Selectmen give budget green light

Selectmen give budget green light
Most 'add-back' items included; Advisory board review is next
Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer

TEMPLETON - After a final round of revisions, the Board of Selectmen on Thursday night approved the town’s fiscal 2016 operating budget, fully funding all but two items on the previously voted “add-back” list to restore services and grant raises for town employees.

“Almost all the add-back items that were voted by the selectmen are retained,” interim Town Administrator Bob Markel said when reviewing the budget with the board, including boosting the health agent’s hours to 35 per week; completing the next phase of the town’s master plan; and providing additional funding for the Recreation Commission, Historical Commission, veterans benefits and tree warden accounts.

A new police officer and Highway Department employee were ultimately left out of the budget, although Mr. Markel said the new document includes $64,000 in unallocated funds.
“I think that’s a cushion we can have into the next year,” he said.

A reworking of the budget was necessary after Mr. Markel informed the Advisory Board and selectmen last week that the add-back items were in jeopardy due to a miscalculation that made it appear as if there was about $300,000 more in the town’s coffers than was actually available.

Since then, several rounds of corrections have been made, and Mr. Markel said Thursday he was confident that no further changes were needed.

In explaining the multiple revisions, Mr. Markel said the financial team had encountered problems when reviewing the “miscellaneous recurring expenses” line item, which served as a “catch all” for expenditures that did not have a place elsewhere in the budget.

“This is a bit of a confusing situation,” he said.

Mr. Markel stated that he and the town accountant have gone through every revenue and spending line item since and that the numbers are “solid.”
Selectmen voted unanimously to adopt the budget, which will next be reviewed by the Advisory Board for its recommendations before heading to Town Meeting floor.
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Funds Found To Cover New Playground
Town needed to improvise after its state grant fell to budget ax
Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer
Two months after it was ann­ounced that the town would have to foot the bill for the Gladys I. Salame Memorial Playground, interim Town Administrator Bob Markel told selectmen Thursday that he and the town accountant have worked out a solution to the park problem in time for next month’s Town Meeting.

Town Accountant Kelli Pont­briand said the money will be pulled from a subsidy the town receives back on its debt. The amount is in the budget, she explained, but is never billed out or used.

“We had included $157,000 in that line item, so we are now able to pay the $78,000 for the playground out of that money,” she told selectmen.

Last year the town received an $85,000 reimbursable grant from the state to build the new playground at Templeton Center Sch­ool, with the stipulation that the work be completed by a certain date. The playground was alr­eady completed and the money spent by February, when the grant fund­ing was eliminated through a round of 9C cuts ordered by Gov. Charlie Baker to close a short­fall in the state budget.

Cemetery and Parks Super­intendent Alan Mayo was able to use his department’s expense account to cut the amount owed down to $78,820, but the town was still stuck with the playground bill and limited funding options in the current year’s budget. “There’s been some speculation that the governor might restore the cut he made to that grant,” Mr. Markel commented. “Otherwise we’re stuck with it.”

Chairman Kenn Robinson said the board had received criticism from the community for spending the money up front with no guarantee it would be paid back, but he explained that officials were following the grant’s guidelines.

“That was what the requirement of the grant was,” he said. “We had a timeline and we had to pay the money by a certain date, which was then taken from us.”

With a funding source located, the financial transfer necessary to cover the playground costs will be voted on during annual Town Meeting.

**  The Budget and TM warrants will be should posted later today.