Override or not, more funds for schools needed
Templeton voters going to polls today to decide on $620K funding request ahead of Oct. 23 Special Town MeetingKerry O'Brien
News Staff Writer
TEMPLETON — Whether or not voters approve a $620,000 Proposition 2 1/2 override at the polls today, an Oct. 23 Special Town Meeting will need to determine how the town will provide $561,000 in additional funding to the Narragansett Regional School District for the current fiscal year.
“We have to pay the assessment,” said Town Administrator Jeff Ritter. “It’s not a question where we can negotiate with them. We already voted to pay the assessment, so we have to pay for it out of what the town has.”
Although Templeton voters rejected providing the school district with its full requested assessment through an override at the polls in April and at May’s Annual Town Meeting, they gave their approval for the funding during an Aug. 22 joint town meeting with Phillipston.
Since the fiscal year began on July 1, the additional funding for the school district’s full requested assessment is not part of the town’s budget.
The Board of Selectmen is asking voters to increase the tax rate by $1.15 in order to raise $620,000. That would fund the additional $561,000 for the school district and restore previous cuts to town employees’ hours.
Without a tax increase, the Advisory Board is recommending funding the school district’s full assessment by cutting all town departments by 30 percent.
Following today’s ballot vote, the town meeting will either be asked to approve using the $620,000 for the school district and employee hours, or to approve cuts to the town’s budget to provide the school district with its additional $561,000.
Polls are open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today at the Narragansett Regional High School gymnasium. The Oct. 23 town meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Narragansett Middle School auditorium.
I just got a call from Julie and the override passed. I for one am glad. To many good people would have been hurt if it had failed. I do think the elderly made the call. I think they were afraid, and I can't blame them. There really is no money to be found anywhere. Shame on the people who would say it was empty threats. Shame on the people who thought this was not serious, because it was. People in this town have to understand that there is only so much money to go around. That means sharing what their is, not taking it all just because you can. This vote in my eyes was a vote to support the people who work for the town. Many of these people took a pay cut to help the town out financially. They deserve the support they have received tonight. There are a couple of things we can learn from what has gone on in the past few months. One thing is you can not just vote at the polls. People need to attend town meetings because the government is run by those who show up. I hope everyone understands that from what we have just gone through. I hope everyone will attend the town meeting on the 23rd. A citizens petition has a couple of articles on it that could prove to be costly. One is to sell East Templeton School. This is a bad idea on a good day. We own this building and need to move from the building on Athol Road. The rent is going up and we have thrown away too much money as it is. The building in East Templeton will meet our needs very nicely, with no tax money used. This building meets the criteria for using Preservation funds to turn this building into a fine town hall. The money is in the bank and we do not have to pay it back. One article that has been presented is to force a sale of the E.T. building. It is time for the people to stand up for what is good for the town and vote no to selling this building! The other article is to take the building at 252 Baldwinville Road and turn that into a town hall. There are still very serious questions about the roof as that was seen as a big problem due to new regulations for snow loads. The biggest question is where anyone thinks the money for this project will come from, seeing that we still owe money on the building with no source of funding from the original article. Even with donated labor, the total cost of this project is nothing the town needs to deal with due to the cost. The idea for us as a town is to spend every cent as carefully as we can. I appreciate the vote to support the people who work for us, but that does not give anyone a blank check to spend money we do not have. What is the old saying, when we are in a hole, it is time to stop digging. Please attend the town meting and vote no to selling the old East Templeton School;. Bev.
ReplyDeleteBeverly states,
ReplyDelete"That means sharing what their is"
"To many good people would have been hurt"
Yikes!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThank you for VOTING YES on October 15th.
ReplyDeleteThank you for voting to preserve public safety in Templeton.
Please attend the Special Town Meeting on October 23rd.
Remember the past to ensure a better future.