Templeton town By-laws
article IV - Advisory Committee

Section 4. It shall be the duty of the Advisory Committee annually to consider the expenditures in previous years and the estimated requirements for the ensuing year of the several boards, officers and committees of the town, as prepared by them in such form and detail as may be prescribed by said committee. The said committee shall add to such statement of expenditures and estimates another column, giving the amounts which in its opinion should be appropriated for the ensuing year, and shall further add thereto such explanations and suggestions relating to the proposed appropriations as it may deem expedient, and report thereon as provided in section five of Article II.

 Section 5. In the discharge of its duty, said committee shall have free access to all books of record and accounts, bills and vouchers on which money has been or may be paid from the town treasury. Officers, boards, and committees of the town shall, upon request, furnish said committee with facts, figures, and any other information pertaining to their several activities.

The following addition to Town by-laws is shown on the report of Annual Town meeting of May 2014 but not in the general by-laws of the town on Templeton website. There was a question asked and it was forwarded to Town counsel and the legal opinion was forwarded back to the Advisory Committee and it basically states Templeton has conflicting by-laws on the subject of budget and offers a suggestion to fix the issue.

On a substitute motion duly made and seconded the Town voted that Article III “Town Officers“ of the Town By-laws be hereby amended:

4. “It shall be duty of the Town Administrator in conjunction with the BOS to consider expenditures and develop a budget for the ensuing fiscal year of the several boards, officers and committees of the town, as prepared by them in such form and detail as prescribed by the Town Administrator.”

Passed Unanimously/May 19^th @ 8:38pm

So it seems Templeton does not really have clear guidance on who is to prepare and present budget to Town meeting. As a MGL states, unless there is a by-law, it shall be the duty of Advisory Committee, but Templeton does have a by-law, several of them, that are in conflict, and need to be corrected so we can have a clear statement on how the process will go. Then we can go on with the most important part, the dollars and cents.

posted by Jeff Bennett

Massachusetts General Law
chapter 39

Section 16. Every town whose valuation for the purpose of apportioning the state tax exceeds one million dollars shall, and any other town may, by by-law provide for the election or the appointment and duties of appropriation, advisory or finance committees, who shall consider any or all municipal questions for the purpose of making reports or recommendations to the town; and such by-laws may provide that committees so appointed or elected may continue in office for terms not exceeding three years from the date of appointment or election.

In every town having a committee appointed under authority of this section, such committee, or the selectmen if authorized by a by-law of the town, and, in any town not having such a committee, the selectmen, shall submit a budget at the annual town meeting.

Templeton has a "strong" Advisory Committee and we have at least two conflicting Town by-laws concerning the budget. I believe the first thing that needs to happen is to get that straight, then discuss all the rest.

posted by Jeff Bennett