Advisory asked and the DOR answered - no big surprise.

Advisory voted to have one member contact the DOR concerning school spending and here it is.

Dear Ms. Colleary,

I am writing to you on behalf of the Templeton Advisory Committee regarding school funding and Templeton's local appropriation for education. Templeton is part of the Narragansett Regional School District (NRSD) and Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical High School (Monty Tech). 

Attached you find the figures for the NRSD. For many years, the Town of Templeton has been accused of not contributing enough money to NRSD. Over and above the minimum contribution  for FY 18, Templeton is being asked for an additional $1,001,343 as an "Additional appropriation".  

Our request to you is to ask for an independent review of Templeton's contribution to both NRSD and Monty Tech to determine the exact amount of money Templeton is obligated to pay both educational institutions while meeting all requirements of law.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Julie Farrell

Advisory committee, member

Ms. Farrell,

Please be advised that the Department of Revenue does not have statutory authority to determine the town’s compliance with the state’s school financing laws. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is the proper venue to resolve that matter.

Kathleen Colleary, Chief

Bureau of Municipal Finance Law

Division of Local Services

Department of Revenue

posted by Jeff Bennett

The school budget - get over it and All contracts impact the budget!

Whether Templeton is actually meeting or exceeding minimum contribution or not, the deck is stacked against cities and towns. Templeton saw first hand how that works in 2013, except that it did not go all the way. However, if you look at other area towns where it did go all the way, schools did not always get everything they wanted money wise and neither did the towns. Schools are also not under prop 2 1/2. The department of revenue will not look at school funding items, they defer to the DESE or department of elementary and secondary education. Again, the school district was caught in a lie and even the superintendent admitted to it, but in the end, the district got the number they asked for. Until some laws are changed and all federal and state mandates are funded by the mandating authority, not much is going to change. It is just reality.

Last night, the Police Chief was asked about what could be cut in one section of his budget, he stated all of the items and hence the dollars was driven by contract, as in the selectmen were given items that someone wanted, they agreed to them and signed a document promising to pay for them. When you take all the contracts and add up all of the dollars required to pay for those contracts, what is left has to cover all other expenses.

We will see what the district has to say, if anything, concerning Templeton meeting it's minimum contribution to the district.  Everyone is trying to grab as much as they can without worrying about the next guy, including the taxpayer. perhaps the selectmen should be asked why the school district is in the driver's seat for a new elementary school rather than the selectmen, and did that have anything to do with the overspending of funds, as in spending money you do not have. So when the school district budget is presented to town meeting, it can be voted up or down and if it is down, the town will go through what it did back in 2013. The question is, will the town be willing to do that again?

posted by Jeff Bennett

While it may be news to some, this is not the Advisory Committee website and it has nothing to do with the Advisory Committee. It is a source of one Templeton resident's opinion (s). There is also information that is from various "official" sources. One of those sources being public records. If you wish to see the Advisory Committee page, you go to the Templeton Town website and look for it.

You can also find some town contracts, such as the police chiefs's contract, dispatch contract, and others. They are all there for anyone to see. I happen to post some of the content here and if anyone is not happy with that, well, I practice my free speech rights.

Advisory Committee has nothing to do with contract negotiations for the Town and since most if all negotiations by the town selectmen happen behind closed doors in executive session, so how or why would I or the Advisory Committee be there?

The Advisory Committee is charged with overseeing the Town reserve fund, looking at ALL things financial and giving an opinion or recommendation on ALL warrant articles for Town meeting, you can check the Town by-laws and please do.

Since the Town has to budget for labor contracts, that makes it a financial issue, at least in my opinion. Take the contract between the Town and local union 39, which covers the highway department. Right now there is one item, boot allowance, at $250.00 x 8 employees = $2,000.00. Now according to the contract, effective July 1, 2018, that allowance increases to $300.00 x 8 employees = $2400.00, so the financial obligation does change, even if the change is small.

Also in the contract there is a statement of the work day hours - 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM with 1 30 minute paid lunch break (at the work site) and two 15 minute breaks at the work site. That equals to a 7 hour work  day while being paid for 8 hours. In my opinion, that is important in regards to quite a bit of attention with the reduction in town office hours while the pay was not reduced. Seems like that is standard town practice.

Page 22 of said contract has one item: Training and educational assistance:
The Town considers employee development an integral part of each department head's responsibility. The objective of this policy is to provide each employee with long -term personal growth opportunities and the Town with qualified and promo-table individuals. Department heads may request approval of the Board of Selectmen or appointing authority to enroll employees in outside seminars and other educational programs designed to meet specific development objectives. All training programs are designed for immediate on-the-job applications and related costs are paid by the Town.

One last item is interesting: Conduct and Conditions
A. Standards of Conduct - Town employees shall avoid any action that might create the impression of using public office for private gain, giving preferential treatment to any person or losing impartiality in conducting themselves in a manner which in any way discredits the town, public officials or fellow employees.

If anyone wonders about Advisory Committee and it's business, please attend our meetings, usually on Wednesdays, at town hall conference room and between now and Town meeting, that will probably be every Wednesday night beginning at 6:00 PM.

posted by Jeff Bennett

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

Rising health costs present challenge for budget writers

March 29, 2017

As legislative budget committees wrap up hearings on the governor’s $40.5 billion state revenue and spending recommendation for next year and release spending plans of their own, financing the state’s health insurance obligations remains a growing problem with no easy solutions.
 
The governor’s budget bill for fiscal 2018, filed in January, proposes $16.4 billion for the MassHealth (Medicaid) program funded from state revenues and federal reimbursements. This would represent roughly 40 percent of the state budget and an increase of nearly $1 billion over the expected level of spending for this year. It also reflects continued growth in enrollment in MassHealth programs that could approach 2 million participants next year.
 
The budget also proposes $1.6 billion to cover the cost of health insurance for state employees.
 
The governor’s bill includes a number of contentious health care cost containment provisions and health insurance-related revenues that are important to balancing the budget plan for next year without cuts in other areas or new revenues. This includes limits on coverage, caps on charges, and a fee on employers that do not provide health insurance or have low participation rates. The fee would provide an estimated $300 million in new revenue next year, according to the administration.
 
A hearing on education and municipal budget items for fiscal 2018 was held today in Amherst, where a panel of municipal officials provided testimony to a joint meeting of the House and Senate Ways and Means committees. The MMA panel was led by Brookline Town Administrator and MMA President Mel Kleckner and Amherst Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer. The panel included Greenfield Mayor William Martin and Buckland Town Administrator Andrea Llamas.
 
The testimony focused on municipal priorities based on the budget and finance resolution approved by city and town leaders at the MMA’s Annual Business Meeting in January. Key priorities in the MMA’s written testimony are the increase in general municipal aid under the governor’s revenue-sharing plan and higher levels of school aid than what was recommended by the governor.
 
The MMA asked the Legislature to move more quickly than the governor has proposed on the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission to update the Chapter 70 school finance law to fully fund the account to mitigate the fiscal impact of charter schools on local public schools and to improve funding for other accounts.
 
The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to release its take on a state budget bill on April 12, with the House approving a plan by the end of the month. The Senate is expected to approve its budget bill by the end of May. The two branches will then reconcile the differences in the two bills, with the goal of getting a final budget bill enacted and sent to the governor in time for the July 1 start of the fiscal year.
 

Written by 

MMA Legislative Director John Robertson

oops a daisy, as a Town resident mentioned at the selectmen meeting on Monday of this week, what good does it do to have Town by-laws and to spend money on getting them codified if no one follows them, the resident was apparently chastised by selectmen Julie Richards. Selectmen Richards seemed to follow up grilling fellow selectmen Doug Morrison with this action. If you get a chance to watch the movie, you can probably see this for yourselves.

Good Day:

Please remember that any capital item being put in front of Town Meeting for a vote must be submitted to the CIC  for review before the TM vote.  It does not matter what the source of funding is.

The below items are (will be) somewhere on the warrant or are being funded through the TWLP PILOT. 

$18,500.00	TH Mini-Split; Conf/Accounting, Misc. *	$18,500	$18,500
$35,000.00	Temp Center Fire/EMS - Roof Rplcmnt*	$35,000	$35,000
$100,000.00	Senior Center Siding*	$100,000	$100,000
$27,500.00	Dump Body - 1984 Mack 10 Wheel	$27,500	$17,500
$995.00	S.C.B.A replacement tanks**	$14,925	$0
$8,500.00	John Deere Tractor-X710**	$17,000	$0
$42,225.00	2017 Ford Police Interceptor Utility***	$42,225	$0

At a quick review of the FY ’18 CIP memorandum, the items in yellow do not look  like they were submitted to the CIC.  In ADDITION it looks like the $12k for file cabinets (Assessors) and the Pleasant Street Pump Station still need to be submitted for review.

You may find the forms that you need if you follow this link.  http://www.templeton1.org/capital-planning-committee/files/capital-planning-forms

I am asking you all to review your original submissions (Police it appears you only asked for one cruiser in FY ’18 so if you are looking for a 2^nd cruiser in the fall you may want to follow-up) and make sure to submit follow-up requests no later than April 10 that we might be fully through the process by the time of Town Meeting.

Many Thanks

Carter Terenzini

Interim Town Administrator

Town of Templeton

160 Patriots Road

East Templeton, MA 01438

(978) 894-2753

posted by Jeff Bennett