Town Administrator: Templeton's future is bright

Town Administrator: Templeton's future is bright

To The Editor: 5/3/2014
Robert Markel
Templeton Interim Town Administrator

To The Editor:

I am writing in response to a recent letter To The Editor opposing the proposed $505,000 general override of the Proposition 2 1⁄2 tax cap in Templeton.  Voters will determine the outcome of this proposal at the election on May 5.

The letter criticisms of the town’s financial management practices in the past are correct. 

The town’s financial management system was chaotic.  When I arrived as interim Town Administrator in February, I found that reliable financial information was simply unavailable.

Moreover, Templeton was facing a $505,000 budget deficit that was never fully explained. 

Here’s the explanation:  There was a mistake in the budget process at the Town Meeting in May 2013. 

The mistake was made in the Advisory Committee’s presentation of the budget.  The committee made the mistake because the budget model and the data provided by the financial team at Town Hall were not accurate.


The enormous gap in the current budget that must be closed by a general override tax increase or what we call “Plan B” will go into effect.  This is not intended to scare or threaten residents into voting for the override; it is simply what I have been told will happen by state officials.  

The state Department of Revenue will step in, provide a loan to cover the $505,000 deficit and assume control of the town’s finances. 

The loan from the state will cover the deficit in the current fiscal year (FY14), and then the DOR will impose a half million in cuts to balance the budget in the new fiscal year which begins on July 1.

Service cuts and layoffs will likely affect all municipal departments and the schools.   This may seem superficially attractive to the frustrated citizens of Templeton, but as state intervention in Springfield, Lawrence and Chelsea have shown, the state will implement reductions in services that will not be popular.

While Virginia Wilder’s criticisms of past financial management are valid, it is important for citizens to know that town government has changed.  

A new team is in place in the Accounting and Treasurer’s offices, and they are doing high quality work. 

The data used for the budget process for the new fiscal year is accurate and reliable, and the budget of the town in FY ‘15 will be balanced.  

There will be deep cuts in services and layoffs if the override does not pass, but the budget will be balanced. 

There is one part of the letter that is not accurate.  It refers to the proposed $500,000 for design and feasibility for a new Templeton elementary school as a “school override”.  The letter says that the “school override” will add to the tax rate beginning on July 1.  

If this was correct, it would add $.93 to the tax rate.  However, the proposed $500,000 for the design and feasibility study is a debt exclusion. 

This proposal, which is also on the May 5 ballot, would renew the $500,000 debt exclusion approved in 2008 to fund initial steps for a new elementary school.  

The Massachusetts School Building Authority is reimbursing the town for 60% of the first $500,000 debt exclusion and will reimburse Templeton for 60% of the proposed new debt exclusion. 

The actual cost to the town will be $200,000 for each $500,000 debt exclusion.

The important point is this:  The funding to pay the town’s share of the first debt exclusion is already baked into the tax rate. 

If the second $500,000 debt exclusion is approved by the voters, Templeton will simply continue making payments as has been done since 2008. 

The Town Accountant, who is a CPA, has confirmed that a new borrowing can be serviced with no impact on the tax rate.

I want to assure the residents of Templeton that there is a new beginning in Town Government. 

The Board of Selectmen, Advisory Board and the town’s financial team are working together to improve financial management and to provide the public with reliable and accurate information. 

My tenure as interim Town Administrator will likely end on July 1. 

I have every confidence that the selectmen will hire a new, professional Town Administrator who will keep town government on the right path.

Robert Markel
Templeton Interim Town Administrator