STM March 29, 2014
Last night a majority of the BOS voted to hold a STM, funded by the school district, on March 29th.The purpose of this STM is to allow the residents of Templeton to vote on a $500,00 debt exclusion to support more money for the Templeton Elementary School Building project.
This is an additional $500,000. The original $550,000 voted in 2009 is not enough to get this project to schematic design.
If this article is passed at the STM, the total cost to get to schematic design will be $1,050,000. $1,050,000 includes the $230,000 non-reimbursible expense for the land search.
Request for STM
Biomass Financing
***************************************************
Notice from Deputy Commissioner Nunes
2/24/14 Town Administrator Financial Update
If the town does not submit Schedule A by March 14, 2014 (it was due November 30, 2013) then the state will stop local aid payments to the Town of Templeton.
If Free Cash is not certified before the STM scheduled for March 29th, then the option of balancing FY 14 with Free cash is moot.
Let's have a STM to vote to increase funding for the elementary school project, while the town sinks into the abyss!
How long can this fiasco in the Treasury go on before something is done?
ReplyDeleteCONFLICTS OF INTEREST i might be wrong and rules might of changed???but the people that benefits from the outcome of this vote cannot pay for the special town meeting ..all cost associated with this kind of vote has to come out of the clerks budget ..i ran into this problem years ago going for a new fire truck
ReplyDeleteMike C, That is something to check on. Thank you for bringing it up, because if you are right having a STM paid for by the school then finding out we screwed up, is just another thing our town does not need. I am in favor of burning wood chips, but I do hope things have improved since the paper mill in Otter River put their's in. The ash rained down on the neighbors, and took the paint off the cars until they finally put scrubbers in the chimney. Pete Kasper brought up a couple of good questions that were not pointed at anyone special, and I do not think Jeff heard him. He asked where the ash was going to go, and where the wood chips were going to be stored, until they were burned ?? He also mentioned they need to be turned so they do not get moldy ?? These are things we need to know before we jump from the frying pan into the fire, like we have so many times before. It is to bad the guy who spent the &230,000.00 looking for land and is now long gone, did not have the brains to look at the land on either side of the high, middle schools. At that time that land was not developed, and could have given more room for a number of things, one of them being room for the expansion of their heating system. I do hope we are not getting one of "last years models" for this heating system. Ms. Miller coming into the Selectmen's meeting having to have her timeline met does not fly with me. I think it will be hard to get people to three town meetings within a short time, unless this is what the school people hope for, that the elderly do not show up !! I know the town got into trouble by using free cash to pay the way in the past, but it looks like Ken and Haley-Brooks do not want to use any this year. I think it will be way to much for people to absorb financially, if things are done this way. This has been a very hard winter for most people and the cost of heating their homes has been very costly, and we have a good long way to go before spring. Ms. H-B's way of pushing forward blindly will either work or blow up in her face, but then again she can always hide behind Ken. Maybe she should go tell the accountant he is not going fast enough, and see where that gets her. As for our beloved treasurer, he is drawing graphs and computer programs instead of doing his dam job. Oh I forgot, he does not know how to do his job !! How much does anyone want to bet he has not got the payments people have made up to date on their back taxes ?? If a heard of animals has a weak member the rest of the heard leaves it behind, because they cannot survive staying behind to watch out for it. The town cannot go forward with a major department holding the rest of the town back. It is time for the leaders to cut the cord, so the town can heal. Just my opinion, Bev.
DeleteBad example to use Bev, for a herd also leaves its sick & elderly behind.
DeleteActually, there will be elderly and sick left behind in not to many years, if the economy does not improve. If things had been done right for this past ten or twelve years, our town would not be any different from the other towns around us. Our long term debt would be paid off by now and projects could have been completed in a orderly manner. That would have set the town up in good shape but as we all know, the shape the town is in has much to be desired. The biggest asset this town has is it's people, and the will to make things better. I never want to see one group of people have all the say in how town government is run, like it has been. We need people that support the schools, others that have the business side of the town in mind. We need people who speak for the older generation, because they all have different needs that have to be met. This will work if everyone is willing to share what little resources this town has. I can not see a business come to our town if water rates are two high and it looks like our electric rates are not going down any time soon. I know I will not sit back and watch the elderly loose everything they have earned, so other people will get what they want, " just because they want it", not because it is a necessity. I really think the town has a decision to make about how we get our financial house in order. I think the BOS can give the people the options available and they should let the people decide. Some of the younger people who seem to have things "together financially", or in layman's language "have nice things", moved here because it was cheap. These people may not be much better off than anyone one else, so adding to much to the tax rate at one time may not fit their budget plan. The idea is to have a town everyone can enjoy, not divided like a apple pie that twenty people want a piece of. Bev.
DeletePlease read the blog entry on the COA newsletter.
DeleteOur COA director Bethany Loveless applied for and obtained a competitive grant. This grant was awarded to 30 communities NATIONWIDE…NATIONWIDE! And the Templeton COA was awarded the $10,000 SNAP Outreach Grant.
“Did you know: 13.4% of Templeton seniors 65+ are below the federal poverty level and 42.3% of our seniors are economically vulnerable (one unexpected expense away from economic disaster). This is the 2nd highest vulnerability rate in Worcester County. Yet only 32% of SNAP eligible seniors in MA participate in receiving these helpful benefits.”
A very long time ago, I delivered meals on wheels to the seniors in Templeton. Many of these seniors were “economically vulnerable”. That experience helped to shape my political views of public finance.
Did delivering Meals on Wheels help shape your views on constant overrides? You post above that "42.3% of our seniors are economically vulnerable...." Don't you think that pressing for overrides will push these seniors over the top of the cliff?
Delete
DeleteIn my opinion, to deal with current budget shortfall FY 14, we should use certified Free cash, minimal budget cuts, and look at departments that may have money in their line items, and possibly stabilization funds. I don't think there is enough time to ask for an receive an override to fix the $505,000 budget shortfall for FY 14.
Looking at the amount of free cash used over the past 10 years to fill budget shortfalls averages out to about $500,000. This is the figure I would use to try to address the structural deficit in the town's O&M budget. The advisory board is developing a budget for FY 15 that will more than likely recommend consolidation of services and outsourcing some services. These options may result in a lower figure than the $500,000 to address the structural deficit.
Then the budget should be presented to the voters at town meeting in May with the option for an override for FY 15 ( so that free cash is NOT used for the O&M budget). The impact statements from the budgets will give the voters a good idea what services will be lost or in jeopardy without an override. I feel the voters should be given the information they need to make an educated vote.
Repeated overrides will have an impact on many people. I know many of our seniors are economically vulnerable. I also know of more than a few young families with children in the school system, who are one unexpected economic crisis from foreclosure. People should be given a choice to vote on these issues at town meeting and at the ballot box AND that vote should be respected by EVERYONE.
I don't think free cash should be used to supplement FY 15's budget. I do think free cash should be used to help remedy the $505,000 shortfall for FY 14, if it is certified in time for the STM.
I did not vote for the March 29th date for the STM, for a number of reasons. The date for Schedule A to be submitted is March 14th. If for any reason Schedule A is not filed, then the state will withhold its payment to the town. It is possible for the March 29th STM to have an article for an override for the elementary school, while at the same time the town sinks into the abyss. I felt having a STM in April and a ballot election for the override for the elementary school project on the May ballot election was a better way to proceed.A majority of the board felt otherwise.
I think it is time for Templetons SOB ooops BOS stop playing around and have the state come in and fix everything, let the State set the tax rate. the budget and all other foolishness and get Templeton back on the right track. The clowns running the town now have no clue what the hell they are doing! According to what is written above the STM is only for voting and additional 500K for the school, what about the 505K the town is short? Oh do we not care about that now? And gee lets not have the accountant get the books done on time oh wait its over due, the Town only relys on the funds they recieve from the state but thats ok we don't need that money. It is time to stop the clown circus and get some State help let the State fix it through recievership and be done with it.
ReplyDeleteActually perhaps this sob can help you out, there was a vote to have a STM on March 29 and the warrant is open which means there are 14 days for any articles to be submitted to be voted on so they can be posted and brought before the voters of Templeton. That means there can be an override for 500 thousand for the school and there can be an override for the 505 thousand. There can also be articles for budget reductions/changes/increases as well as transfers and there may even be certified free cash to use. There are options to be put in front of the voters so they get to choose. Hope that helps you for your next blog post not dumb enough to fall for it.
ReplyDeleteWell Jeffy good luck with getting an override, not sure the town voters are dumb enough to fall for it again. Maybe getting some reliable accounting and a treasurer who can actually do his job would be a good start. Best answer would be let the State come in and fix it for you,oh but then you won't be in charge what a blow to your ego.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh and making my day Dumb e' and you are probably correct, the taxpayers may not fall for another override for the school or the town.
ReplyDeleteJeff, isn't amazing that these people can hide behind a "fake name" and feel free to make nasty remarks to you and anyone else who is just trying to do a job, cleaning up after other people. I appreciate the fact that you are not meeting behind closed doors to get this job done. Not only is your Board cleaning up a mess, your board is responsible for restructuring our town government. I must say it may look as impressive as hell to see our newest selectman willing to throw caution to the wind, and want to move forward without all of the facts. My dad always told me, "If you don't know what you are doing stop !" Do you drive ten miles with the oil light on ?? Do you walk on thin ice, just because you think you can ?? The decision of whether to use free cash or not, should be a decision made by more than two people. It seems the BOS would need all the facts, like is there any free cash at all, before any big decision can be made. Bad decisions will just find us up to our eyeballs in a pond full of alligators, giving our friends at Echo Hill more to cheer about. Bev.
DeleteThe point is.....They are NOT getting the job done. Whoppie, they meet in public, & get nothing accomplished.
DeletePuffy,
DeleteBy "they" you mean the entire BOS, correct?
Meeting in public and NOT violating the OML is a major improvement. I would know.
It is not possible to make a GOOD decision based on BAD information. You might want to keep that in mind.
& you keep in mind, that to do nothing, is often the biggest mistake
DeleteBev not to worry for long a change could be in the near future. Previous Identity theft may cause this blog to require an id sign in! It would only be fair to the readers to know who it is that write the comments they read.
ReplyDeleteIf they put open and clear comments they will be allowed to voice any comments and not be deleted. The fact is,this is as open as free speech can get and be fair to the people who come here for information should be proctected.
Information more like one sided propaganda. Well it looks like I can leave for a few weeks but I will be back, Not that anything will happen by then have fun,see you at the STM. so play nice
ReplyDeleteinteresting little ditty on WCVB channel 5 today... did you know that in Templeton, 24.6% of homeowners had negative equity in their homes in December 2013, according to Zillow.com Templeton was in the top ten... so go head raise the property taxes again and again...and you start counting the empty houses ... people will be losing their homes to foreclosure or just walking away from them
ReplyDeleteRead more: http://www.wcvb.com/money/mass-towns-with-most-homeowners-in-mortgage-trouble/24704632#ixzz2udw4hdWh
You right Concerned but not convinced - I have seen posts that there are close to 1 million in back taxes owed to the town. Now wouldn't you think its about time to do something about that? Oh you can raise the taxes again then maybe next year there will be 1 1/2 million in back taxes due to the town. I would love to know how long it has been that these taxes have been owed? Isn't it time to fix that problem? I know you can't recoup that amount immediately but starting the process will atleast bring some of that money back into the Towns bank account. But first we need some reliable individuals in the position to perform those duties. Not sure we have that yet.
ReplyDeleteThis is a topic that has come up for discussion a few times over the years. You are right. Action should be taken on tax title accounts. Hiring a town administrator to coordinate and ensure this is acted upon is important. Having a town administrator to oversee the day to day operation of the town is critical. We are fortunate that Bob Markel is the town administrator. In the near future, he will be able to put in more hours in Templeton.
DeleteHis FY 13 & FY 14 financial update is a good analysis of the steps to take to address the financial situation in Templeton. Let's hope the BOS follows his recommendations.