FY2018 - Revenue and expense "plan"

Highway  page 161

Highway - employee support - Total: $13,250.00

This shows the additional costs of one department and the consequences and future financial obligations of labor contracts, and when "the town is tight on money" sometimes other things may suffer because of those. "Free boots so we do not have to buy them again and again." This is public information that is available to all those who would take the time to look and ask questions, rather than sit in the corner and shut up. You can also ask the "two John's' who serve on the board of selectmen, because they are in "the know."

(for the benefit of little D) - The first 6 items listed in the table are part of labor contract, as noted in the revenue/expense book, located on Templeton town website electronically so you can check. This is the information provided by the board of selectmen!  These items benefit the highway department employees and in my opinion, are part of any benefit package offered such as retirement and health insurance.

Quantity	$ Cost	Description	FY2018 request	FY2018 T/A recommend
8	462.00	Uniforms	$3,700.00	$3,700.00
8	250.00	Boots	2,000.00	2,000.00
4	165.00	Glasses	660.00	660.00
8	125.00	Jackets, Bibs, Sweatshirt	1,000.00	1,000.00
40	11.00	Highway safety Tee shirts	440.00	440.00
5	60.00	Licensing/certification	300.00	300.00
3	150.00	Continuing Education	450.00	450.00
9	150.00	Conferences/Training	1,350.00	1,350.00
12	140.00	Cell Phone *	1,680.00	1,680.00
6	100.00	DOT physicals	600.00	600.00
8	75.00	Random drug testing	600.00	600.00
2	150.00	MA highway association	300.00	300.00
1	150.00	MA Arborist Association	150.00	150.00
2	50.00	Worcester County highway association	100.00	100.00
		* Potential for mid-year reduction
		Upon completion of study on Town phone vs. a stipend
		Lump sum disallowed		80.00
		Totals	13,330.00	13,250.00

 posted by Jeff Bennett

Not from the grapevine, the following information is from documents available to all members of the Templeton Advisory Committee. All the members need to do is read them and do some basic fourth grade math. No need for grape vine rumors.

This same information is available to anyone who takes the time to do the hunting for the material located somewhere on the Templeton Town website, all you have to do is find it as there is no one place to find all the financial information for Templeton on the Town's website.

First place to look is on page 7 of section one:
Conversion of Old to "New" Departments.

Old . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New
Highway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Public Works - Highway
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Public Works - Highway
Tree Warden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Public Works - Highway
Mechanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Public Works - Highway
Street Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Public works -  Highway

Town Building Repair/
Maintenance/Expense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Public Works - Builds & Grounds
Cemetery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Public Works - Building & Grounds
Memorial Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Public Works - Building & Grounds


Section four - page 158

"Highway" under employee and position, it has the following:
Superintendent . . . . . . . . . . . . Wages - $67,413.00           FY2018; 0 as in zero

Now it has Director (@ 60% allocation)                             FY2018; $43,206.00

Section four - page 175

Building & Grounds under employee and position, it has the following:
Superintendent . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wages - $60,715.00          FY2018: 0 as in zero

Now it has Director (@ 40% allocation)                              FY2018: $43,206.00

So, the town use to have two separate departments, highway and cemetery, with two separate department heads. Now we seem to have one department with two "divisions" and one person overseeing both. There does seem to be a savings on the salary side and for the future costs with regards to health insurance and retirement. Except for one thing!

Built into the FY2018 "budget" there are two new full-time positions, career fire fighters/EMS positions, which come with future benefit costs of health insurance and retirement costs. So one is gone and replaced with two, only in government.

The above material is not from any anonymous source, no rumor, not even the grape vine, it is from public documents that most will never see unless they attend meetings, ask for the information or go to the Town's website, or a couple other places and look for themselves. This is called trying to be informed, trying to stay informed.

So, you can trust the above information, you can go with the " anonymous" $25,000.00 raise, you can go with the "I heard it through the grapevine" approach or you can go look for yourself. You can also argue if someone got a raise and how much it was for. I have posted a link to the above mentioned documents and I will post it again so it stays "out front'. I also believe Julie Farrell has posted a link or links on Pauly's Templeton watch. I have also posted a link to it on my Face book page and will do so again.

If you are going to vote on something, I believe you should know what you are voting on.


posted by Jeff Bennett