Joint
Meeting Advisory Board/ BOS
Last
night the Advisory Board and the BOS held a joint meeting to discuss the budget
procedures for FY 15. The Advisory Board informed the BOS that the template
used by departments for budget preparation was been revised and improved. It
was suggested to plan out the budget hearings to give departments enough notice
when their budget would be reviewed.
Another
suggestion was to move to centralized purchasing. Some steps have been taken
toward centralized purchasing. The BOS asked that all departments take an
inventory of items/supplies with a value over $50.00. There will be discussion
of progress made on inventory at today’s department head meeting.
There
was discussion about level funding the budget to FY 14 as a beginning point for
budget preparation for FY 15. The Advisory Board provided a lot of detail and
figures to backfill the FY 14 budget with the override money. There was
discussion about short term borrowing until the tax rate is set. The figure for
short-term borrowing has not been finalized. Good News! The Tax Rate should be
set in the very near future. Last year the tax rate was set very late in the
fiscal year, which created numerous financial problems for the Town of
Templeton. The pros and cons of
allowing departments to budget for all expenses or to budget that money in a
reserve/stabilization account was discussed.
Consolidation
of some operations was proposed as an action item. There will be more
discussion to follow on this topic as the budget season progresses. The wage
and compensation matrix, as it currently exists, was discussed. There are many
problems with the wage and compensation plan, which will need to be addressed
by the BOS. The Advisory Board is recommending a 2% maximum for all salaries in
Templeton.
Toward
the end of the meeting, another unknown factor in the budgeting process is the
school department. Tie will tell if the school committee and administration
will use the nuclear option (603 CMR 41.05
) and render null and void all of these budget proposals.
My
opinions…supported by FACTS ! ! !
Julie
Farrell
All of this work will vanish in a heartbeat if the school works to undermine the town budget. There has to be a understanding on the part of the School Committee and the Administration of how much money the town has to work with. A plan to force a town override worked this last time, but I really do not think it will work again. People can not give what they do not have. It is as simple as that. I think it would have been different if the school people were under paid, or if there had been move to compromise. As things stand, school people are paid very well, and Ms. Miller made no move to compromise. The Advisory Board will spend more time working on a budget so we can get the most for our tax dollars, and they should be commended for that. No one has given more to the town than the people working in the town offices, who lived on short time to help the town get through a very rough time in it's history. They all deserve a big thank you. Bev.
ReplyDeleteHow will this affect Mr Bennetts contract that has been paying a healthy 6% raise every year?
ReplyDeletedid not know I had a contract other than the national guard which is up December 7, 2013
ReplyDeleteDont you make @ $82,000 a year including a 6% raise as Town Coordinator? I maybe mistaken.
DeletePearl Harbor Day.
Deletehuffy have you been doing a puffy? Jeff Bennett gets 0 from Tempelton. Like all other municipal boards are no longer paid for their service. Only paid are sewer,light and water board commissioners.There are other Bennetts that do make 82k and if i were him you would not get a written warning. I did find your facts funny. I think the jeff's do too!!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe its the Kool Aid ??
DeleteIs Jeff the Town Coordinator? & if so, How much is he paid? As I said, I may have been misled.
DeleteInstead of attacking ad usual, just answer the question
Huff, I hope this is a lesson learned that whomever you are getting your information from may not be 100% accurate and maybe you will be more open to listening to others outside your group. I can understand the confusion. Both are named "Jeff". Both are extremely intelligent. Both are dedicated to protecting the best interests of the whole town. The difference is one is the BOS Chair and has a name plate in front of him at meetings. The other is the Town Coordinator and sits on the left side of the table at meetings and answers questions about daily town operations. Jeff Bennett gets paid nothing to be a selectman except our gratitude. Jeff Ritter has been our town coordinator since 2012 in which his contract was quite a topic of discussion which has been put to rest. If your comment was to spark discussion on town employees' salaries vs. school employees' salaries, then lets have that discussion. I believe that was the main topic of the meeting discussed in this blog post. I would suggest you not make accusations of people attacking you in their responses seeing that you have made some pretty un-unifying comments about others in recent posts. If you truly want to bring the commUNITY together, I would rethink making comments about cemetery and highway workers' jobs being worthless. When you make comments like that you contribute to the divide remaining in town. And I'm beginning to wonder if that is exactly the strategy of some who "fight" for the school budget. All sides will have to bend in order to come to a balanced budget that the town can live with. So, I end with asking that you reconsider your opinion that all the BOS is evil and out to hurt the school. All town employees are valuable, just as valuable as school employees. Recognize how many people are interested in evaluating all aspects of all budgets with 100% transparency. And as part of that mission, there will be a lot of questions about the school budget. Its not because anyone is bad or evil, its because that is the fiscally responsible thing to do. Hope you have a pleasant weekend!
DeleteThnx Temp....needed that. FYI, I was one who was fighting for their jobs, not trying to say they're worthless. My point was, "The School" went to bat for the town, not the other way around.
DeleteAll I ask is that you see that the "town" also went to bat for the school. Everyone wants a top notch school in our community. If the voters had voted for the override on the first try, it would have avoided a lot of nastiness. It was not the BOS that made that decision. It was the voters. As a board that represents the voters, the BOS was obligated to support that no vote. And the second no vote. In no way were they (or are) against the school. It was very upsetting that the proposed cuts to school budget were going to affect the band and sports and arts. That is why people wanted to look at the admin costs to see if there was room to cut there instead. Of course no where is good to cut! Town employees losing hours was awful. Losing teachers was awful. So, now that we've learned what happens when no one communicates well during the budget discussions, maybe now we all can agree that we have an opportunity to have a different experience with the FY15 budget. I appreciate reading the articles posted on here about how other towns are dealing with the exact same school budget issues as Templeton. It is not an isolated issue just in this town. There are larger issues facing the education system regarding mandates, contracts, and politics. And those issues trickle down and affect small town budgets. In order to fix the problem, we all have to fully understand the whole picture. Please understand that Ms. Farrell is not evil or against the school by discussing these issues. She's actually doing a tremendous service to the whole town (including the school) by providing information on the issues. That's what she does professionally as a school librarian. I appreciate it. I read all the articles and then make up my own mind on where I stand on each issue. I hope that the school committee members also read up on all the issues facing the educational system. The more we all educate ourselves on the issues the better we can come to solid solutions without resorting to taking sides and name calling.
DeletePuffy,
ReplyDeleteJeff Ritter is the Town Coordinator. His contract has been published here on the blog a few times and I believe you have commented on it. In fact, the town coordinator's contract was published on the blog in juxtaposition to the superintendent of schools contract. I think it was a blog posted in August.
There was also confusion on VW's part and some of the Echo Hill Gang because there is another town administrator in Massachusetts with the name Jeffery Ritter. There was some nastiness on the blog about "our" Jeff Ritter jumping from job to job which was dispelled once the truth was published. Feel free to contact to the BOS and request a copy of the Town Coordinator's contract . It is all public record.
Jeffrey Ritter, Town Coordinator is not Jeffrey Bennett, Chairman of the BOS.
Have a great day!
WOW Puff, You Sure Do Know Your Stuff,lol. It really makes me wonder about all your previous off the wall posts on this blog, If you DID NOT KNOW that Jeff Bennett was a Selectman, Then I for one am led to believe that you DID NOT KNOW about ANYTHING else you wrote about on this blog.
ReplyDeleteThe truth be spoken?
ReplyDeleteAmen !
DeleteOf course, I know he is a selectman. I was recently told he was Coordinator also. If you remembee, I caught flak for calling him absent during the budget process.
ReplyDeleteBut thank you for simply answering the question without all your typical nastiness (sarcasm).
So I guess the question is, How will this affect Mr Ritters contract? & does he get a 6% raise every year?
Puffy,
ReplyDeleteSince you doubt the veracity of everything I say, I strongly suggest you ask for a copy of Jeffrey Ritter's contract. That would answer your question.
next time huff, if you wish to know what I do or what job I have in Templeton, just ask....me!
ReplyDeleteNice post
ReplyDelete