Fiscal shortfall to dominate election
Templeton Selectmen hopefuls take stance, offer suggestionsEryn Dion
News Staff Writer
TEMPLETON — The Board of Selectmen special election is two weeks away and the recently discovered $505,000 budget shortfall, with the potential loss of taxpayers trust, is weighing heavily on both candidates.
While each aspirant has their own approach to dealing with the issue, both agree a course of action must be agreed upon.
“People are shocked,” said Diane Haley-Brooks, a local realtor running in the Jan. 14 election. “They’re shocked that all of this can be happening.”
Ms. Haley-Brooks organized the “Gansett Greatness” grassroots campaign group to rally in favor of the $620,000 Proposition 2 1/2 override in town for fiscal year 2013, which was eventually approved by voters. She hopes to use that experience and her community ties to get residents more invested in their community.
“You can’t do anything alone,” she explained. “Long-term for me is about getting people educated and involved.”
She admitted that the taxpayers have been hurt during this ordeal, but cited trust and transparency as a way for the board to regain their standing in Templeton.
Robert Mitchell the second candidate running for the open seat. He is a former selectmen who sees implementing the suggestions given to the town by the state’s Department of Revenue as a long-term solution.
“It’s not something that will be solved overnight,” he said. “But, if we can get control over some of these departments, that will go a long way.”
The state revenue department conducted a financial management review of the town in October 2009 and many of their recommendations have gone unanswered. Chief among them was replacing the Town Coordinator position with a Town Administrator that would be tasked with managing the various departments and running day-to-day operations. The state also suggested that Templeton complete long-term financial planning for the next 3 to 5 years, and to limit their use of free cash.
The election is being held in order to fill the empty seat left by former selectmen Virginia Wilder, who left her position in May.
The winner of the election will only serve four months in the seat before needing to seek reelection this May. Polls will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Narragansett Middle School.
VOTE FOR DIANE HALEY-BROOKS for selectman, lets move in the right direction not backwards. Remember the recall?
ReplyDeleteWe ALL remember the SHAM recall, we all remember that after the recall, things went DOWNHILL very quickly. We all remember how that small group went door to door with vicious lies about the 2 being recalled, even going as far as going into the nursing home for signatures. So YES We do remember that 2 very good Selectman were recalled because of more vicious lies from the same group that put the town in the position its in now. Julie Farrell getting re-elected right after being recalled speaks VOLUMES of what really happened with the recall. So YES we do REMEMBER
ReplyDeleteVote Mitchell for Selectman.
ReplyDeleteRemember the past to ensure a better future.
The nuclear option should NEVER be used.
I also remember the town's people getting railroaded by the school. When is it enough to take every penny the town has, just because they could?? Why did the School Superintendent cry poverty, only to have 180,000. in the good old E&D account ??? I spoke to a woman from town and she referred to Gansett Greatness as "Gansett Greed." This is my school too, but I have never seen a School Department bent on destroying the town at the expense of the people in it. Past Superintendents worked with the Selectmen when they needed a override, going to meet with towns people, asking for support. That worked and the Superintendent was respected by the people in town. The worse thing any one can do is misrepresent the facts they tell the people in this town because they will not forget, or forgive. Do not tell them you are broke, when you have a tidy sum of money in the E&D account !! Just how long are you going to keep this a secret ??? It does seem that "Not Dumb Enough To Fall For It", is not smart enough to understand what has taken place in this town, under his nose, but the majority of the people do understand, and that is the thing that matters most. Sitting in a seat of the Select.Board is not as easy as most people would think, as Mr. Robinson has found out. If a person running for the job of a Selectmen has their loyalties with the School Board how can they do a good job representing the good of the town, when they have a conflict of interest?? You can not have a foot in two doors, or as the saying goes, "serve two masters". Doing so will come back to bite you in the end. Mr. Mitchell was not treated fairly, no one has to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. I know where his loyalties lie, with the town. I am more than convinced he will not throw the town under the bus, and he will represent the people in the Town of Templeton to the best of his ability. That is what I would ask from anyone running for the office. It is truly sad that we are even having this election. If anyone reading this blog wonders why we are throwing five thousand dollars, that we can't afford to spend, away- they might wonder who would ask the town's people to do this when May is just five months away, it is safe to say look to the School Committee members for that answer. I think that there is a saying that would fit in here." Watch what you wish for !." Happy new year !! Bev.
ReplyDeleteOMG, $180,000!!! Do you know what E&D is? And do you have any idea how long $180,000 would last in running NRSD? How can you point to some alleged sum of money in but one account in NRSD, and infer all sorts of nefarious intent when taking a blind eye to how much money is sitting in the Highway Dept and water and light? Or take a blind eye to Templeton has two families vying for who controls the town and, in the process, totally destroying the town. The school dept is like any other government organization, or private, for that matter. It's accounting, there is a chart of accounts, some are for payroll, others are for maintenance, other are for state mandated requirements, likely a function of head count. They cannot, for instance, decide not to pay anyone this month because the roof needs to be replaced. Two different accounts. If there is no money in one they cannot rob from the other. That is accounting 101.
DeleteWhat I strong advise people of Templeton to do is read the last several books by Thomas Friedman, "The Earth is Flat" (it might be World, I've forgotten) and "Hot, Flat, and Crowded". This is what your town's youth will be dealing with when they enter the work force.
What about the town crying we have no money and the accountant says they found $250,000.00 dollars. What gives. Thought we were broke at the town meeting. Lie's, Lie's,Lie's,
DeleteDont get your hopes up guys. Bev never reponds to actual facts, or when questioned about her govt.
DeleteHi Walt,
DeleteThis year the school superintendent informed people that the reason they needed the override (failed twice) was due to the use of E&D which in prior years had depleted the school's reserves. People were told the school, system had NO reserves. Hence the use use of the nuclear option (603 CMR 41.05) to turn 4 NO votes by the citizens of Templeton into YES.
So here we are, with the school system with $188,000 in Excess & Deficiency. The $188,000 figure is from prior year monies so next year, when you include the money from the nuclear option that figure for E & D will be much larger.
$188,000 in E & D to back up an 18 million dollar budget is not a large sum of money. However, people were told that the school had no reserves. There are other accounts as well that the school system uses to stash money aside… like school choice…the never-ending roof repair account ( money which should have been returned to the two towns) The list goes on and on. It's not nefarious. It is what it is.
The Town does not control Light and water money that is why they (TMLWP) can increase water and light rates and increase customer fees whenever they can't make a bond payment. God forbid, anyone look at cost saving measures over at TMLWP. Just keep raising the rates while handing out raises. As well as paying the customer charge for people who use credit cards…about $12,000/year for both departments.
I hope our town's youth is fortunate enough to join the work force; that there will be jobs for these kids.
I see declining enrollments at "Gansett for years to come whether from school choice or people leaving their homes and moving elsewhere . Families who School Choice their kids out of 'Gansett usually don't vote for overrides that will increase their taxes here in Templeton. Cold hard truth.
Thank you Mrs. Farrell for setting the record straight. I was off by 8,000. sorry about that, but the point I was trying to make is, don't tell me you are broke, when you have money in a account that is not required to keep the school running or would have a direct impact on the children. I truly believe the people in this town would have approved a smaller school budget if the powers that were in charge had been willing to negotiate with the town. Well, they burned that bridge, and when the word is out that they misled the voters, I do not think there will be a lot of support for Ms. Miller and company. The town needed those funds but the School Committee and the School Superintendent decided to go after the whole ball of wax, and in the process ignored the multiple no votes of the voters. Not such a smart thing to do, in my opinion. Half way, everything is public record, only the person looking for answers has to know where to look and what they are looking at when they see it. This is the problem that our past accountant, Mr. Sawyer left the town in. He apparently used a accounting system that does not have the checks and balances most other accountants use, and it took our present accountant months to figure out how this system worked, and what all of the account names meant. So if any money was" found", it was after the town meeting and was most likely in some account or accounts, that had been left unused from years past. No one knows more than Mr. Skelton about where the town stand financially. He has a first hand knowledge of the amount of debt and interest the town has to pay, and will be paying long after I am dead and buried. So, why would he push the people of this town to take on another large debt by building 252 ? My guess is that he wanted to see how really gullible the people in this town really can be. Thank goodness there were enough people with good sense to say no, for once, and not be willing to put us in a deeper hole. Bev
DeleteGOOD LORD BEV...YOU only se & read what you want to believe. Their are now multiple people posting facts on here, myself included, that you just dont seem to read. If your going to go on & in about knowing where to look for answers, please do so yourself.
DeleteOk, Jules, but the same thing happens for "free cash" from the Town of Templeton, doesn't it? And once again, there was nearly ZERO in the Town Stabilization & the School had $130,000 in other revenue that they gave back to the town that they could have kept so the town was able to have some reserves.... Now it's up to $250,000 with the accountant still reconciling the accounts ALONG with the $505,000 shortfall.
ReplyDeleteThe point is, you cant just selectivly pull "facts" to suit your arguement. You need to give ALL the facts & post them in one place so people know the whole story & can make up their own minds.
Puffy,
ReplyDeleteWhat "facts" have you posted? Where and when? Dates and times?
In my opinion, the use of the nuclear option (603 CMR 41.05) by the school system, superintendent and wholeheartedly endorsed by "Gansett Greatness has exacerbated the divide between the Town and the schools.
I believe the use of the nuclear option has put support for the elementary school building at risk.
In my opinion, the use of the nuclear option (603 CMR 41.05) has divided this community even more than it was divided before. Scarce resources (tax dollars) will continue to divide this community until we can figure out a way to work together.
In the past, the schools were successful in obtaining overrides by generating community support - a long and arduous process. Many times the override figure was lowered and then successfully passed. The use of the nuclear option with NO COMPROMISE has harmed the town and schools . The school lowered the assessment to Templeton using an increase in state funds. That money did not go into Templeton's stabilization fund. It was less money that was needed to be raised by the override in October. The figure for that override was $620,000 not the $691,000 increase sought by the school department since April 30, 2013 which failed multiple times... as in was voted down by the taxpayers in Templeton. Those are votes that the BOS are obligated to enact, so when the voters voted NO 4 times, the BOS had to implement a budget based on those NO votes.
The change in the amount in the Town's stabilization account came from the DOR…not Julie Farrell. I thought the vote at the May ATM put stabilization at about $138,000 ( just from memory…will need to verify that amount). The BOS does not play a role in the tax recap aside from a hearing to set the tax rate. The BOS does play a role in the budget process.
The point is Puffy, you can't just selectively pull "facts" to suit your argument.
In my opinion, the DOR review is a blueprint the town can use to achieve greater financial stability. The crisis "du jour" is how to deal with the $505,000 shortfall. At this point in the fiscal year, with half of the budget spent, we will probably need to use Free Cash and funds from stabilization to fund FY 14. We need to know how much Free cash will be certified by the DOR ( again, not Julie Farrell) that may be used to fix this budget shortfall…with the approval of the voters at yet another STM.
Until the town gets free cash certified, difficult decisions will need to be made - like the hiring freeze. It was a very difficult decision to deny the Cemetery/Parks superintendent his request to hire much needed temporary help. That is the beginning of more difficult decisions that will need to be made.
I support Bob Mitchell for selectman because he does not endorse the use of the nuclear option. The use of the nuclear option has not created unity in this community.