The Definition of Insanity
Due to numerous interruptions at town meeting, a request has been made to post my remarks on this blog[ these are my remarks without interruptions]:
Remarks from Article 23 May 13, 2017 Annual Town Meeting:
Julie Farrell 24 Myrtle St, Baldwinville MA
I am going to speak to this issue. As always, listening is optional.
THIS document was released on April 25, 2017 at a meeting held right here in this auditorium.
THIS management letter covers the fiscal years FY 13, FY 14, FY 15 and FY 16. Print copies are available outside the auditorium.
THIS management letter took over 3 years to produce.
THIS management letter cost $500,000 over those years to finally complete it. It is 31 pages long.
"THE TOWN HAS
FAILED TERRIBLY IN MANAGING ITS CAPITAL PROJECTS AND CORRESPONDING
FUNDING:"
Management Letter
p13, Tony Roselli, CPA April 25, 2017.
REPEAT:
"THE TOWN HAS
FAILED TERRIBLY IN MANAGING ITS CAPITAL PROJECTS AND CORRESPONDING
FUNDING:"
Management Letter
p13, Tony Roselli, CPA April 25, 2017.
More quotes from management letter:
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| Management Letter p3, Tony Roselli, CPA April 25, 2017. |
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| Management Letter p3, Tony Roselli, CPA April 25, 2017. |
As we meet here today, not much has changed regarding the makeup of the financial team.
Templeton does NOT have a full time permanent town administrator.
Not quite sure what is going on in the Treasurer/Collector office.
"We do not
believe the current Treasurer or anyone in the Treasurer's office have the
skill set necessary to financially manage the LARGEST PROJECT IN THE TOWN'S
HISTORY..." Management Letter p.14, Tony Roselli, CPA April 25, 2017.
This elementary school project is the largest capital project in Templeton's history.
In order for this project to be successfully completes, Templeton needs a complete functional financial team. As it currently stands, this is NOT the case.
The Elementary school project is currently running a 1.2 million or $1.3 million dollar deficit:
" A separate
article also related to the Elementary School authorized the remainder of the
project costs around $47 million to be subsidized from available funds or
borrowings. The Town, to date has spent approximately $2.5 million. Of this
amount, nearly $1.3 million was subsidized by the MSBA; the remainder is a
deficit of over $1.2 million." Management Letter p.13, Tony Roselli,
CPA April 25, 2017.
and:
"The
2013 and 2014 financial records had to be reconstructed almost completely from
scratch....The Town was unaware of its appropriation balances due to the
deficiency in its accounting records; this led to appropriation deficits
totaling almost $800,000 over four years. ...The Town expended funds on a
major school capital project without a borrowing due to the bonding
issue described above. This has led to a $1.3 million DEFICIT in the
project fund." Management Letter p.4, Tony Roselli, CPA April 25, 2017.
Templeton needs an "A" Team as its financial team. Templeton does NOT have an "A" Team; Templeton does NOT have a "B" Team; Templeton does NOT have a "C" Team. Templeton's financial team is more like a high "D" team.
If you take the time to read this financial management letter, you may agree.
Templeton needs many things. It needs a new Elementary School. In my opinion, Templeton needs to get its financial house in order so that an elementary school can be built.
Without a bond rating, without a competent financial team, Templeton "will continue to fail terribly managing its capital projects and corresponding funding."
Please vote YES on Article 23.
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Templeton keeps doing the same things over and over and over.
Templeton expects different results.
Insanity? You decide.
It is actually worse than most people could comprehend. Since 1999 we have not had more than two years in a row without major financial problems. I am sure the majority of people at the Town Meeting do not know that, and probably could care less. It will come to bite them, but the people who are going to be effected the most did not care enough to show up, so what else can we do. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink ! Bev.
ReplyDeleteAll True, but as John Caplis said, "That is the past" ....................lol.
ReplyDeleteIt's truly time that Templeton voters demand accountability from their Town Officers. It's obvious from the management letter that Templeton Administration was inept at following by-laws, laws, and guidelines in the past number of years. Has anyone been held accountable, NO!
I mean, just try to find information as a citizen. You absolutely have no idea what you can rely on and what is absolutely wrong, outdated or just plan MIA. We co-mingle everything. I mean how many boards,committees, commissions do we have with absolutely no funding. Not one single dime but yet these boards, committees, commissions are required to produce reports, etc.
How does our administration beleive any of this is getting done, magic? It costs money to print, it takes paper, toner, time, electricity. How are they being produced, hand writing, computer? Even pencils cost money.
Which department is getting charged for the toner, paper, etc all these various departments use? Is any board, committee, commission accountable?
This may sound silly, but if we dont strive to be accurate, detailed we get sloppy.
In my opinion we really need to clean house. I was just looking around on the Templeton website, MA website and came up with a couple questions.
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain to me how John Caplis is on the EDC? Diane made the motion to appoint him, John Columbus seconded in Aug 2016.
How does that conform with : E. Appointments by the Board of Selectmen (Section 21A)
As a Selectman, you generally cannot be appointed to any position, paid or unpaid, that is both appointed by the Board of Selectmen and is under the supervision of the Board of Selectmen.
I'm not the "authority" on government, but we do appear to have alot of potential conflicts floating around town.
We truly need to limit multi-board, committee members from existing. The concept of putting a BOS member on every other board is asinine in this day and age. Information does not need to be exchanged via speech in person. If we had accurate recording, postings of meetings this entire practice could be stopped.
Don't hold your breath waiting for any improvement. It looks like our BOS are sitting pretty until the tax bills with all of these changes kick in. Then the shit will hit the fan. We are still dealing with a budget that is under underfunded, or more truthfully, short on revenue. This cannot stay the course for much longer until the next crash comes. We will see then if the people will vote for a override. After the shock of the increased tax rate is over, I do not think the people who are left will go for broke, when by then they will begin to understand, you cannot run the town on the backs of just the residents. Bev.
DeleteI think it's pretty amazing that our town just passed a budget including NRSD that amounts to almost $2,000 per man, women and child in Templeton! To look at it another way, it's about $4500 per every working person! How about this, it's about $6,200 per household.
ReplyDeleteSo what town services do I get for my $6200.........hmm. I get roads, very damn expensive bumpy roads. I have no children in school, I dont use town services, ok, I'll cough up some money for Fire/EMS as I might like them available.
Now lets talk about the 1186 disabled people. If they get SSDI they average about $1300 a month. At best we are asking them for 20% of their income and at worst if the own a home about 50% of their income for town services.
Wait till the economy tanks again, which it always does, always will and what happens. Across the board these markets are going to hit a wall. Nothing anywhere is actually being paid for, it's just being borrowed further up the chain. Can't pay credit cards, refi your house, can't refi your house, refi your 401k, can't rifi your 401k, file banakruptcy and nobody gets paid.
Just expand this to government. It's already happening around the globe. Hell, look at Puerto Rico. Look at our town, state, federal government....deeper into debt. A larger and larger portion of taxes going to cover old debt.
Look at the government employment structure. It's completely unsustainable. 20 year retirement plans that start paying year 21 are insane. Think about it. If every single cop/doc/fire/etc employee retired at 20 we could effectively be paying for 2.5-3 employees for every single job being done. How much has healthcare cost for retired state workers risen since they retired. How much more is it now than anticipated...............
oh enough, it's not raining anymore.
Bev. I have an interesting stat for you. From the 2000 census. It shows that 1186 people in Templeton are listed as disabled
I am not surprised. The only people who make out a little bit better are the people who live in elderly housing. Their rent is paid according to their income. No taxes are paid by them. The people who will be hurt are the older women who did not work, but stayed home to raise their kids. If they did work, they did not make enough money to float the boat by today's standards. This town is going to be in a world of hurt, much worse than people realize. Bev.
DeleteOh crap, I guess some would say I am being negative ! I have seen the past and have a good feel for what will happen in the future. I am not negative, I am being honest. Bev.
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