from May Town meeting 2015

LONG & SHORT TERM DEBT SERVICE                                            $    1,709,097.00
TOTAL - TOWN BUDGET                                                                         7,420,057.00

SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS
School Committee Stipends                                                                                          0
5 Elected Templeton Members - NRSD School Committee expense                                 0

 Narragansett Regional School Assessment                                              $   5,396,832.00

 Montachusett Regional Vocational School Assessment                             $      611,480.00
TOTAL SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS                                                           $   6,008,312.00

TOTAL TOWN AND SCHOOLS                                                                $ 13,428,369.00


4000 Operation of Plant

Director of Buildings and Grounds                                                                    $   67,461.94
Custodial Salaries                                                                                              476,400.51
Custodial Supplies                                                                                               33,689.33
Building and Grounds Travel                                                                                      124.30
Fuel $ 413,295.17 Electricity                                                                                217,862.61
Maintenance of Grounds                                                                                        53,170.22
Maintenance of Buildings                                                                                     163,278.13
Maintenance of Equipment                                                                                     20,079.80

The above is from Templeton annual Town report of 2014, so the question is, with one less building to take care of, as the district is scheduled to turn back to the Town, control of the Templeton Center school, there should be some savings in the above dollars, somewhere, to use to pay members of the school committee who feel they should be paid for volunteering to be on the school committee. Perhaps they could explain to their students the act of volunteering, civic duty and becoming involved with out looking for money or anything else, just a sense of helping to try to make things better. Perhaps there is an economics lesson in there as well?

Jeff Bennett

from the website of the DESE
A target local contribution establishes an ideal goal for how much each city and town should contribute toward its foundation budget, based on the municipality's wealth. Two measures of municipal wealth are used: aggregate property values and aggregate personal income levels, with each given equal weight. The target is recalculated each year based upon the most recent income and property valuations.

Jeff Bennett

Board of Selectmen		Salaries	$19,308	Upgrades
Town Clerk		Salaries	$13,841	Upgrade and move to a 40 hr schedule
Town Buildings Maintenance		Salaries	$2,950	From 5 to 10 Hrs for Town Hall custodian
Cemetery & Parks		Salaries	$13,837	A seasonal worker
Cemetery & Parks		Expenses	$6,557	Admin. Assistant
Highways		Salaries	$31,500	Asst. Mechanic/Laborer
Highways		Snow & Ice	$25,000	TA Recommendation
Highways		Vehicles Fuel	$31,300	Additional fuel
Police Officer		Salaries	$91,553	Total salary = $69,553; Benefits = $22,000
COA		Salaries	$7,803	11 additional hrs -Elder Family Services Coord.
COA		Salaries	$14,275	20.5 hrs additional hrs for Activity Coordinator
Veterans		Salaries	$10,760	Restore salary of Director to $20,000
Library		Salaries	$3,011	Upgrade for Library Director
Library		Salaries	$2,727	Upgrade for Library Staff
Tree Warden		Expenses	$1,500	Contracted work requiring a boom lift
Recreation		Salaries	$3,720	Increase Recreation salaries
Stipends for School Committee		School Salaries	$9,000	Restoration of stipends
TOTAL The above is a list of requests from dept. heads for FY17. Jeff Bennett			$288,642

Changing of the tune??

The following is an email from Templeton Town Administrator Robert Markel.

"All -

Attached is the list of new initiatives and requests from Town departments.  I thought that the Selectmen might make decisions regarding which requests will be funded on Monday night, but they need more time.  

As you can see, the departmental requests exceed available, unallocated revenue in the budget by more than $100,000.  Also, the School Superintendent informed us on Monday that the $225,000 in additional funding that I included in the budget for NRSD is not enough.  They are seeking an additional $82,000 in order to comply with DOE target shares.  

I informed department heads on Tuesday morning that they should begin meeting with the TAB to explain their budget requests.

Rm "

Perhaps this change is a result of televised meetings of the Advisory Board where members expressed frustration with an earlier email stating selectmen and Town Administrator recommending dept. heads NOT meet with the AB.

What ever the reason, this is a positive step in my opinion as a resident of Templeton. One head scratcher is under the TOWN dept. heads initiatives and requests; stipends for school committee listed under school salaries, in the amount of $9000.00 for stipends for school committee members.

There must have been a change in the law because the Town and school district are two separate legal entities which is why after the Templetonn taxpayers pay the school assessment, the town has no control of the school budget, that is the job of the school superintendent and school committee. So if school committee members want a stipend or a salary, take it out of their budget just like the light and water commissioners still do. And if that is part of the schools budget shortfall, do like the town of Templeton did, do away with stipends or salaries for all elected people. (exception is the light & water commissioners)

Since John Columbus stated when he was running for election, "the town has to be run by the book" and I think he needs to read that book, all selectmen should understand that the Templeton municipal light & water dept. really is part of the Town and they had to come crawling back to ask permission for a loan because as the DOR told them, they are NOT a separate legal entitiy but the Narragansett region school district is, the Town of Templeton is only obligated to give one pile of money and they have to dish it out where and how needed.

Jeff Bennett