BOS Update 12/15/14
Last night's BOS meeting went well. It was a short agenda. Town Administrator, Bob Markel gave his Town Administrator report:
The appointments were made later in the meeting. Welcome Aboard!
Work continues on the draft FY 16 budget. There will be estimates for some of the larger budget items - school funding and insurance.
The appraisal for 411 Baldwinville Rd should be available by the end of this week.
Work continues on East Templeton with the handicap bathrooms set to begin this week. The Cable Commission has also indicated that they will be investing a lot of money in the conference room so that more meetings can be recorded and broadcast once that room is complete. The handicap bathrooms need to be installed before meetings can take place at East Templeton.
The BOS voted to join with area towns to be members of the Substance Abuse Coalition. The City of Gardner is the lead agency and there is no financial obligation on the Town of Templeton for staffing. Let's hope this coalition can make some inroads and stem the rising tide of substance abuse.
The Tax Classification Hearing was held. Templeton has a single tax rate of 1.000000 residential factor. There was some discussion about lowering the commercial tax rate to encourage economic development. More research will need to be done before lowering the tax rate becomes feasible.
The tax rate should be set within the next few days and bills should be sent out on time. The rate itself is still being worked on by the DOR, Matt Angell and the Assessors. There is one issue which could cause a substantial increase(0.30 increase) in the tax rate:
I learned this morning from Matt that the DOR will not accept $161,000 in MSBA reimbursements for the first borrowing of $500,000 for school feasibility and design unless we have the check in hand.
We have not received the reimbursement. The paperwork was submitted by the School in early October. I thought it had been finished earlier. MSBA is now completing its audit. Will be finished either today or tomorrow; then they will release the check.
Given that the loss of this revenue will jack up the tax rate by $.30, we are making every effort to get this money in the door -- DOR says that we must have the check in hand for it to be counted as FY'15 revenue.
It is likely that MSBA will release the check on Wednesday morning; I have said that I will get it and bring it to Templeton. We will send a scanned copy to the Springfield Office of the DOR, and all will be well.
I underscored the urgency today with Ruth Miller by pointing out that an additional $.30 on the tax rate will surely freeze any efforts to buy land or authorize an override for a new elementary school.
Bob
We have not received the reimbursement. The paperwork was submitted by the School in early October. I thought it had been finished earlier. MSBA is now completing its audit. Will be finished either today or tomorrow; then they will release the check.
Given that the loss of this revenue will jack up the tax rate by $.30, we are making every effort to get this money in the door -- DOR says that we must have the check in hand for it to be counted as FY'15 revenue.
It is likely that MSBA will release the check on Wednesday morning; I have said that I will get it and bring it to Templeton. We will send a scanned copy to the Springfield Office of the DOR, and all will be well.
I underscored the urgency today with Ruth Miller by pointing out that an additional $.30 on the tax rate will surely freeze any efforts to buy land or authorize an override for a new elementary school.
Bob
This is probably just a technical glitch. Let's hope this glitch doesn't cost the taxpayers. This increase is more than the failed override request. Last spring there was some debate about the actual amount remaining in the original override account for the feasibility study. The superintendent of NRSD assured the members of the Templeton BOS there was enough money remaining in that account to renegotiate a contract with the OPM.
As part of the discussion on the TDC Re-Use "Visioning" Committee, clarification was made that the BOS can appoint a designee to this committee in addition to a BOS member being the Chair of that committee. After lengthy discussion and a few failed motions, Bev Bartolomeo was voted as the BOS designee for this committee by a vote of 4-1. Town Administrator, Bob Markel will attend the meetings as a non-voting member.
Discussion about Capital Planning goals and issues was productive. The process used by the Capital Planning Committe has changed dramatically under the leadership of selectman Doug Morrison. The capital plan will be reviewed by the BOS in the future. All capital items from a new school to repair of the water system, to sewer repairs to the purchase heavy equipment should be included in this plan. The Capital Plan can then be used as a tool to manage the town's debt service.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa and a Happy New Year!
This member of the Advisory Board (and some others) was very concerned about this issue when we learned of the plan back in April.
ReplyDeleteFrom published Advisory Board Minutes, in April. The first mention of "treasurer" should be Town Accountant.
The treasurer was present to present some news. He stated that he had just discovered additional debt. The number
previously given to the board, $1,287,046 did not include the debt exclusion for the Elementary School feasibility.
Board members asked if this debt had been presumably paid in past years, why was it just noticed now? The accountant stated that the previous finance team had borrowed the entire $550,000. There was $220,000 unspent. If
the school can spend the $220,000 before June 30, the town would possibly apply for re-imbursement from the state.
He suggested that the town could realize an additional $63,000 of revenue. The remaining debt was $157,000. The
town would get $220,000 from the state. The difference between revenue and expense would be available to the FY15
budget.
Members expressed doubt about this strategy. It relied on the money being spent by a short deadline. It relied on the
re-imbursement being applied for within state requirements by a short deadline. Members stated that the expense must
be booked, but the revenue cannot be counted upon. What this meant was the prior budget work that had resulted in
$268 surplus was now short by almost $157,000. At this point, the accountant appeared to change his thinking, saying
effectively “never mind.”