The $1.4M Dollar Question...
You have to be able to pay for it.
If the MFOB request is approved in March, Templeton has to be able to pay for the guaranteed state bonds in order to build the (ill-fated) elementary school .
Templeton's local aid from the state will be used to pay for these bonds - around $1.4 million dollars. The same $1.4 M dollars is currently being used to pay for Templeton's operating costs.
From information provided by the Templeton selectmen back in July of 2016 there is a $1M deficit for FY 13:
It's anyone's guess what the deficits will be for FY 14, FY 15 and FY 16. Won't know until the audits are COMPLETED.
Templeton has $142,000 in stabilization to back up a $13 M dollar budget. The Templeton Board of Selectmen proposed a warrant article to use $87,500 of that very limited stabilization money to "balance" FY 17 back at the STM October 2016 . A week later a "discovery" is made that the deficit for FY 17 is $200,000. There's not enough money in stabilization to fix that little bump in the financial road.
Try to balance any future town operating budget without local aid! There will be no town government left. Maybe that's the plan after all.
Years ago, Gladys Salame told me that "there was a plan in place to ruin the Town" because someone was fired. This plan was payback for what this person took as a personal attack on their loved one. Looks like this plan has worked very, very well.
ReplyDeleteSo how happy are we with the electric bills now that we can't borrow due to the debt the deals the TMLWP have us in. Will they ge us even further in the hole with the battery park they are looking into.
ReplyDeleteSterling has one and it was 1.3 million investment with grants to help pay for it.
If they can't explain why their so far in the hole we should clean house and start a different process to show us whats going on and point out the lies we were told.
That debt doesn't affect the town it enterprise debt.
Bullshit!
If they don't pay it we will have to.
So if we sold the Light plant we could shake off the debt we/they have built up.
It's like purchasing a new car and trading in the old one you can do without.
At one time the light plant made sense and costs were under control but now its a money grab take care of themselves.
No pilot proves that point.
As Cramer says Sell Sell Sell
Want a new school? Think about it. It could be a road map to a shiny new school,lower town debt and less bullshit for the town to have to put up with.
More to come!! Listen in!!!
David,
ReplyDeleteQuestion for you. Right now according to stated numbers Templeton distribution rate is .0477 per kwh. National Grids is .09934.
Personally I feel Templeton Electricity and service is a Jewel for the town. Outages fixed in short order, reasonable electric rates by comparison. Selling an asset for a liability seems less than ideal.
I would be 100% against selling the Templeton Light for this poorly thought out, overpriced school plan
As we all know the town get very little from the TMLWP that we don't pay for. Many costs are born for the Jewel to exist and laws don't get followed. If you want to look at a nickel and hide from the risks and costs we have due to the way we let them run thats ok.
ReplyDeleteI for one don't. The risk is this looking at the chapter 164 laws point out clearly if the investments we have with the MMWEC Nuke projects ever have a problem as in MELTDOWN or storage leakage we are on the hook for the clean up.
Unlimited exposure and risk are what we get for the nickel saved.
When Other power companies bill you they pay tax on the profits and shareholders get income also.
The state owned MMWEC are the ones who spread the risks via the Municipal owned power companies. So the state takes care of the plants they have control of and provide the funds to let the rich purchase tax free income bonds as they wash each others hands.
Scratch each others backs. It was a good deal when the PILOT was paid on a regular basis but now they cry poverty and promise this and that and we get nothing but a little free power. That's at their cost around .06 without the extras we pay. The contracts for purchase power are not for you to see and are not on file here when i asked for a copy. They are kept at MMWEC and the reasons are as i stated above,the risks. How about the shut down costs for a nuke plant? One doesn't just switch off and walk away. No No that's your nickel save um up you could need them any day.
If your grid unprotected i might add, were ever in failure and unable to provide power would you pay the bill when they send it? The town is on the hook for the bills for all investments and bonds they sold to finance these investments and the town has no control of them in any way.
All that for a NICKEL!
SUCH A DEAL!
That National Grid bill others pay has no strings,hooks or risks involved. NONE.
So the thing with us as owners/shareholders/taxpayers/what ever you choose for a title is we can't walk away. We will need to pay.
Who would want to own a house in Templeton if we have a burden in our tax bills to support the added costs of the risks that can easily occur.
It's not just a light bill it's the whole towns risk factor.
The more eggs you juggle the higher the risks of failure.
Why after over 100 years are the light plants books in so much debt?
Is it the Nickel they have not charged us to make people think they are a better deal the cause of it?
Please don't ask they get upset when people do that sort of thing.
No FOIA request there ether. All department FOIA requests are to go through the Selectman office where they will tell you the light department of TEMPLETON told them no! When asked about the contracts the auditing authority are to have for public view they say no.
Transparency? You tell me?
I'd rather pay the Nickel!
So how happy are the people in the Graves complex area after the Light Department were drilling for a new pole and hit the water main?
ReplyDeleteI bet the repairs for the water main were more than a Nickel!
Who gets the Bill for that?
Yup the rate payers!
You would have thought they would have checked for a water main ? Didn't they call dig safe ?
DeleteAt the Templeton Fish in Game Club there are about 120 camps. These are seasonal, so the Light Co. does not read the meter from November until April, but they charge all of the camp owners the 3.00 a month for the time they do nothing. So 18x 120 camps comes to 2,160.00. Not a bad chunk of change.
ReplyDeleteHow many businesses do you know of that can buy a new truck, I think it was every 10 years ? I am talking about the big ones, you know , the yellow one that blind you if you look at them. I think a schedule of every 5 years is for the smaller trucks. How many companies can do that ? We pay to haul Driscoll's butt to his house and back to Baldwinville every day, but the vehicle does not have Templeton's name on it ? How come ?
DeleteA quick look at the TMLWP web page still has no minutes for the last 6 months of meetings.
ReplyDeleteOne would think the one in june 2016 could be a mistake but i would think it is put there on purpose! After all, and i quote DANA chairman "we do things right over here"!
Over there they charge just a little less than the big guys that pay taxes and shareholders a profit so they look good enough.
To not post minutes in a timely fashion is to not follow the laws again.
Why when they employ more people than ever can't they keep us informed as to what they are doing? Is it they can't settle with the unions on a contract?
Do we have greater problems they don't want known?
For a department they say is transparent i would beg to differ "AGAIN"
So we can't borrow for a school is now a problem to shed off to the commissioners and their ways of the past. Is it their debt log the problem or is it the Bond they blame.
Even if we had a great bond rate we are over the limit before we start to ask.
Why didn't the MSBA see this before they took this project forward for us?
Are we suppose to think we should have known better or be wiser?
With all we pay to lawyers and fees why weren't we told of this problem?
As with every loan the TMLWP took out or extended why didn't the high priced bond counsel tell them the implications of borrowing to the town?
Was it they couldn't care less.
Do they care?
Commissioners are elected to the position.
Do you care?