Attempting to understand proposition 2 1/2.

The following is from a guide about prop 2 1/2 published by Department of Revenue, division of local services of MA.

What is a Levy?
 The property tax levy is the revenue a community can raise through real and personal property taxes. We will refer to the property tax levy simply as the levy. In Massachusetts, municipal revenues to support local spending for schools, public safety and other public services are raised through the property tax levy, state aid, local receipts and other sources. The property tax levy is the largest source of revenue for most cities and towns.

 What is a Levy Ceiling?  What is a Levy Limit? 
    Proposition 21 ⁄2 places constraints on the amount of the levy raised by a city or town and on how much the levy can be increased from year to year. A levy limit is a restriction on the amount of property taxes a community can levy. Proposition 21 ⁄2 established two types of levy limits: First, a community cannot levy more than 2.5 percent of the total full and fair cash value of all taxable real and personal property in the community. In this primer we will refer to the full and fair cash value limit as the levy ceiling. Second, a community’s levy is also constrained in that it can only increase by a certain amount from year to year. We will refer to the maximum amount a community can levy in a given year as the levy limit. The levy limit will always be below, or at most, equal to the levy ceiling. The levy limit may not exceed the levy ceiling. Proposition 21 ⁄2 does provide communities with some flexibility. It is possible for a community to levy above its levy limit or its levy ceiling on a temporary basis, as well as to increase its levy limit on a permanent basis. These options are discussed in more detail in other sections of this primer. The concepts of levy ceiling and levy limit are illustrated in Figure 1.

 How is a Levy Ceiling Calculated? 
   The levy ceiling is determined by calculating 2.5 percent of the total full and fair cash value of taxable real and personal property in the community: Full and Fair Cash Value x 2.5% = LEVY CEILING Full and Fair Cash Value = $100,000,000 $100,000,000 x 2.5% = $2,500,000

I believe it is important when anyone puts out any graphs, charts or figures projecting taxes and tax rates that all understand or at least try to so we all then realize how it actually works or at least how it has worked out in many cities and towns, most importantly, in our own Town.

Jeff Bennett

The hits keep on coming - more financial funnies in Templeton

First off, relax, the Templeton financial team has it under control and everything is fine, we have hundreds of thousands of dollars in free cash coming. That is what the Town Administrator tell us and the selectmen seem to agree

So now lets take a look at the results of the special town meeting held back in November, 2015 and some financial transfers; Article 4

Transfer from General insurance to town accountant expenses

account number for general insurance given as   1000-945-900-57-5743-0000
account number for town accountant expense as 1000-945-900-57-5743-0000

so if you look at the town clerks record for that special town meeting, it shows money from one account was put  back into that same account.

the next item was transfer from town administrator salary to town accountant expenses

account number for town administrator given as            1000-123-100-51-5110-0000
account number for town accountant expenses given as 1000-135-100-54-5420-0000

Looking at the current budget versus actual report from the Town Accountant shows the following;

account number 1000-135-100-54-5420-0000 is listed as town account office supplies supplies.

So the financial team has it under control and all is fine, official town meeting vote has money going from here back into here and on and on. It is one thing to try and reassure people and to try to calm things down but when it all starts to add up to the same old same ole and the selectmen try to manage the Advisory Board and interfere with their duties, something is amiss. In my opinion anyways and I believe there are more surprises to come.

Jeff Bennett

Lets ruffle the selectmen feathers;

The Department of Revenue (DOR) division of local services puts out many publications to aid local officials with regards to municipal finance. One of them is a municipal calendar and within said calendar, it has listed that  December 31 is the timeline when the board of selectmen should begin to finalize budget recommendation for review by Finance Committee (Advisory Board)

February 28; Finance Committee continue budget review and develop recommendations.

That is pretty hard to do with the selectmen telling people they appoint not to meet with the Advisory Board. Pretty safe to say this BOS do not want any checks n balances in place.

Templeton Town by-laws, article IV (4)  Advisory Committee, section 5 states:

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.

Included within the draft 2017 Templeton budget is an item of interest, a $47,000.00 salary figure for an assistant town administrator, Holly. Could that be Holly Young, current secretary in the BOS office and perhaps this is why she was sent to training for MSBA paper work.

Perhaps what is needed is one selectman with some moxie to speak up on some of these issues and to ask why at a selectmen meeting.

Some sunlight is clearly needed down at that office.

Speaking of sunshine, it was stated at last nights Advisory Board meeting that the secretary from the highway department went to MSBA training as well so i hope the Treasurer has been as well. 

Jeff Bennett

Templeton Finances may not be rosey

Templeton Town by-laws, article IV (4)  Advisory Committee, section 5 states:

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.

Apparently the Town Administrator and selectmen do not feel like following this by-law.

An email sent to the chairman of the Advisory Board from the Town Administrator seems to reinforce my thought. As well as my other thought that the Town Administrator is trying to manage the Advisory Board and even circumvent it.

Within the email is the following;

All;  I received a copy of the Advisory Boards schedule for reviewing budgets from department heads. Some members of the select board and I feel that this effort is premature.
One comment from a member of the BOS stated "I believe it is inappropriate for them to put out a schedule when we as the selectmen may not have even met with any of them yet or asked to meet with them. This makes it really confusing and some of the department heads are very upset that they're even being asked to attend or just given a date for a meeting."

The email further states we are not holding up the budget process. Rather, we cannot make sensible decisions about spending for fiscal 2017 until we get important information about insurance costs and assessments for the schools. I did get a quote for general insurance on Monday and am hoping to have the health insurance number by mid month. We await the assessments from NRSD and Monty Tech.

Accordingly, I am recommending to the department heads that they postpone any meetings with the Advisory Board until the selectmen have finalized their budget request to the Town meeting for fiscal 2017.

So the Advisory Board is tying to follow Town bylaws as well as do their duty and the selectmen and Town Administrator apparently wish to have no part of it.

written and posted by Jeff Bennett

well well, someone is reading my stuff here, at least it looks  like Dave Smart is. He posted a comment on his blog, Pauly's Templeton Watch under a blog post "Rumor has it" and I am not sure who authored the original post as I sign all of mine. Anyways, ole Dave posted a comment that was word for word on my last blog concerning the request from Templeton Water dept. for a special Town meeting for a given reason of looking for approval of a loan for the replacement of a water storage tank located on Ladder Hill. Perhaps the old "whole story, rest of the story" line has lost its luster so he needed something original so he just stole my post? Least someone reads the stuff.

Jeff Bennett

Other Common Issues – Multiple-member bodies remain challenged by the highly technical requirements of the OML, and the Division therefore continues to issue determinations emphasizing its interpretation of the basic requirements of the OML. The following matters may therefore be of assistance to public bodies: - Meeting notices and documents to be discussed at the meeting prepared by non-board members may be distributed in advance, provided that there is no sharing of opinions between a quorum of the members. OML 2015-54 - Meeting minutes, including executive session minutes, must contain sufficient detail regarding the discussion so that a member of the public not in attendance can understand what was discussed. OML 2015-49 - A meeting notice must contain the date and time of the meeting and also a record of the date and time that it was posted. OML 2015-90 - If a meeting notice is updated, the notice must include the time and date the updated notice was posted and indicate the portion of the notice that is “new.” OML 2015-43 - The attorney-client privilege does not provide an independent basis for an executive session; a board may meet privately with legal counsel, but only in accordance with one of the ten executive session purposes in G.L. c.30A, §21. OML 2015-120 - The board chair is required to notify the public that a meeting is being recorded, whether by a verbal announcement or a sign on the door to the meeting room. OML 2015-147 .

I seem to remember a member of the Templeton Board of Selectmen (current) reply when asked about this, that it does not matter how things were done in the past. Well, I guess it matters after all and perhaps the BOS needs a reminder, especially if they attended the Massachusetts Municipal Association meeting this past January.

The above is from the website MMA and K&P law and were topics covered at the last MMA conference.

Jeff Bennett

Approval of Contracts Negotiated in Executive Session: Union v. Non-union – The OML authorizes boards to meet in executive session to discuss strategy and/or conduct contract negotiations for both collective bargaining and nonunion personnel contracts. The Division interprets the OML requirements for approval of such contracts differently, however. The Division has held that a collective bargaining contract may be approved by vote in executive session, provided that the board announces its approval at its first opportunity and “promptly” makes the final contract available as a public record. For contracts with nonunion personnel, however, the Division takes the position that the OML does not allow a board to vote in executive session to approve the contract. OML 2015-50 In effect, therefore, it is the Division’s position that a vote in executive session to approve a contract with non-union personnel violates the OML. As with any unintentional violation of the OML, the Division recognizes that a board may independently cure such a violation by taking “independent, deliberative action” in open session. This requirement may not be met merely by ratifying the prior vote, but only by engaging in a full and fair discussion at a properly posted meeting for which the matter appears on the meeting notice of the provisions and/or issues that resulted in the final contract.

very interesting, to me anyways.

Jeff Bennett

from the website of MMA and K&P law on topics covered at the past MMA conference.