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Saturday, March 7, 2015

Update on Playground Funding

Town in a bind over playground 
Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer
TEMPLETON - A solution to the town’s $85,000 playground problem is still in limbo as interim Town Administrator Bob Markel told selectmen this week the funding will need to come from this year’s budget.

“We have to find a way to deal with it in the current year,” Mr. Markel said.

The money was awarded to the town last year as part of a reimbursable grant offered by the Executive Office of Administration and Finance and was used to build the Gladys I. Salame Memorial Playground next to Templeton Center Elementary School.

One of the grant’s conditions, Mr. Markel explained, was that the work needed to be complete before Dec. 31, giving the town little time to ensure the final payment would come through. When Gov. Charlie Baker announced a round of 9C (or executive authority) cuts several weeks ago to close the state’s budget deficit, the $85,000 in playground funding was one of the casualties, leaving the town to foot the vendor bill.

“I don’t know what we do right now,” Mr. Markel said. “We did the work in good faith.”

State Sen. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer, has written to the governor explaining the town’s circumstances and asking him to restore funding, Mr. Markel said, although the administrator has not yet received a response. Cemetery and Parks Department Superintendent Alan Mayo offered to cover some of the vendor warrants through his budget, but a permanent solution has yet to be found.

“We are stuck until the May annual Town Meeting,” Mr. Markel commented. “And even then, I am not certain where we will get available money.”
 

While one-time unexpected expenses would usually be covered through a transfer from stabilization or by using free cash, both options are essentially off the table this year. Officials received word this week that the Department of Revenue will not certify free cash for the town until an audit of fiscal year 2013 is completed a process that will be significantly delayed as that entire year’s financial records must be reconstructed before the audit can proceed.

The stabilization account holds about $70,000, but that amount is at least partially spoken for and will likely be tapped to cover the added expense of having the town accountant reconstruct the financial records.

Mr. Markel did not rule out draining the account further for the playground expense, with the understanding that a large portion of the town’s free cash will go toward building it back up once the allotment is certified.

 

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Update on Playground Funding

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