rule legislation that was eventually signed into law on April 3, 1998 as Chapter 66 of the Acts of 1998. (It was later amended by Chapter 137 of the Acts of 2001.) The purpose of the Fund is to allow the Town to set aside reserves, pay settlements and judgments, and protect the community from the negative financial impact of catastrophic loss or legal claims. Per the Town's Reserve Fund policies, the required level for this fund is an amount equivalent to 1% of the prior year's net revenue. All of the funding comes from Free Cash, per the Town's Free Cash and Reserve Fund policies. The graphs below show the annual year-end fund balance (left) and expenditure history (right).
Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF)
This fund was established as part of the Town's effort to increase the amount of affordable housing in the Town. In FY02, the Town was able to make its first appropriation from General Fund revenues into the Fund, in the amount of $1 million. This was made possible by having an extremely large Free Cash certification of $12.4 million. In order to establish a clear policy regarding how Free Cash relates to the Trust Fund, an allocation formula was adopted. The Fiscal Policy Review Committee (FPRC), as part of its work in CY11, recommended a revision to the policy, which the Select Board adopted. The policy, which can be found in its entirety in the Appendix of this Financial Plan, states that if the year-end fund balance in the AHTF is below $5 million, then 15% of any Free Cash remaining after funding the first four priorities shall be allocated to the AHTF. The table on the following page provides a history of funding by source, along with the annual year-end fund balance.
Stabilization Fund
A “Capital Stabilization Fund” was established upon the 1997 recommendation of the CIP Policy Review Committee, a study group appointed by the Select Board to review CIP Financing policies and practices. In 2004, the Fiscal Policy Review Committee (FPRC) recommended that the Stabilization Fund be expanded and made accessible for both operating and capital needs when revenue conditions decline to specified levels. To accommodate the expansion of the Fund’s purpose from solely capital to both the capital and operating budgets, the FPRC also recommended changing the funding target from 1% of the replacement value of buildings to 3% of prior year net revenue. As part of the FPRC's CY11 work, the Committee recommended removing the 3% ceiling since the Stabilization Fund is a component of the Town’s overall fund balance levels, a key metric used by the bond rating agencies. By removing the ceiling, the Town can deposit more into the fund if overall fund balance levels dictate the need. The graph below shows the annual year-end fund balance.
Reserve Fund
The Reserve Fund is administered by the Advisory Committee and is used to fund extraordinary and unforeseen expenses, per Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40, Section 6. According to Town policies, it is set at a level equivalent to 1% of the prior year's net revenue and is funded in the following manner:
- 75% from Operating Budget revenue, in an amount equivalent to 0.75% of the prior year's net revenue
- 25% from Free Cash, in an amount equivalent to 0.25% of the prior year's net revenue
The requested amount meets the requirements of the Reserve Fund policies that were reviewed by the Fiscal Policy Review Committee (FPRC) in 2004 and 2011 and can be found in the Appendix of this Financial Plan.
