Fall Town Meeting

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Fall Town Meeting

• October 16, 2006
• Kerry A. Speidel, Acting Town Manager

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Article 21- Amend Zoning BylawsCitizen Petition

• I move that the Town vote to amend Section 195-3
  of the Chelmsford Zoning Bylaw by rezoning from
  RB Zone to a CD Zone, the land known as 1 Academy
  Street/ 6 North Road, shown on Assessors map 73
  as Parcel 315-10, containing 27,428 Square feet
  of land, more or less

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Article 21- Amend Zoning BylawsCitizen Petition

• Situated on the northerly side of Academy Street,
  and being shown an a plan of land recorded with
  the Middlesex North District Registry of Deeds at
  Book of Plans 127, page 173.

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Article 21- Amend Zoning BylawsCitizen Petition

• 1 Academy Street/ 6 North Road
• Currently multi-family residential
• Planning Board recommends approval of petition
• Area is primarily commercial
• covenant to require preservation of exterior of
  structure

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Article 21- Amend Zoning Bylaw Citizen Petition
6
Article 6- Acceptance of MGL Chapter 32B, Section
18

• I move that the Town vote to accept Massachusetts
  General Laws, Chapter 32B, Section 18, that
  requires all retirees, their spouses and
  dependents insured or eligible to be insured
  under this chapter, if enrolled in Medicare part
  A at no cost to the retiree, spouse or dependents
  or eligible for coverage there under at no cost
  to the retiree,

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Article 6- Acceptance of MGL Chapter 32B, Section
18

• Spouse or dependents, shall be required to
  transfer to a Medicare extension plan offered by
  the Town, provided that the benefits under said
  plan and Medicare part A and B together be of
  comparable actuarial value to those under the
  retirees existing coverage.

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Article 6- Acceptance of MGL Chapter 32B, Section
18
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Article 6- Acceptance of MGL Chapter 32B, Section
18
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What is Medicare?
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Who is eligible for Medicare?www.medicare.gov
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Medicare Supplement Plans
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Monthly Cost Comparison
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Monthly Cost Comparison
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Monthly Cost Comparison
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Monthly Cost Comparison
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Monthly Cost Comparison
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Monthly Cost Comparison
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Retiree Group

• 688 people in retiree group, including spouses
• 409, or 59, are already enrolled in Medicare
• 279, or 41, are enrolled in active employee
  plans
• Retirees under age 65
• Retirees age 65 or older who are not Medicare
  eligible
• Retirees age 65 or older who are Medicare
  eligible, but have waived coverage
• 78, or 11, are eligible for Medicare, but have
  waived coverage

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Only 78 peoplewhat can that cost?

• Premium rates for active plans are blended rates,
  meaning when determining the rate, the insurer
  considers the group as a whole
• Its a fact, that premium rates would be lower if
  the average age of the insured group was lower
• Average age of the group of 78 is 71

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Only 78 peoplewhat can that cost?

• The actuarial determined annual premium for this
  group is 11,570. The Towns share is 60, or
  6,942.
• Under the Medicare supplement program, the
  actuarial determined annual premium for this
  group is 3,800. The Towns share is 60, or
  2,280.
• The gross savings to the Town, before penalty, is
  423,636.

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Only 78 peoplewhat can that cost?

• Estimated penalty in Year 1 is approximately
  100K
• Estimated net savings to the Town in Year 1 is
  approximately 323K
• Every dollar of savings counts!

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Implementation

• Medicare open enrollment is January 1 March 31
• If accepted, eligible persons must enroll during
  the 2007 open enrollment period
• Transition will occur July 1, 2007

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Adoption of Section 18 is the fiscally
responsible choice

• 144 of the 351 cities towns in MA have adopted
  Section 18, including
• Acton, Arlington, Belmont, Billerica, Burlington
• Chelsea, Dedham, Fall River, Franklin
• Haverhill, Lexington, Littleton, Needham, North
  Reading
• Sudbury, Tewksbury, Wakefield, Weston, Winchester
• More more are considering adoption due to
  rising costs

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Adoption of Section 18 is the fiscally
responsible choice

• Since 1986, the Town and new employees each began
  contributing Medicare taxes. Weve been paying
  into the system, but are not receiving the full
  benefit
• Soon, all employees will be Medicare eligible.
• Medicare supplement plans are less costly to the
  Town and in some cases, to the retiree

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Adoption of Section 18 is the fiscally
responsible choice

• GASB 45 requires each town to quantify its
  unfunded post-employment benefit liability
• The real savings is seen here
• Preliminary GASB 45 liability has been
  determined.
• Present value of liability assigned to Medicare
  eligible retirees who have waived Medicare
  coverage is 16M
• Liability is reduced to 4M if these eligible
  retirees convert to Medicare

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Adoption of Section 18 is the fiscally
responsible choice

• Most Medicare eligible retirees are already
  enrolled in Medicare
• Medicare Medicare supplement benefits are
  equivalent to active employee plans
• In some cases, retirees will save money under
  Section 18
• Town will save money- approximately 1.6M in the
  first 5 years alone- through the adoption of
  Section 18.
• Adoption of Section 18 is the fiscally
  responsible action

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Article 6- Acceptance of MGL Chapter 32B, Section
18

• I move that the Town vote to accept Massachusetts
  General Laws, Chapter 32B, Section 18, that
  requires all retirees, their spouses and
  dependents insured or eligible to be insured
  under this chapter, if enrolled in Medicare part
  A at no cost to the retiree, spouse or dependents
  or eligible for coverage there under at no cost
  to the retiree,

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Article 6- Acceptance of MGL Chapter 32B, Section
18

• Spouse or dependents, shall be required to
  transfer to a Medicare extension plan offered by
  the Town, provided that the benefits under said
  plan and Medicare part A and B together be of
  comparable actuarial value to those under the
  retirees existing coverage.

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Article 7- Establish PEB Stabilization Fund

• I move that the Town vote to raise and
  appropriate the sum of 10,000 to establish a
  post-employment Benefit Stabilization Fund to
  assist the Town in the financing of future
  benefits costs for current and former employees.

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Article 7- Establish PEB Stabilization Fund

• MGL does not currently provide for a secure
  mechanism to set aside funding
• A few towns have obtained special legislation to
  do so. It will only be a matter of time before
  MGL is changed.
• Only mechanism currently available is the
  establishment of a Stabilization Fund
• Article seeks to establish such a fund as an
  acknowledgment that the liability is real and a
  show of good faith to the credit rating community
• In future years, will look to deposit Medicare
  Part D subsidy in this account

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Article 8- Community Preservation Fund

• I move that the Town vote to appropriate from the
  Community Preservation Fund, Historic
  Preservation Reserve, the sum of 25,000 for use
  by the Chelmsford Cemetery Commission for the
  purpose of historic preservation activities at
  Heart Pond, Riverside and West Chelmsford
  Cemeteries.

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Article 8- Community Preservation Fund

• Appropriate a total of 25K from Historic
  Preservation Reserve General Reserve for
  preservation activities at
• Heart Pond Cemetery
• Riverside Cemetery
• West Chelmsford Cemetery
• Resetting headstone, tree removal granite
  restoration

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Article 9- Community Preservation Fund

• I move that the Town vote to appropriate from the
  Community Preservation Fund, Open Space
  Preservation Reserve, the sum of 60,000 for the
  purpose of open space preservation activities at
  the Cranberry Bog Reservation.

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Article 9- Community Preservation Fund

• Appropriate a total of 60K from Open Space
  Preservation Reserve General Reserve for
  preservation activities at the Cranberry Bog
• construction of a parking lot
• reimburse DPW for dam reconstruction

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Article 9- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 9- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 9- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 9- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 9- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 9- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 9- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 9- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 10- Community Preservation Fund

• I move that the Town vote to appropriate from the
  Community Preservation Fund, Community Housing
  Reserve, the sum of 120,000 and from the
  Community Preservation Fund, General Reserve, the
  sum of 30,000 for use by the Chelmsford Housing
  Authority for the creation of community housing
  on land off Harding Street and Putnam Road.

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Article 10- Community Preservation Fund

• Appropriate a total of 150K from Housing Reserve
  General Reserve for creation of community
  housing
• Initial engineering design work for a new
  37-unit elderly housing rental project at Putnam
  Road/ Harding Street
• Actual construction will be paid for with
  federal funds.

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Article 11- Community Preservation Fund

• I move that the Town vote to amend its acceptance
  of the Community Preservation Act, as voted under
  Article 1 of the Special Town Meeting of February
  26, 2001, and as approved by the voters at the
  2001 Annual Town Election by increasing the
  Community Preservation Act surcharge on real
  property as a percentage of the annual real
  estate tax

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Article 11- Community Preservation Fund

• Levy against real property from 0.5 to 1.5 and
  that the Town accept the following exemptions
  from such surcharge permitted under Section 3 (e)
  of said Act property owned and occupied as a
  domicile by any person who qualifies for low
  income housing or low or moderate income senior
  housing in the Town, as defined in Section 2 of
  said Act,

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Article 11- Community Preservation Fund

• And 100,000 of the value of each taxable parcel
  of residential real property, with such amendment
  to take effect for Fiscal Year 2008.

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Article 11- Community Preservation Fund

• Seeks authorization to increase surcharge from
  0.5 to 1.5
• Adoption of exemptions
• first 100K of Assessed Value (already have)
• low income households
• low-to-moderate income senior households

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Article 11- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 11- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 11- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 11- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 11- Community Preservation Fund
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Article 11- Community Preservation Fund