Millis Finance Committee recommends all 16 fall warrant articles, endorses school article and routine capital items

The Millis Finance Committee reviewed the draft fall town meeting warrant on Oct. 15 and voted, article by article, to recommend approval of all 16 warrant articles as drafted. Committee members discussed the Department of Revenue certification of “free cash,” funding sources for individual articles, and the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) pending review of the school building article.

Town finance staff told the committee the Department of Revenue had not yet certified free cash but expected a floor figure of about $2.8 million; the staffer said the figure could only go up and that the currently proposed fall-warrant capital requests fit comfortably under that floor.

Town Administrator and staff said the draft warrant has been reviewed by town counsel and bond counsel; article 6 (the school building project) also is under MSBA review and the warrant language uses percentage contribution language at bond counsel’s suggestion. Town staff said MSBA had indicated it should be able to return final comments in time for the Select Board’s meeting before the warrant is finalized.

Committee members discussed a range of articles, including unpaid bills, budget adjustments, land disposition, roads and sidewalks funding, tree pruning and removal, Community Preservation-funded trail design, zoning and bylaw updates, a proposed restriction on commercial gas-powered leaf blowers, assessor recertification, and OPEB funding and…