Lincoln Selectmen preview level-service FY13 budget at 2 percent

LINCOLN — December 12, 2011 — Mattes will not seek reelection after nearly 12 years on the Lincoln Select Board. Selectman Sarah Mattes made the announcement Dec. 12 as the board previewed a level-service FY13 budget built to the Finance Committee's 2 percent guideline, with a $24,000 one-time utility charge for pod office space driving general government to 2.9 percent. Town Administrator Tim Higgins credited roughly $500,000 in two-year health-insurance savings for avoiding an override. Selectman Peter Braun's draft bylaw to expand the Capital Planning Committee to nine members with a moderator-appointed at-large supermajority drew sharp pushback from Mattes, who said closing off elected paths to capital decisions undercuts democracy: "I am appalled, quite honestly, that you're afraid of the electoral process." Former Selectman Peter Sugar challenged the School Building Committee's Dec. 9 filing with the MSBA for the roughly $49 million preferred option, disputing its characterization of "town support."