Lincoln Select Board finalizes warrant for Oct. 17 meeting to close $444,000 deficit

LINCOLN -- October 5, 2009, Lincoln Select Board sets Oct. 17 special town meeting to close $444,000 budget gap. Town Administrator Tim Higgins detailed a rebalancing plan combining rescinded warrant articles, a $68,000 insurance reduction, $125,000 in unspent FY09 K-8 funds, $85,000 in one-time school savings and roughly $44,000 from free cash. Higgins warned that the state was running $220 million behind first-quarter projections and that a 10 percent local-aid cut would cost Lincoln about $150,000, offset partly by an $89,000 stabilization fund and $3.3 million in certified free cash. The board signed a three-year Highway Department contract with AFSCME providing 8 percent in cost-of-living raises, rescinded three licenses for the never-opened Madison's restaurant at 145 Lincoln Road, awarded a $31,100 Pierce Park drainage contract to Sumco Eco-Contracting and authorized a $6 million, 60-day revenue anticipation note. Higgins called the K-8 school contribution "a good sign of cooperation and good faith."