Capital Planning Committee

Members

• Tom Alonzo, Chairman (Select Board Representative)
  Term Expires: June 2026
• Peter Beardmore, Clerk (School Committee Representative)
  Term Expires: June 2024
• Chris Menard (Finance Committee Representative)
  Term Expires: June 2026
• Matthew Brenner (Planning Board Representative)
  Term Expires: June 2025
• George Martin (Appointed by Town Moderator)
  Term Expires: June 2024

Overview

The goal of the Capital Planning Committee is to provide a means of planning for necessary expenditures for maintenance, equipment, and/ or improvements of the capital assets and infrastructure of the Town of Lunenburg.

The Capital Planning Committee shall research, study and advise the Selectmen and Finance Committee of the requests for short and long-range capital purchases for the Town. The Committee shall be charged with facilitating the coordination between community objectives, capital needs, and fiscal capacity. The Committee will help the Town to understand the tax impact of the capital expenditures and consider the relative need, timing, and cost of each capital expenditure. The Committee shall consider all written requests and make recommendations. The Committee shall provide a written report to assist the Selectmen and Finance Committee in keeping the community informed about the Town's future anticipated needs and projects that will be voted on at the Annual Town Meeting.

The Capital Planning Committee receives its authorization from Article 27 of the Town's Bylaws which states, "There shall be a Capital Planning Committee. That Committee shall consist of five members to be appointed as follows: One member each designated by the Financial Committee, the Select Board, the School Committee, and the Planning Board, and a fifth member chosen at large by the Town Moderator. Each member shall be appointed for a term of three years, said terms staggered so that nearly an equal number of members shall be appointed each year. The Capital Planning Committee shall establish and update a comprehensive capital plan.

The committee shall at least annually provide its materials to the Chief Administrative and Financial Officer so that the Chief Administrative and Financial Officer will meet the obligations of the Office set forth in Section 6-6 (sic) of the Lunenburg Town Charter. The Capital Planning Committee shall be responsible for providing a complete inventory of town property, real and personal, including school property, in conjunction with the Chief Administrative and Financial Officer. (ATM 5/05/07, Art.21)

Contact Us

17 Main Street
P.O. Box 135
Lunenburg, MA 01462

Capital Related Policies

Capital Projects

1. Capital Projects: Definition, criteria
   1. Capital Projects (also referred to as capital assets) are any tangible item that costs $20,000, or more, and has a useful life of three years or longer.
   2. Individual items that cost at least $20,000 and groups of items of the same purpose that cost at least $20,000 are both capital projects.
2. Capital Plan: Acquisitions and Expenditures
   1. The Capital Plan includes all proposed capital projects.
      1. This includes projects proposed but not yet acquired in prior fiscal years and those projects proposed during the current fiscal year.
      2. The initial purchase of a group of items to establish a new program or new use shall be in the Capital Plan, with sustaining future purchases to be handled through the departmental operating budget unless these re-purchases meet the requirements of capital projects set forth in Section III. A. 1 and.2 above.
      3. Each submittal of each item to the Capital Planning Committee shall include a financial impact statement regarding its effect on the relevant departmental operating budget(s).
      4. All technology purchases (exclusive of software) are aggregated and included as capital requests, as a part of the fiscal year capital plan.
   2. Expenditures for capital projects:

1. Expenditures to acquire capital assets that do not involve financing through a debt exclusion override vote (see section 2. (f) below) will be presented to any Town Meeting for approval or disapproval.
2. If the costs of any approved capital project exceed the amount voted for at the Town Meeting, the department which will use the capital equipment may pay the additional costs from their operating budget.
3. Another option is that, because the capital budget is presented to Town Meeting as a lump sum, money may be moved from one item to another as necessary after Town Meeting without further approval from a subsequent Town Meeting. The Town Accountant should notify the Capital Planning Committee of any reallocation of funds within the capital budget from one capital project to another.
4. If a capital project cannot be acquired for the amount approved at a Town Meeting, and the department cannot pay the additional cost out of their current budget (see III. B. 2. c. above) the amount for the capital project may remain in the original approved article, and a request for the additional amount needed may be added to the original approved article and presented to be voted on at a subsequent Town Meeting.
5. Any unspent monies for capital expenditures that are less than the amount appropriated will be applied in the following fiscal year to another capital project. If these monies are from the unexpended balance of a loan then the Town may appropriate this balance to another capital project. The Town will attempt to ensure that the term of borrowing for the new capital project is of equal or shorter duration than the projected life of that project.