Templeton's financial woes continue
Officials say receipt of state aid could be in jeopardyEryn Dion
News Staff Writer
TEMPLETON— The Fiscal Year 2013 books should be closed by the end of the month, according to Interim Town Administrator Bob Markel, who met with several of the town’s financial officials this week.
The meeting was attended by the town accountant, forensic accountant, tax collector and treasurer to discuss Templeton’s financial status for FY13 and FY14, as well as looming concerns for the year ahead.
“The town accountant hopes to wrap up by the end of the month,” explained Mr. Markel. “He is at the point of concluding the work.”
The cash reconciliation for FY 13 is complete, with the general ledger data entries still unfinished. Once the work is finalized, the documents will be submitted to the state Department of Revenue, who will review the numbers and provide a tax rate and certified free cash amount for the town, which could be used to plug the budget shortfall.
“While it’s not good policy to use free cash for your operating budget, with the town facing a half-million dollar shortfall, we have limited choices,” said Mr. Markel.
After the FY13 books are closed, the accountant can focus on completing the town’s City and Town Financial Report, or Schedule A, which is severely behind.
The report — containing information about the town’s revenues, expenditures and balance sheets — was due to the state’s Division of Local Services, or DLS, on Nov. 30, 2013.
The revenue department sent two letters to the town, the most recent dated Feb. 19 — stating that if the Schedule A form is not received by the end of the month, Templeton could lose access to state aid.
“Due to the long overdue status of this report, we intend to withhold your monthly local aid payments beginning March 31, 2014 until the report has been received,” said DLS Deputy Commissioner Robert G. Nunes in the letter.
The correspondence later says that if the Schedule A is not submitted by March 14, the state would withhold their March distribution.The town consistently receives over $1 million in aid from the state every year, the loss of which would only exasperate an already dire financial crisis.
“Losing state aid would be a difficult, if not catastrophic situation,” explained Mr. Markel.
According to DLS cherry sheets, the state is in line to distribute $1.441 million to Templeton in aid and the town has been receiving monthly payments of over $100,000 since the beginning of FY 14 last July.
Daniel Bertrand of the DLS said that while the situation certainly is not ideal, it isn’t permanent and payments will resume once the Schedule A form is submitted.
Town Accountant Frank Aponte was confident the reports would be complete on time and the board would not need to deal with the fallout of losing local aid.
Templeton’s administrator also admitted that since the town budgeted for $505,000 they did not have, there will be a similar shortfall in FY14’s budget that will need addressing at the Annual Town Meeting. Mr. Markel likened using “one-time” revenue, such as free cash or tax title sales, in balancing a budget to “patching a balloon”, but said the town had few options.
“The balloon can be patched in 2014. The real problem is 2015,” he said.
Mr. Markel suggested using budget cuts, efficiency measures and higher taxes to prevent chronic budget shortages in Templeton.
“Without some kind of structural adjustment, we will always be coming back to this place,” Select Board Vice Chairman Kenn Robinson said in agreement.
Although the town’s finances may seem hopeless, Mr. Markel remained optimistic — saying that getting the town back on track was his number one priority.
“Sometimes the situation can appear difficult, if not grim,” he said. “But these are all problems that can be dealt with.”
A town hall meeting was suggested as a way to educate residents on the town’s financial problems and explain that a solution can either be found in an Proposition 2 1/2 override or cuts to an already tight budget, resulting in a loss of municipal services.
“Without being threatening, that’s the reality,” said Mr. Markel. The board voted to hold a Special Town Meeting on March 29, to address the $505,000 shortfall for FY13 and will likely submit articles for an override, budget cuts and the appropriation of free cash to balance the budget, should it become available.
As bad as things appear, at least we finally know where we stand. For too many years the people of this town were in the dark thinking that all was well with our town finances. The "shell game" could not go on much longer no matter who was in the seat of the BOS. It comes to a point that there is simply no other place to take money from, because eventually all of these accounts run dry. It has been quite a run, and could not have been done without the help of other departments. One question we could ask is, where was the DOR all this time ?? It seems to me someone should have blown a whistle a long time ago !! I have a friend that always said, "people can be bought cheap" and I guess that was the case here. All we can do is pick up the pieces and go on from here, learn from our mistakes so we do not come this way again. Bev.
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