Selectmen cannot deny the numbers nor the official record of Town Meeting:

Annual Town Meeting of May 2018.
Article 21 - On a motion duly made and seconded the Town voted to appropriate the sum of Eight Million,
Two Hundred Twenty Thousand, Two Hundred Ninety Eight Dollars and no cents ($8,220,298.00) for the operations of General Government for Fiscal Year 2019, and to meet said
appropriation with a transfer of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($250,000.00) from the Ambulance receipts reserved for appropriation, anticipated receipts, and
the balance from taxation.

Article 24 - To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Four Hundred Seventy
Thousand Two Hundred Forty Six Dollars and No Cents, ($470,246.00), subject to the successful passage of a Proposition 2 ½ Over-Ride, so-called, for supplemental appropriations to the FY 2019 Operating Budget for the following departments:
Fire/EMS $290,740
Police $23,000
Insurance & Benefits $133,890
Highway $15,000
Snow & Ice $7,616
Or take any other action related thereto.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen
Majority Vote Required

added together, the articles = $8,690,544.00.

Annual Town Meeting May 2019.
Article 26 - FY 2019 GENERAL FUND OPERATING (OPEX) BUDGET
To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the sum of Nine Million Six Hundred Ninety Thousand Two Hundred Seventy Four Dollars and no cents ($9,690,274.00) for the operations of
General Government for Fiscal Year 2020, and to meet said appropriation with a transfer of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($250,000.00) from the Ambulance receipts reserved for appropriation, anticipated receipts, and the balance from taxation.
Or take any other action related thereto.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen
Majority Vote Required

$9,690,274.00 - $8,690,544.00 = $990,730.00.

That $990,730.00 is the increase in FY2020 over FY2019 of the general operating budget of Templeton and those numbers come form the selectmen.

How could a selectman tell a town resident, with a straight face, that there is not an increase of 1 million dollars in Town operating costs?

So, the selectmen put forward an increase in Town costs of almost one million, then the school district followed suit with an almost one million increase; what the hell did anyone think would happen? As a member of the Advisory Committee at annual town meeting on May 2019, the committee comments stated just that; Town Meeting know that there is a one million dollar increase in Templeton operating costs for FY2020 but at least one selectmen denied it.

Again, this information is all on the record