What
would you cut?
You
may have heard by now the BOS have called for another Special Town Meeting
(STM) to accept or reject the recertified school district budget. If the people
who attend the STM on July 26, 2013 vote to accept the school district’s assessment,
then the people at that town meeting need to figure out where to cut $691,000
from the Town’s budget.
Here
are some documents for you to review to help you make an informed decision:
NRSD
School Budget FY 2013 (just ended)
Please
look at all the line items for the Town. If you cut the Selectmen out
completely as well as the Accountant, Treasurer, Collector, Assessor, and Town Clerk,
then you could give the school department about $450,000. Oh…wait a minute
you’ve eliminated the treasurer so there is no mechanism in place to pay anyone
any money. That probably isn’t going to work out too well for anyone INCLUDING the schools.
Let’s
go look at line items for large sums of money. Oh! I found a big one! – Line
116 Group Insurance expenses $799,000. That’s certainly a lot of money. It’s MORE than enough to meet the school
district’s certified budget. It’s probably where the BOS stash money to hide it
from the schools. What? What did you say? Oh dear, that line item is for health
insurance. Damn that Obamacare! Probably can’t take that money; most likely
illegal or something.
Guess
that leaves public safety. Total police department budget is $822,055. If we
cut $691,000 from the total there will be $131,055 left to staff the police
department. I wonder what kind of police protection $131,055 will buy? That’s
probably not going to fly.
All
right. How about if we eliminate the Fire Dept./EMS ($221,417) the Highway
department ($434,214) and Town
Vehicle machinery ($139,530) That works! That’s close to $800,000! We have
found a solution! Hmm…how will you get to work in the winter? That’s a good question! Sorry your
house burned down, the kids needed the money. Oh dear, you are in poor health
and you need an ambulance? Call the superintendent of schools 978-939-5661 (Monday through Friday).
Please
review these budgets. Please post your suggestions on where to cut $691,000
from the town’s budget. You will be asked to vote on this AGAIN on July 26th!
My
opinions…supported by FACTS ! ! !
Julie
Farrell
Something to think about is no matter what, the school will probably be looking for another override next year. If this override were to pass, that money only goes to the school budget for one year and after that it goes to the general fund. Since health insurance and administration costs for the school will surely go up again next year, rest assured that you (the voters) may be asked for another override next year. There are a few state reps in Boston that are trying to get a bill so that school district assessments are tied to the same 2 1/2 limit that cities & towns are tied to. After all, if cities & towns are limited on how much taxes can go up and have to adjust budgets accordingly, should not the schools be under the same constraints, at least until they learn to control their spending just like cities & towns have had to do.
ReplyDeleteCommon sense would say: "Yes, the schools should have the same financial constraints placed upon them as the cities and towns who fund their budget requests!"
DeleteCommon sense is not common. The discrepancy in the funding mechanisms for school finance vs. the cities and towns creates an unsustainable burden on those cities and towns. Most cities and towns have reached their breaking point as community after community rejects overrides to fund school department requests. The voters have said NO! Cities and towns have no option but to abide by the voters decisions made at the ballot box.
So the choice for Templeton, The TOWN, at TOWN MEETING on July 26, is to fund the school department request or not. This vote will determine if the VOTERS at the STM wish to fund the schools at the expense of PUBLIC SAFETY for ALL of the residents in Templeton. As I see it, those are the choices before the voters at town meeting.
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ReplyDeleteIn my opinion we will always be fighting in The Town of Templeton over money. Because Congress has allowed private concerns to run our money system (Federal Reserve)an inflationary process pits one faction against another in a never ending process of chasing a diminishing dollar. Money can be looked at as stored labor. If I have stored my labor by saving my money and the government through the Fed. prints more of it then they are diminishing my labor stores. I hope we can use this situation as a learning tool for all on how important it is to get control as a country of our money supply so that these arguments become a thing of the past.
ReplyDeleteDown hear on the lower forty we're thinkin the upcoming vote at town meeting is just another step in the process. I thought my vote was good for something the two times I made the trip down the hill. Maybe if they would have listened to the voters the first time and not caved in at town meeting we wouldn't be in this hear situation. probably would have helped if I would have attended town meeting.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIts obvious that the School Committee and Superintendent don't care about the Town's vote. To recertify their budget before the over ride vote was taken is a big big big slap in the face to all Town residents. The School's arrogance will further devide the Town and the School. I find it strange that on the School's FY13 budget they had discretionary funds of &639,985.00 this year no discretionary funds. I also find it interesting that the amount of funds needed for AIDES this year has doubled over last years close to $200k more. Why so many AIDES? Are teachers not adequate to teach anymore? Seems like the number of AIDES can be reduced and let the teachers teach. But hey who am I just another town citizen getting screwed because the School wants what ever they can get. Guess the School is more important than the Police, Fire Department, and the Cemetery department (guess we will have to bury our own family memeber with shovels oh for the pioneer days). If this budget is allowed to pass guess the Town will have to declare bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteAt the 2012 Annual Town Meeting, the voters went through the town budget line by line. It was long and painful but necessary in order to decipher the botched budget presented to the town. Anyone remember that? Well, maybe the town should go through the school budget line by line and discuss the proposed amounts. I know we can't touch contracted salaries and things like insurance, but there are many other line items that can be cut or reduced without affecting the quality of education. I looked through the school's budget and as a quick first glance was able to identify over $151k that could be cut without issue. It mostly came from reduction of travel expenses and professional development fees. The first thing cut from the town budget last year were expenses like those. In oder to make up the rest of the cuts needed, the school is going to have to cut some positions. While all positions are important, there are some that are not vital to the quality of the education. Every dollar counts. And the more that can be cut from the school budget the less that will have to be cut from the town budget which is already working on a bare bones budget. So, lets just try to work it out line by line like responsible adults.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of going through the school budget, line item by line item is a good idea, but it seems the school has no intention of cutting anything! No move by them to negotiate at all. It is not a big secret that the town is broke. I can not understand why the people in charge did not get it!! The people on the School Committee should know, but then again, I never saw any of them at any of the meetings in town, aside from the Annual Town Meeting. The school people stay long enough to get through what they want, then they leave. It is important that the younger people spend some time, learning what the different departments can do and what they can't do! Maybe with a little education, some of these people would understand the responsibilities of the Selectmen. A improvement in the behavior at these public meetings would be appreciated. There is no excuse for giving Mr.Bergeron a hard time, and I would be pleased if people who can not behave, are asked to leave the meeting. These are hard times for our town. Every effort should be made to get things done, with out a lot of noise from the crowd. My opinion, Bev
DeleteI wonder what will happen to fire insurance if the town cuts fire and police? What happens to that insurance rate if the roads aren't plowed in winter? Maybe they could put plows on light company trucks!
DeleteI'm pretty sure our fire insurance rates will go up. If the roads aren't plowed that will lead to more accidents which will equal higher insurance rates.
ReplyDeleteIf the roads are plowed, the ambulance/fire trucks/police won't be able to reach your home in an emergency.
I have taken the time to read the budget for the school ,keeping in mind that this is NOT a me against you answer to our towns financial problem . It is however something to look at and maybe consider for the up coming meeting . #1 Guidance councilors $480,000.00 could we get by without so many on this payroll ? #2 K-12 Transportation $ 470,000.00 a bus ride to school is a luxury not a necessity . I know these are not great ideas but I challenge anyone to find and tell me a better one .
ReplyDeleteeliminate the middle school principle & vice principle, level fund the administration costs. For some kids, a bus ride is a necessity. I bet the district could reduce some guidance councilors at the middle school level at least.
ReplyDeleteGood morning students!
ReplyDeleteLet's do some basic math. Always fun on a muggy morning!
Bottom line FY '13 $18,165,792.00
Bottom Line FY'14 $18,523,943.61
The difference (that means subtract FY 13 from FY 14) is an overall INCREASE of $691,000!
What? Wait a minute! No it's not! The increase from FY 13 to FY 14 is $358,151.61
So WHY is the override amount for Templeton $691,000? This is a budget which includes assessments for BOTH Templeton and Phillipston. This makes no sense!
I think we need DESE to come in and examine the books of the Narragansett Regional School District. Maybe if we ask it in the form of an MCAS question, we will get an answer to this puzzling mathematical mystery!