Templeton town meeting May 2023.

article 5 - Amend town bylaws, revolving funds, community services revolving fund.

1. Asks to change name of revolving fund from community services to Parks & Recreation fund.

2. Asks to change who is authorized to spend from this fund, from community services director to director of public service / chair of parks & recreation or one commissioner voted annually.

#2 is the bad part and should not be approved in my opinion. The Parks and Recreation commission have powers per state law, as to parks and there should not be people from other departments having the ability to spend from a revolving fund. This is where money collected through activities of Parks and Recreation and they should be the ones who have authority to expend from fund, as they are a multi member body and as such, before funds are expended, it should be by vote.

Please look at other revolving funds that pertain to a multi member board or commission:

Recycling revolving - authorized to expend = board of health

Burial and improvement revolving fund - authorized to expend =cemetery commission.

If the DPW director (now director of public service) is not authorized to expend from burial & improvement, then he should not be able to expend from parks & rec revolving fund.

 Templeton May 2023 town meeting.

article 4 - sewer department fy2023 budget supplement.

Sewer commissioners ask town meeting to vote to move $40,000.00 from retained earnings (enterprise fund "free cash") to increase or add to the current fiscal year budget.

If you have town sewer, you should be asking why this is needed. If you do not have town sewer, you should ask why this is needed, as this is a department of the Town. This is another example of operating on one time money, which the MA department of revenue has told the town they should not be doing.

 from Templeton annual town meeting May 2010.

Article 20. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate and/or transfer from available

funds a total sum of Four Hundred Thirty-Seven Thousand, Eight Hundred Sixty-One Dollars ($437,861.00) for the Worcester Regional Retirement System assessment; said sum to be provided as follows: the sum of One Hundred Thousand, Six Hundred Seventy-Eight Dollars and Ninety-Six Cents ($100,678.96) to be transferred from the Light Department, the sum of Thirty-Seven Thousand, Four Hundred Thirteen Dollars and Forty-Two

Cents ($37,413.42) to be transferred from the Water Department, the sum of Thirty-Three Thousand, Eight Hundred Eighty-Nine Dollars and Eighty One Cents ($33,889.81) to be transferred from the Sewer Department, and the sum of Two Hundred Sixty-Five Thousand, Eight Hundred Seventy Eight Dollars and Eighty-One Cents ($265,878.81) to be raised by taxation

and/or transferred from the Stabilization Fund, or to take any other action relative thereto.

Submitted by the Treasurer and the Board of Selectmen

On a motion duly made and seconded the Town voted to appropriate and transfer from the Stabilization fund the total sum of Four Hundred Thirty Seven Thousand, Eight Hundred Sixty-One Dollars ($437,861.00) for the Worcester Regional Retirement System assessment; said sum to be provided as follows: the sum of One Hundred Thousand, Six Hundred Seventy-Eight Dollars and Ninety-Six Cents ($100,678.96) to be transferred from the Light

Department, the sum of Thirty-Seven Thousand, Four Hundred Thirteen Dollars and Forty-Two Cents ($37,413.42) to be transferred from the Water Department, the sum of Thirty-Three Thousand, Eight Hundred Eighty Nine Dollars and Eighty-One Cents ($33,889.81) to be transferred from the

Sewer Department, the sum of One Hundred Forty Thousand, Eight

Hundred Seventy-Eight Dollars and Eighty-One Cents ($140,878.81) to be raised by taxation and the sum of One Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($125,000.00) to be transferred from the General Stabilization Fund.

Passed Unanimously/May 11th @ 9:39

Yes, this is an example of past bad practice, it leads to bad habits and poor performance.

When you take money from a stabilization fund to cover regular operating expenses, you go against best practices from the DOR, you go against current town policy and you demonstrate you do not know how to budget. You also repeat mistakes of the past, which means you have learned nothing. Back at 2013 town meeting when the advisory committee made errors in the FY2014 town budget, if the town had a stabilization fund with a good amount of money in it, there would have not been a big emergency resulting in reducing or closing much of town services for a number of weeks. May 2023 annual town meeting, article 3 asks town meeting to do just that, fund a reoccurring expense, snow & ice from town general stabilization fund. It does require a 2/3 vote of town meeting to do this, but again, why repeat mistakes of past and go down a path of financial instability. Oh yeah, read the town financial management poicy and try to follow it!. We left special town meeting back in November 2022 with around 500 thousand dollars of so called free cash available, oh wait, back on articles 1 & 2, we are being asked to support fy22 and ft23 budgets with free cash. There is an option to allow that 70 thousand dollars to be paid out of next years tax rate, simply put it on tax recap sheet, per DOR. I mean with a dollar per thousand raising around one million dollars, 70 thousand would have a minimal impact on tax rate and this would be a way to hold administration accountable.

 Templeton 2023 annual town meeting,

article 2, amend fy23 town budget.

Once again, use of so called free cash is being used to increase the FY23 town budget, which again, goes against town financial management policy, use of one time funds to support town budget.

1. increase of $52,500.00 for insurance & benefits.

2. $2,500.00 to cover cost of a grant.

3. $150,000.00 to cover cost of snow & ice.

Snow & Ice continues to be minimally funded, because it can be and because it is an easy way to make a budget work. Snow & ice is one of 4 things that a town can deficit spend (think living on credit card - eventually that card has to be paid) by continuing to do this, the town fails to follow policy, best practice, stays dependent on so called free cash and puts future town budgets in peril. Again, this bill needs to be paid.

My thought:

When so called free cash becomes available, typically in the fall and if use of free cash is on a town meeting warrant, my opinion is town meeting should look carefully at the amount available and how much is presented to the meeting to be used and then take charge, amend articles and put more of that free cash in place, taking away the option of free cash, which would force administration to budget better, tighter and perhaps even move closer to following principles of prop 2 1/2; do more with less, become more efficient and change way of how they do business. Town meeting could vote to put more in capital stabilization, infrastructure and demo revolving funds, as a few options.

 2023 Templeton annual town meeting.

Article 1 - payment of late bills from FY22.

The article proposes paying these bills by using so called free cash.

Bills are for $249.00 for senior services and $250.00 for insurance & benefits.

First off, this is using one time funds to back up a town budget, which goes against the town financial management policy, but the bills need to get paid. This happens, but there is a process where money can be set aside before the fiscal year (FY) ends, it is called encumbrances.

What is an Encumbrance?

An encumbrance is a restriction placed on the use of funds. The concept is most commonly used in governmental accounting, where encumbrances are used to ensure that there will be sufficient cash available to pay for specific obligations.

Town accountant generally sends out email to town departments when the end of FY is approaching, June 30 of any calendar year, to notify accountant if they have purchased items or service but have not yet received an invoice so bill can be paid. When departments fail to do this, you get these late bills. This article allows those bills to be paid.

 Templeton annual town election, May 7, 2007.

Question 2. Shall the Town of Templeton accept sections 3 to 7, inclusive of Chapter 44B of the General Laws, as proposed by a petition signed by at least five percent of the registered voters of this town, a summary of which appears below? YES_____ NO____ 

 SUMMARY: Sections 3 to 7 of Chapter 44B of the General Laws of Massachusetts, also known as the Community Preservation Act (“Act”), establishes a dedicated funding source to acquire, create and preserve open space and land for recreational use; acquire, preserve, rehabilitate and restore historic resources; acquire, create, preserve and support community housing; and to rehabilitate and restore open space, land for recreational use and community housing that is acquired or created in accordance with the Act. In Templeton, the Act will be funded, beginning in Fiscal Year 2008, by an additional surcharge of 3% on the annual tax levy on real property and by matching funds provided by the state. The following exemptions from such surcharge, permitted under Section 3(e) of said Act, will apply: (1) property owned and occupied as a domicile by a person who would qualify for low income housing or low or moderate income senior housing in the Town; (2) $100,000 of the value of each taxable parcel of residential real property. A taxpayer receiving a regular property tax abatement or exemption will also receive a pro rata reduction in surcharge. A Community Preservation Committee must be created pursuant to by-law and will make recommendations on the use of the funds. Town Meeting must approve any such recommendations before funds can be expended. At least 10% of the funds for each fiscal year must be spent or reserved for later spending for each of the Act’s three purposes: (1) open space (but excluding land for recreational use); (2) historic resources; and (3) community housing. All expenditures pursuant to the Act will be subject to an annual audit.

QUESTION #2 Community Preservation Act 

Precinct A, B, Total

Yes 314 247 561 

 No 258 218 476 

 Blanks 30 32 62 

 TOTAL 602 497 1,099 

 Plan the dive, dive the plan.

Planning, not one of Templeton's strong points. That said, back in 2018 at Town annual town meeting, May 19, 2018, there was aa plan presented to town meeting, article 29, authorize lease of capital item - fire.

article 29 - On a motion duly made and seconded the Town voted to (a) raise and appropriate the sum of Ninety Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars and No Cents ($92,500.00) to pay for the first year of a six year lease for a fully equipped fire engine apparatus with said lease not to exceed Five Hundred Fifty Five Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($555,000.00) in total, and have a so called escape clause for lack of appropriation in addition to provisions for an early pay-off, without penalty, and a One Dollar ($1.00) buy-out upon the conclusion of all regularly schedule lease payments and (b) appropriate the sum of Twenty Five Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($25,000.00) to write down the purchase price of said item such that it may be leased within the foregoing limits set in this article and to meet said appropriation of by a transfer of said sum from certified free cash.

Passed by a 2/3 Vote/May 19th @ 1:18 pm