Town Clerk Office Closed
The Templeton Town Clerk's Office will be closed from July 21st through July 25th due to the hiring freeze and lack of funding for the Assistant Town Clerk position. There is no one to cover the office in the Town Clerk's absence.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMore town offices will be closed throughout the year, unless an override passes to fund positions like the town clerk assistant position and the assistant assessor position or filling the admin. assistant at the BOS office.
ReplyDeleteOther considerations for an override are the fact that after Sept. 1st there will not be a police night shift in Templeton.
Fiscal year 2015's budget, which started on July 1st, is very tight. The true cost of funding a School resource officer vs. funding a night shift was not discussed at town meeting. It is another of those "unintended consequences" that was voted at the May ATM. Like the "unintended consequence " of no town insurance for recreation programs.
I asked on town meeting floor to reduce the NRSD assessment by $100,000 because I believed then, as I believe now, that the town will need more money for FY 15.
The town does not have a lot of options. An override or ask the DOR to reduce our school assessment using a new law: Fiscal Year Waivers
I have asked for the dollar amount Templeton should receive back from the NRSD for regional transportation. If Templeton receives this money, it is one-time money and in my opinion should not be used to fund salaries.
Before asking for an override, we should be able to calculate the actual cost of funding a position, so that it includes the "forever costs" of a benefitted position.
I can understand voter reluctance to support an override. There is no guarantee that the NRSD will NOT use the nuclear option Nuclear Optionagain and again and take money from the town's appropriated budget. The State has given cities and towns a tool to ask for Fiscal year waivers to minimum contributions. I don't foresee the current BOS supporting a waiver for Templeton's minimum contribution, but the question should be raised.
From what I understand a few of the people in leadership positions have the impression that Templeton is a wealthy community. It seems that these people have the impression that there is a large number of residents that have a open pocket, that can afford to bankroll their projects. Yes, we do have people who own their own their own businesses, as any community does, but that does not mean a department can rely on those people to carry more than their fair share. Unfortunately a town can not tax one person more than another, and I do not think there is anyone in town who can give year after year more that is reasonable. Templeton's way of doing business has been our downfall. When asked for a override, residents often said no in the past. Too often the voice of the voter was ignored and the people in charge carried on with their plans, even if the money was not there. Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul has left the town with no money from Paul, and Peter is broke also. In the past the town has had more than one chance to change the way it did business, but the people in charge chose to kick the can down the road, leaving the problem for other people to deal with. It has taken some creative game playing to get the town to the point it is in today. There are some ways to save money, so it could be used in different ways. A good look at the town's health insurance to see where the town could save some money, could be a start. The fact that we do not have much in the way of industry or big businesses means all of the money needed to run the town is on the backs of the home owner or small business owner's. We have to understand that the only way to avoid being in this situation in another ten or less years, is to understand we need to have a "new normal". Things cannot be the way they were. If earlier Selectmen or even the prior accountant had had the courage to be up front with the people in this town, we would not be in the mess we are in right now. The end had to come one way or the other, and it happened when there was no one left to prop the ponzi scheme up. It is my feeling that Julie is right, that there are only so many tax dollars to share, so either we learn to live within our means or we have a town no one can afford to live in, except those wealthy residents some of our Department heads think live here. Bev.
DeleteNames please!!!
ReplyDeleteTo the Huff, the truth is the number of views continue to rise, even people who say they do not read the blog are seen reciting almost verbatim what is posted here. So there may be only a few who are willing to sign their real name, the blog continues and people continue to read it. This blog has even been mentioned in a few newspapers more than a couple of times. It is what a simple guy in a complex world accomplished, not bad for a man who would point out "I only have an eighth grade education"
ReplyDeleteTruth is, the funding for any school district comes from different sources even as most of it comes from taxpayers in some manner. Truth is, the town's assessment for the NRHS budget is an expense of the taxpayers and it should be treated as that, an expense that needs to be controlled as much as possible, legally and financially responsible. I thought at the last town meeting, we were trying to control and/or reduce all expenses as much as possible so why should the school expense be different? I get from reading newspapers and listening to news media that society (thru the schools in many cases) we teach that everything is fair and everyone gets a trophy and we have to worry about everyone's self-esteem so perhaps it is time to teach the kids some economics. There is only so much pie to go around so to be fair to the taxpayers (your mom and dad) we are going to have to let a principal or two go, as in fire them or lay them off (this happens in the real world) We are doing this so we can help the town (where you live and your parents pay taxes) out because the town is going thru difficult financial times. some of this is caused by limitations of prop 2 1/2 and prevailing wage laws. There is only so much pie to go around and since we wish to be fair, we have to re slice the pie so the town gets a fair share of the pie. This is to help your mom and dad out. Would that not be a great lesson to teach the kids?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteSince the Templeton emergency management director can handle emergencies from Florida with a cell phone and a laptop, I think one principal could handle three elementary schools that are within 15 minutes of each other in the same way. Since the law allows two or more elementary schools to share one principal and since the town is trying to keep all expenses down and that is what the school assessment for Templeton is, just another expense that should be kept under control, I think it would be a great relation type of thing to do so when the time for a new school vote comes around, it would be something to talk about as in the district helped out the town as much as possible so now we would like your help out here. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteTo Huff n Puff i would like to respond to your reasoning that i have driven away the people who come to the blog. Your full shit!
ReplyDeleteMany come to just read and don't wish to be attacked by your type of hide and respond as a no name piece of it. You have been able to drive away more than i ever could. Just to ask we start to post our names a requireent i blame you for is more a fact than me doing it. Your comments are only welcome with your name sent to me at smart@nii.net and what you post after that will "i guarantee" will remain posted. Put up or shut up and be like the others who use their real names. You won't email me because you won't be able to face yourself in the mirror. When people know who's who they tend to shun you for what you have posted in the past. You own it and it will remain here to view for a good long time. Won't it!!
When i told my uncle Pauly i was requireing names due to poster like huff n puff he smiled and said "good". He said keep the blog going and do what needs to be done to inform Templeton of the issues without people like you who hide and won't follow the rules. Rules i might add brought on by you "now" huff n puff. I suspect many other names you used in the past also. In short the rule change brought a smile to uncles face when i told him about you and i "thank you" for that. I miss the fact that i can talk to him about what needs to be done and why,always looking for the nod and good do that from him.
RIP Uncle Pauly Templeton thanks you for the blog.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteIf you missed it smart@nii.net.
ReplyDeleteh+p thats for you. You can't do it now can you?
It's that simple,if you have not complicated things to much already!