Friday, August 9, 2013

Worth a shot...you betcha!

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Worth a shot…you betcha!

This article was in today’s Gardner News:

'Worth a shot' to pursue school contribution change, says Templeton selectman
Kerry O'Brien
News Staff Writer

TEMPLETON — As disagreement over how much the town should provide the Narragansett Regional School District continues, Selectman Julie Farrell is proposing that Templeton inquire about a new law which lowers qualified communities’ required contributions to their school districts.


“It’s worth a shot,” Ms. Farrell said.

Using a formula based on community’s overall wealth, the state sets the minimum local contribution to the district from the municipality. According to town officials, this year, Templeton’s minimum location contribution was $3,687,548.

However, the town is also responsible for transportation and debt service, and is recommended to pay more than the minimum contribution.

This year, Templeton provided an additional $196,088.

On top of the town’s allocation, the school district requested an additional $691,086 through a Proposition 2 1/2 override. Although the final state budget is allowing the Narragansett School Committee to reduce the amount of additional funding it is requesting from Templeton to $561,371, voters rejected providing the money at a Special Town Meeting July 26 — the fourth time townspeople were asked to vote on the school budget.

“You can’t just keep asking, hoping for a yes,” said resident Terri Langlois. “The money just isn’t available.”

The recently enacted minimum local contribution reform could ease Templeton’s burden. Ms. Farrell said the new legislation — part of the Acts of 2013 that went into effect July 1 — has the state Department of Revenue evaluate a community’s finances to see if it is qualified to have its minimum local contribution lowered.

“It’s an option we should explore,” she said. “We’ve had a number of expenses, we’ve used all of our stabilization and all of our free cash. (The revenue department) can see if we qualify.”

The Board of Selectmen has not decided whether to apply for a reduction in their minimum local contribution, but is reviewing the information for a vote at its next meeting Aug. 12.

Whether or not Templeton qualifies to have its minimum local contribution lowered, town officials are unsure if it will be effective for the current fiscal year’s budget.

As a result of not having a finalized budget by July 1, Narragansett has been mandated by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to follow last year’s budget until an agreement is reached. Following rejection from the Templeton town meeting, the next step in the state’s process is to have a joint meeting with Phillipston and Templeton to vote a budget.

School and town officials have decided that the meeting will be held in the Narragansett Regional High School auditorium, with overflow space in the cafeteria. Officials had discussed using the gym, but decided that the acoustics were not suitable.

The joint meeting with Phillipston, Templeton and the school committee will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 22.”

What the heck is this? Could it be possible to salvage some hope for public safety in Templeton? Stay tuned!

IGR Informational Guideline Release on Minimum Contributions.


Please VOTE NO on August 22nd!

My opinions…supported by FACTS ! ! !

Julie Farrell

1 comment:

  1. This could be very interesting, and you are right, "Worth a shot". It is better to find any way we can to salvage our public services now instead of waiting until the last minute. Bev.

    ReplyDelete