Lakeville CPC posts higher revenues after tax-rate certification; committee approves return of $1,700 to CPA fund

Town of Lakeville Community Preservation Committee members on Dec. 19 heard updated revenue figures after the town's tax rate was certified and voted to return $1,700.18 in unspent project funds to the CPA fund.

Committee members said the town accountant, Mike Ellis, entered updated revenue numbers into the town accounting system (Munis) and that the state match for the CPA had been posted. "So the original appropriation column right off the top left with 245,000 was probably not there at your last meeting. Now it's there. We also received our state match in the month of November, which is $42,003.42," Ellis said during the meeting. He said total revenues in the committee's spreadsheet rose to about $161,000 through Nov. 30, up from roughly $107,000 previously recorded.

The committee also considered a packet email from Paul Nee confirming that a town hall doors project resulted in a $1,700.18 balance to be returned. A member moved that the committee e-mail the town accountant to move the $1,700.18 back into the CPA fund; another member seconded the motion. The committee voted "Aye," and the chair said the motion passes. The minutes do not record a roll-call tally; the transcript records the outcome as "All in favor? Aye. Aye. And motion passes." The committee agreed the accounting entry should be verified with Paul Nee and the town accountant after the meeting.

Committee members and staff discussed the treatment of returned or unused funds. Ellis described how reimbursements had been placed back into the original funding sources: "It was $17,008.93 from undesignated fund balance and 12,106.62 from historic reserves. And when I closed the 30,000, I put that exact decimal back to each funding source," he said. Committee members confirmed they could see the returned amounts on the spreadsheet under "unspent project funds" and "funds unspent returned."

Members discussed the annual CPA administrative allocation and signaled intent to keep administrative spending at 3% for fiscal 2026 rather than the 5% maximum; the committee planned to revisit the precise numbers in January after Ellis provides revenue projections. Ellis said he would send estimates early in the new year and that he typically projects revenue conservatively for the state match.

The committee packet also included a printed figure from the Community Preservation Coalition showing a state match listed as $42,342; members did not resolve the minor difference during the meeting. Ellis said he would verify figures in the town accounting system and confirm the posted amounts.

The committee scheduled follow-ups on the warrant language for the spring town meeting and to post the CPA financial spreadsheet on the town website.

Ending: The committee directed staff to complete the accounting entry and return final revenue estimates at the next meeting; the committee scheduled a follow-up agenda item in January to finalize warrant language for spring town meeting articles.