Templeton financial management policy stating 67% of free cash goes to the administrator to spend has got to go. It needs to be adjusted to zero. Stop using free cash to fund things such as assessors revaluation, free cash is one time funds that change with each year, those funds need to go into the various stabilization funds the town has. Putting less money into those funds means less money put aside for things such as building upgrades, savings, money to pay for capital projects. Town also needs a real capital plan inline with the town bylaw. Free cash can no longer be a shopping fund for town employees.

 If Templeton had a proper capital improvement plan, as required by town bylaws, the kitchen for the Senior Center would be at or very near top of the list. Royalston Road would probably be number 1. Templeton does not follow the bylaw though. At the upcoming special town meeting, this kitchen project needs to be approved. About 25% of Templeton population is 60 years or older, Senior Services are a very important item that this town needs to be providing. I happen to be a veteran as well as a 68 year old "senior". so not all seniors are veterans, all veterans will eventually become a senior, if not already there. We all will achieve senior status at some point, so it is a critical need for the community. This project needs and deserves the support of all.

Please attend the upcoming special town meeting and please support the Senior Center and the senior residents of this town, they deserve it. Thank You!

 from the annual town report of Phillipston, including information on their FY25 budget:

Public Safety

Public Safety continues to make up a large portion of the Town’s expenditures. FY2024 brought a change

to our Police Department as the position of Detective Sergeant became fiscally realized. The Department now has a full-time Chief, two full-time officers, one permanent part-time officer, and per diem officers.

The Board of Selectmen voted to end our long-term regional dispatch relationship with the Town of Templeton and seek services with another provider. That decision proved to create a new intermunicipal agreement for dispatch services with Templeton, saving Phillipston considerable funds each year as under

the new agreement a flat rate of $50,000 per year will be charged through FY2026. We look forward to our continued regional partnership with Templeton and thank them for their service to our Town.

Previous agreement was for 70 thousand dollars per year. Glad to see Templeton selectmen worked to save Phillipston residents money, nice job on part of Phillipston selectmen to get that done for their residents.

Also in that new agreement, Templeton sends at least 5 thousand dollars from the e911 grant to Phillipston. Templeton has less grant funds to help maintain dispatch center. That was a great deal, but not for Templeton residents.

 Question of the day: which is the official town website, TempletonMA.gov or mytowngovernment.org?

 from the Templeton collector of taxes:

first quarter, July 1 thru September 30.

real estate taxes - $3,439,945.00

CPA taxes 69,765.00

Personal property 53,207.00

excise tax 106,632.00

tax title 36,000.00

meals tax 23,670.00

note: CPA = community preservation funds.

https://dlsgateway.dor.state.ma.us/gateway/DLSPublic/TaxRateRecapPublicReport/TaxRateRecapPublic?jurCode=294&fiscalYear=2025 

Templeton tax rate set and approved by DOR: $12.12 per thousand

The below link will allow anyone to look at Templeton MA local receipts records, such as estimates used in budget to actual dollars collected.

https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.mass.gov%2Finfo-details%2Ftrends-in-local-receipts%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=govdelivery/1/0100019308a548d0-06d02708-e2dd-46d3-aa9d-321e6a1d7d2e-000000/9IZEwcnaVeHkNMc0m9h4Vlc6UHp2HkHODTIeVhgjf9I=378

 In an Oct. 18 letter to stakeholders, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection announced changes to emissions regulations affecting medium- and heavy-duty trucks — the Heavy-duty Omnibus and Advanced Clean Truck rules.

MassDEP said it plans to file emergency regulations to delay the start of the Heavy-duty Omnibus rule until model year 2026, effective upon filing.

The department also indicated that it will exercise enforcement discretion under the Advanced Clean Truck regulation exempting state and local government vehicles used for snow plowing and removal and street sweepers for model years 2025 and 2026.

 A GUIDE TO COSTING MUNICIPAL SERVICES 

What is the full cost of collecting and disposing of trash in your community? 

How much does it cost to provide fire protection? 

 What would it cost to increase service levels? 

How much could be saved by reducing services? 

 If you charge fees for municipal services, what percentage of the cost of service do they cover? 

Under what circumstances should fees be increased? 

 Could some municipal services be provided more efficiently by private firms? 

 As a local official – whether you are a mayor or selectman, manager or executive secretary, auditor or accountant, department head, member of the finance committee or any other member of municipal government – you may have asked these or other questions related to the cost of municipal services. Costing is a management and policymaking tool that helps to answer these questions.

 It differs from traditional municipal budgeting and accounting in three ways: 

 1. Costing looks at the cost of all resources used to provide services rather than expenditures made to operate municipal departments; 

 2. Costing includes all costs of providing a service, not just those found in the budget or financial reports of the department responsible for the service; 

 3. Costing focuses on the cost of the resources used to provide a service during a given period of time, regardless of when cash disbursements are made to purchase these resources. The purpose of costing is not simply to collect cost data, but to provide municipal managers and officials with information they can use to make better management decisions in several areas: