Friday, March 16, 2018

Impact fees - a source of money to aid in road repair - could that be viable in Templeton?

Heavy trucks have an effect on roads, especially roads in distress, so could a fee structure be put in place to have an entity such as Graves Concrete and Graves sand and gravel pay a percentage of some amount to help raise money for road repair? I know that in some close by communities have such mechanisms in place. I also have to wonder about the once much talked about complete streets program available, which seems to have faded into distant memory. If start up funds or matching funds were/are needed, there appears to be $199,000.00 (+/-) of free cash - so called that could be used in that endeavor.

Of course there are a few shortfalls that have to be dealt with first as we as back fills (taking care of shortfalls in the fiscal year 2018 funding), so perhaps as soon as the next fiscal year begins, work could start on this subject; increase available funds without first increasing property taxes. we cannot go back to $10.00 per thousand, but I don't think we should be aiming for $20.00 per thousand either.

For the record, an example is there is a single tax rate in Templeton, right now that is $16.72 per thousand dollars of valuation and what ever all of the property Graves construction owns, for example is what is supposed to be paid to the Town. The question is or could be, what effect that operation has on Town Roads, do heavy sand laden trucks cause more wear, damage to roads than someone who travels the same road in a Ford for example.

Perhaps this post will cause some real debate and or ideas on how to provide needed or wanted Town services at a cost residents can afford. In my opinion, that means that everything should be on the table, honestly look at everything, even looking at services provided by town employees (salary and benefits) and look to see if those things could be done by a private service provider.

A nearby community, Ashburnham, has one of the highest property tax rates in the area and they have advertised for accounting services. Why would that be? It just may be that the community is looking to reduce long term costs for a particular service important to the Town.

Remember, the advertised impact on the Templeton tax rate for the new school was $1.74 per thousand to be able to make a yearly bond payment of roughly 1.4 million dollars. Yesterday, the office of the Board of Assessors told me that right now one dollar on the tax rate raises $622,843.00, so how can it be that $1.74 will raise 1.4 million dollars if $2.00 on the tax rate will now only raise roughly 1.2 million dollars. Again, the Town came in low to get the deal and again, may have to come back higher to follow through.

That should really help with any proposed override, (increase in the tax rate). Again, that $199,000.00 of free cash that apparently has been left to "hang out there" should have, in my opinion, been a subject of appropriation for the capital stabilization fund, then a new police cruiser and DPW truck could be purchased out right, as in a cash one time payment, without any need or worry about future lease payments. Perhaps not a concept workable in Templeton.

45 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:28 AM

    Sure, why not. Just tax Graves the cost of "a cup of coffee" per load and we'll get more equipment for the highway dept. And raises!

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  2. Anonymous8:30 AM

    I bet one of the selectmen has a husband, wife, brother etc who would be perfect for counting loads.

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    1. To be fair, I'll bet graves pays their share of taxes. That I will find out for you as soon as I can. They do pay their taxes and employ people from our town. If they pay their fair share, and I am sure they do, in the long run I do not think targeting one business will bail our ass out of the trouble we are in. That is my opinion ! At any rate, the idea of backfilling town budgets is down right wrong, period ! Doing that is no different than borrowing money from existing accounts to cover short falls, year after year. Either something pays for it's self or it does not. We either have a balances budget or we do not. The line in the sand for me is that we have to live within our means ! Like it or not !

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    2. Anonymous10:48 AM

      Well right there ! Anon830 am has an idea . All is not lost for moving this political discourse forward with well thought out cogent suggestions . Anon 941 here

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  3. Anonymous9:03 AM

    Right on, Bev!

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  4. Anonymous9:41 AM

    So as costs go up as everything does even if you don’t expand or improve anything ( which is not even logical ) do you propose to keep cutting services ? Hope to attract as you say “ any business “ in hopes of collecting revenue ? Does that include more junk yards with Class 3 permits ? What’s your revenue stream ideas Bev ?

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    1. I do not think cutting the Senior Center to the bone is necessary. Maybe reducing hours . Town hall was open until 7:30 P.M. last I knew. I was told no one goes in at night, meaning residents. More go in early in the morning. From what I understand, the idea is for the place to be open when it says it is supposed to be, and the residents will understand that. The idea that we need a full time anything is great, but if the money is not there, it is not there ! Ask the residents ! What are they willing to live with ? No bond rating, no real money in stabelization, free cash that can be used up in a heart beat. What don't people get ?

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    2. Anonymous6:02 PM

      I don’t believe so either. What do you propose for hours to be cut if you have any ideas ? What are the hours now ?

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  5. Anonymous10:10 AM

    Let us Tax and spend our way out of this problem

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  6. Anonymous10:16 AM

    Anon941 here - That’s your solution then. Finally a direct straight forward response. But is this Bev or another ?

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  7. Anonymous10:26 AM

    anom 10:16 - That is my idea what is yours ? I am not Bev just so you know. I do not see any ideas from you ever

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  8. Correct me if I'm wrong, but why would we fall for this "fee" deal. Aren't excise taxes, registration fees, gas taxes all suppose to pay for infrastructure? What happened to that plan.............Politicians grabbing piles of money.......what will change?

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    1. Anonymous10:40 AM

      Gas taxes. There was a proposal for that tied to inflation - defeated by mostly rural voters.
      Federal gas tax hasn’t been raised since 1993 if I’m not mistaken but Trump wants to increase it by maybe 25cents so that’s good right ?
      However the Trump proposal also reverses infrastructure funding - instead of 80 federal 20 state - it would be 80 state 20 federal as was discussed by the senator who visited Templeton less than 1 month ago. * Anon 941here

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    2. MA gas tax is 24 cents a gallon now.

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    3. Anonymous11:32 AM

      Yes , and last increase 2013 and as more efficient vehicles are produced less revenue is collected. Anon 941 here . Nothing is static

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  9. Anonymous10:32 AM

    That’s quite a broad brush Anony 10:26 - as there are a lot of Anonymous commentary here which I suspect is not from all one anonymous.
    My ideas for revenue ? Well one gets revenue to operate thru ones tax base I assume. Thru it’s consumers passing thru purchasing goods and services from gas for travel to a donut for a snack. * I am anon 941

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  10. Anonymous11:46 AM

    Parents want their kids to have a good education then let us give it to them. Increase TAXES to $25 so they can not afford to live here and move out then we can cut the school budget

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  11. Anonymous12:15 PM

    Is that your idea ? Taxes to $ 25.00 . Is that now a proposal? Anon 941 here

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  12. Anonymous12:28 PM

    YES what is yours?

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  13. Anonymous12:53 PM

    I’m not sure what you base this 25.00 tax on seems highly excessive. Well good luck with that. I will look forward to hearing your tax proposal on March 28 th in open meeting. Anon 941 here.

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  14. Anonymous2:05 PM

    Again Anom says that is too high. good luck with that. When they were ask for their idea they provide none. you can to just put other peoples ideas down but do not offer any. that is what is wrong with this town. put other peoples down but do not bring anything to the table. At least I put something out you must be one of our selectmen. They just wait for the TA to tell them what to do.

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  15. Anonymous3:00 PM

    I have to say . I have a lot of concern as to why you feel anyone who disagrees here is a “ selectman “ “ wait for the TA “ This is a blog that is “ directed to members of the general public” I also have concern that you feel one persons blogger name is infact not that person but someone else’s .
    Not being able to argue ones point adequately should not bring one to the point of unfounded accusations. Your blog asks for town participation at meetings, boards etc. I suggest the owner of this blog be more sensitive to some of that type of language. anon 941 post

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  16. I am Bev. My answer is at 3:32..

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    1. I want you to understand something. I have watched our town go through times like this too many times to count. I have watched highway guys get kicked around for years. First you have a job, then you don't. Never enough money, no industry, roads are neglected year after year. Almost to the point of no return ! I am speaking for the people I speak to. The guy that runs a store out of town, who can't understand why he has to pay more taxes, because he feels he pays enough . He owns a nice home in a new development. That does not mean he is made of money ! Will be stay ? Can be afford to stay ? Only be knows, but I know we can not fix our problem by expecting to run Scout Hall by selling t -shirts ! Get it ! I sure as he'll hope you do. I am fed up with poor management ! My opinion Bev.

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    2. One thing you have to understand is the TA has no skin in the game !He can do what Markel did. Hand out raises with no money to back them before walking out the door ! That leaves our BOS, who can't think without him telling them how to !

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  17. Anonymous4:01 PM

    If the “ guy who runs a store out of town, who can’t understand...” that in itself speaks volumes. You will not cut your way out of this budget - fact . You cannot over tax people now for years of piss poor management and failed town policy’s for years of neglect - fact . People need to get their collective ideas together and devise a middle ground. Taxes will go up that is inevitable. Government accountability and oversight is the responsible of the towns people to a large extent. If you don’t want ALS that’s your vote - Don’t want to pay for Meals on Wheels that’s your vote - Don’t want to pay full 2.8% of District - that’s really not feasible but your vote . choose wisely.

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  18. Anonymous6:11 PM

    Templeton is run by part-time boards, some receiving small stipends or no money with citizens and volunteers who want to serve their community. At a certain point, cutting personnel backfires in terms of efficiency and effectiveness expl - without proper staffing and equipment, roads cannot be plowed in a timely way. Without sufficient staff, municipalities cannot seek out and administer grants, or even find the time to hammer out shared service agreements. Anon 941 post

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  19. Anonymous6:37 PM

    No one has been talking about the real issue - which to me anyway is the state - which does not pay for your schools, fire department or police department - or any of the services that touch your life - fails to provide enough "local aid" under Ch 70/90. What does the state do with 27B when all the towns/cities schools, police and fire run on only 11B? It is NOT local aid - it is our tax dollars. Prop 2.5 keeps citizens arguing with their neighbors - the fight really needs to be with the state and federal levels. anon 941 again

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  20. Anonymous6:40 PM

    Templeton has more than enough staff to plow the roads. The problem has been they have no idea how expensive even one employee is. Private industry knows. But the amateur Selectboard hasn't learned yet. They did, however, remove public wages from the annual report. That's not good and open government. It's also illegal, as even the MBTA had to make it's employee wages public. The Herald publishes them. MBTA fought and lost. Public money has to be accounted for, regardless of what queen bee Brooks thinks.

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    1. Anonymous6:44 PM

      Judge Anna is that you ?

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  21. Anonymous6:43 PM

    The irony of course was that prop 2.5 was passed by anti tax advocates lead by Barbara Anderson in 1980 . I remember that anyone else ?

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  22. Anonymous6:45 PM

    I remember Babs ! Anon 941here

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    1. Anonymous6:48 PM

      Horrible woman she was . RIP

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    2. So, since 1980 the CPI has averaged about 4% or 1.5% a year more then the 2.5% that a town can raise taxees . So while a 2.5% increase has kept some towns like templwton with a low property tax rate for the last 38 years, towns have about 80% of the spending power. - I’m not a finace person so maybe someone can refine those numbers . Now It appears some here on this blog are probably fine with this, but if you are depending on the next generation to pay your Social Security benifits, you may want to find a way to make up the shortfall and vote for that next override. So this generation of childern can get the educations the elderly and disabled fed and the emergency medical services that I hope no one needs one day is fully funded. So yes it is nessasary to pay for the benifits you expect.

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  23. Anonymous6:58 PM

    What's ironic about Prop 2 1/2? It's the best law the voters ever shoved down the legislature's throat.

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  24. Anonymous7:09 PM

    Keep in mind that state and local taxes are not as deductible when figuring federal income tax under the new tax laws. State income tax, and local taxes, are only deductible to a maximum of $10k.

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    1. Thanks to Trump #winning

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    2. Before there was the Tea Party, there was Citizens for Limited Taxation, which is to say there was Babs Anderson. Just a housewife from Marblehead Mass as she like to say about herself. I remember that woman well from WBZ interviews local events.

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  25. Continuing on - Prop 2.5 did not make government services cost less. The 2.5 cap does not prevent employee health insurance costs, special education costs, or other costs beyond a towns control from rising much faster than the cap allows correct ? Prop 2.5 does it hold down the cost of heating buildings, buying gas for police and fire vehicles, and operating schools buses when the world price of oil is skyrocketing. When these things occur as they have in Mass other services have to be cut sometimes drastically to fit total expenditure under the cap. Or ! As in Templetons past just use your Stabilization and “free cash “ to fill in the holes instead of doing the heavy lift of budgeting and managing your tax levy. But no, that did not happen and we cannot get in a time machine and go back to 1950.
    Claims that caps will produce large savings through “efficiencies” are overblown. There are not enough of these efficiencies to realize from squeezing down revenues some people here generally suggest. One person’s “efficiency savings,” such as the elimination of ALS , meals on wheels etc may represent the loss of a critical service for another person.

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  26. Anonymous7:31 PM

    Anon 941 - why do you people imagine that you are smarter or better educated than anyone? You are only as bright as an average lemming.

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  27. “ you people “ who are these people . So any one who points or discrepancies or presents facts that you dont not agree with is a lemming . I would argue anyone who can’t look at the current situation squarely in the eye is an ostrich.

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  28. Anonymous7:37 AM

    You obviously have no original ideas. Just can't refute facts, so you attack. It's youse people's playbook.

    Vote for more taxes, government can waste as much as you will pay.

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  29. Ones persons waste as you say is one persons meals on wheels , ALS, health insurance, safe road or education. Education please support it .
    * Youse
    Second Person Plural.
    A grammatical necessity which is sadly lacking in the English Language.

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  30. Hello, anyone here going to address this commentary? Mr Bennett do you allow this profanity?
    Thankyou Anon 8:16 for provided further evidence of the need to fully fund education.
    Perhaps the anonymous poster who likes to comment about facts can help this obviously troubled and poor educated soul .
    I await Mr Bennett response.

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    1. Anonymous7:21 PM

      Demand all you want. Just get used to being disappointed.

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