Oddity in Templeton, Looking at the warrant for the Special Town Meeting on March 21, 2016, the first article bothers me in technicality so I emailed the entire warrant to Templeton Town counsel. I stated I had concerns with the first article concerning the water dept. I was informed that he had not seen any of this. So apparently, Templeton Town counsel was not consulted on these matters. The answer Town Counsel received from the Town Administrator was he was trying to save money and since bond counsel had already looked at these, he (T/A) saw no reason to involve two attorneys. The question is what bond counsel was the town administrator talking about, Templeton Bond Counsel or the one hired by the water dept. to write an article to allow them to borrow money or rather the taxpayers borrow and the water customers paying back. To be sure, I have no authority to ask legal counsel for the Town of Templeton to do anything and I did not, I merely asked if he had seen the warrant articles. I have been told that now the Templeton town administrator has "invited" Templeton Town Counsel to attend this meeting. Since Templeton municipal water dept. is paying for this meeting, send them the entire bill to include cost of Templeton Town Counsel. We are talking about over a million dollars here. Again, this is not about the project, it is about the details. Templeton is already being asked to re-vote one article because of failure of Town officials to do diligence on behalf of the taxpayers. One would think they have learned the lesson?
Jeff Bennett
Friday, March 18, 2016
Thursday, March 17, 2016
I did not realize that the version of the Warrant used by the TAB to add in votes and recommendations was the version with erroneous account numbers. So we printed that version and took copies to the STM. In the meantime, I created the PowerPoint presentation and gave a copy of the final, accurate version of the Warrant to the Town Clerk. At the Town Meeting, the motion for Article 4 was read from the PowerPoint slide --- it had the correct account numbers. The certified copy from the Town Clerk also has the correct account numbers.
Because both the Warrant and the Operating Budget change and evolve during the process, I decided to prevent any confusion with differing versions by posting the official copy in the cloud and giving Selectmen and TAB members access.
N.B. The FY'17 budget continued to evolve this week when our assessment from Monty Tech and when our health insurance cost for FY'17 came in.
Bob
Robert T. Markel
Interim Town Administrator
Town of Templeton
160 Patriots Road
East Templeton, MA 01438
(978)894-2753
The above is from an email concerning issues with the last special Town meeting of November 9, 2015. The issue is that within some transfers, account numbers do not match, specifically, the account number shown for general insurance as 1000-945-900-57-5743-0000 which is the exact same account number given twice as the account number for Town accountant expenses. If you look at the town meeting report on the Templeton Town web site, under town meeting, you can find the copy of the meeting results which at the end says,
A true copy, ATTEST: with the name of the Templeton Town Clerk. Meeting attendance is listed at 356 voters.
In my opinion, the most bothersome part of this is the apparent spin put out to answer questions and concerns posed by members of the Templeton Advisory Board. It is through a process of checks and balances that is needed and is a good thing, that this and many other concerns of a financial nature that have been raised on more than one occasion. Why else are we being asked to put money back into fire/ems after we were just asked to take money from there to pay snow & Ice? I believe all these transfers in the past year demonstrates that there is either not enough money to cover everything or money is not being applied correctly, or both. My opinion is we still have a shell game going on and not one selectmen from Templeton is asking one question about it publicly, as at a meeting of the BOS.
Jeff Bennett
Robert T. Markel
Interim Town Administrator
Town of Templeton
160 Patriots Road
East Templeton, MA 01438
(978)894-2753
The above is from an email concerning issues with the last special Town meeting of November 9, 2015. The issue is that within some transfers, account numbers do not match, specifically, the account number shown for general insurance as 1000-945-900-57-5743-0000 which is the exact same account number given twice as the account number for Town accountant expenses. If you look at the town meeting report on the Templeton Town web site, under town meeting, you can find the copy of the meeting results which at the end says,
A true copy, ATTEST: with the name of the Templeton Town Clerk. Meeting attendance is listed at 356 voters.
In my opinion, the most bothersome part of this is the apparent spin put out to answer questions and concerns posed by members of the Templeton Advisory Board. It is through a process of checks and balances that is needed and is a good thing, that this and many other concerns of a financial nature that have been raised on more than one occasion. Why else are we being asked to put money back into fire/ems after we were just asked to take money from there to pay snow & Ice? I believe all these transfers in the past year demonstrates that there is either not enough money to cover everything or money is not being applied correctly, or both. My opinion is we still have a shell game going on and not one selectmen from Templeton is asking one question about it publicly, as at a meeting of the BOS.
Jeff Bennett
Monday, March 14, 2016
Bad news for Templeton Town budget, the assessment for Monty Tech is up by $97,000.00.
Hopefully this will come up at the next Advisory Board meeting this wednesday.
According to the latest budget versus actual, last year's assessment for Monty Tech was $611,480.00, so that is a fair amount of money no longer available.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Hopefully this will come up at the next Advisory Board meeting this wednesday.
According to the latest budget versus actual, last year's assessment for Monty Tech was $611,480.00, so that is a fair amount of money no longer available.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Massachusetts General Laws, chapter 115, Veterans Benefits
section 8; Payments and reimbursement of burial expense; certificate.
Section 8. Amounts expended by the burial agent under the provisions of section 7 shall not exceed $2,000 for the funeral and burial of a person under this chapter, provided that the cost of funeral and burial does not exceed $3,000 and there are insufficient resources in the estate of such person to pay for the cost of such funeral and burial. Any resources of such person shall be deducted from the maximum cost of the funeral and burial allowance hereunder and the difference, subject to the limitation set forth in this paragraph, shall be paid by the burial agent. No city or town shall be reimbursed under this section for any amount so expended for a single burial if the total expense of such burial, exclusive of the purchase price of the grave, the cost of the grave opening and the cost of a cement vault liner if one is required by the cemetery regulations, by whomsoever incurred, exceeded $500 for a child under the age of seven or $900 for any other person. The burial shall not be made in a cemetery or burial ground used exclusively for the burial of persons under the provisions of chapter 117 or in any part of a cemetery or burial ground so used. Relatives of the deceased who are unable to bear the expense of burial may be allowed to conduct the funeral. The full amount so expended, the name of the deceased and, if the deceased was a veteran, the regiment, company, station, organization or vessel in which such veteran served, the date of death, place of interment and, if the deceased was a spouse or widow or widower, the name of such veteran's spouse and date of marriage and, if the deceased was a dependent child, the name of the veteran and such other details as the commissioner may require, shall be certified on oath to said commissioner in such manner as said commissioner may approve, by the burial agent and the treasurer of the city or town expending the amount, within three months after the burial. The commissioner shall endorse upon the certificate the allowance of such amounts as have been paid and reported according to the foregoing provisions and shall transmit the certificate to the comptroller. Seventy-five per cent of the amounts so paid and allowed for burial expenses of veterans or dependents by the cities and towns wherein they reside shall be paid by the commonwealth to the several cities and towns on or before November 10 in the year after the expenditures have been made. Notwithstanding the requirements as to residence as set forth in section 5, the commissioner may authorize the burial agent of a city or town to arrange for the proper interment of the body of an indigent veteran who dies within the commonwealth. The definitions contained in section 1 of chapter 114 shall be applicable to this section and section 9.
posted by Jeff Bennett
section 8; Payments and reimbursement of burial expense; certificate.
Section 8. Amounts expended by the burial agent under the provisions of section 7 shall not exceed $2,000 for the funeral and burial of a person under this chapter, provided that the cost of funeral and burial does not exceed $3,000 and there are insufficient resources in the estate of such person to pay for the cost of such funeral and burial. Any resources of such person shall be deducted from the maximum cost of the funeral and burial allowance hereunder and the difference, subject to the limitation set forth in this paragraph, shall be paid by the burial agent. No city or town shall be reimbursed under this section for any amount so expended for a single burial if the total expense of such burial, exclusive of the purchase price of the grave, the cost of the grave opening and the cost of a cement vault liner if one is required by the cemetery regulations, by whomsoever incurred, exceeded $500 for a child under the age of seven or $900 for any other person. The burial shall not be made in a cemetery or burial ground used exclusively for the burial of persons under the provisions of chapter 117 or in any part of a cemetery or burial ground so used. Relatives of the deceased who are unable to bear the expense of burial may be allowed to conduct the funeral. The full amount so expended, the name of the deceased and, if the deceased was a veteran, the regiment, company, station, organization or vessel in which such veteran served, the date of death, place of interment and, if the deceased was a spouse or widow or widower, the name of such veteran's spouse and date of marriage and, if the deceased was a dependent child, the name of the veteran and such other details as the commissioner may require, shall be certified on oath to said commissioner in such manner as said commissioner may approve, by the burial agent and the treasurer of the city or town expending the amount, within three months after the burial. The commissioner shall endorse upon the certificate the allowance of such amounts as have been paid and reported according to the foregoing provisions and shall transmit the certificate to the comptroller. Seventy-five per cent of the amounts so paid and allowed for burial expenses of veterans or dependents by the cities and towns wherein they reside shall be paid by the commonwealth to the several cities and towns on or before November 10 in the year after the expenditures have been made. Notwithstanding the requirements as to residence as set forth in section 5, the commissioner may authorize the burial agent of a city or town to arrange for the proper interment of the body of an indigent veteran who dies within the commonwealth. The definitions contained in section 1 of chapter 114 shall be applicable to this section and section 9.
posted by Jeff Bennett
A long read but important information for Town meeting as I believe we should have a basic understanding of what we vote on.
Section 53E1/2. Notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty-three, a city or town may annually authorize the use of one or more revolving funds by one or more municipal agency, board, department or office which shall be accounted for separately from all other monies in such city or town and to which shall be credited only the departmental receipts received in connection with the programs supported by such revolving fund. Expenditures may be made from such revolving fund without further appropriation, subject to the provisions of this section; provided, however, that expenditures shall not be made or liabilities incurred from any such revolving fund in excess of the balance of the fund nor in excess of the total authorized expenditures from such fund, nor shall any expenditures be made unless approved in accordance with sections forty-one, forty-two, fifty-two and fifty-six of chapter forty-one.
Interest earned on any revolving fund balance shall be treated as general fund revenue of the city or town. No revolving fund may be established pursuant to this section for receipts of a municipal water or sewer department or of a municipal hospital. No such revolving fund may be established if the aggregate limit of all revolving funds authorized under this section exceeds ten percent of the amount raised by taxation by the city or town in the most recent fiscal year for which a tax rate has been certified under section twenty-three of chapter fifty-nine. No revolving fund expenditures shall be made for the purpose of paying any wages or salaries for full time employees unless such revolving fund is also charged for the costs of fringe benefits associated with the wages or salaries so paid; provided, however, that such prohibition shall not apply to wages or salaries paid to full or part-time employees who are employed as drivers providing transportation for public school students; provided further, that only that portion of a revolving fund which is attributable to transportation fees may be used to pay such wages or salaries and provided, further, that any such wages or salaries so paid shall be reported in the budget submitted for the next fiscal year.
A revolving fund established under the provisions of this section shall be by vote of the annual town meeting in a town, upon recommendation of the board of selectmen, and by vote of the city council in a city, upon recommendation of the mayor or city manager, in Plan E cities, and in any other city or town by vote of the legislative body upon the recommendation of the chief administrative or executive officer. Such authorization shall be made annually prior to each respective fiscal year; provided, however, that each authorization for a revolving fund shall specify: (1) the programs and purposes for which the revolving fund may be expended; (2) the departmental receipts which shall be credited to the revolving fund; (3) the board, department or officer authorized to expend from such fund; (4) a limit on the total amount which may be expended from such fund in the ensuing fiscal year; and, provided, further, that no board, department or officer shall be authorized to expend in any one fiscal year from all revolving funds under its direct control more than one percent of the amount raised by taxation by the city or town in the most recent fiscal year for which a tax rate has been certified under section twenty-three of chapter fifty-nine. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, whenever, during the course of any fiscal year, any new revenue source becomes available for the establishment of a revolving fund under this section, such a fund may be established in accordance with this section upon certification by the city auditor, town accountant, or other officer having similar duties, that the revenue source was not used in computing the most recent tax levy.
In any fiscal year the limit on the amount that may be spent from a revolving fund may be increased with the approval of the city council and mayor in a city, or with the approval of the selectmen and finance committee, if any, in a town; provided, however, that the one percent limit established by clause (4) of the third paragraph is not exceeded.
The board, department or officer having charge of such revolving fund shall report to the annual town meeting or to the city council and the board of selectmen, the mayor of a city or city manager in a Plan E city or in any other city or town to the legislative body and the chief administrative or executive officer, the total amount of receipts and expenditures for each revolving fund under its control for the prior fiscal year and for the current fiscal year through December thirty-first, or such later date as the town meeting or city council may, by vote determine, and the amount of any increases in spending authority granted during the prior and current fiscal years, together with such other information as the town meeting or city council may by vote require.
At the close of a fiscal year in which a revolving fund is not reauthorized for the following year, or in which a city or town changes the purposes for which money in a revolving fund may be spent in the following year, the balance in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall revert to surplus revenue unless the annual town meeting or the city council and mayor or city manager in a Plan E city and in any other city or town the legislative body vote to transfer such balance to another revolving fund established under this section.
The director of accounts may issue guidelines further regulating revolving funds established under this section.
from MA general law, chapter 44.
posted by Jeff Bennett
posted by Jeff Bennett
Sunday, March 13, 2016
- Changes to school aid and school funding????
At a hearing on municipal and school aid accounts in Everett today, a panel of city and town officials led by North Adams Councillor and MMA President Lisa Blackmer expressed strong support for the governor’s revenue-sharing proposal to increase unrestricted municipal aid at a rate equal to the rate of growth in state tax collections.
The “consensus” tax growth forecast for next year is 4.3 percent, even after accounting for the scheduled drop in the state income tax rate. The governor proposed to increase the Cherry Sheet Unrestricted General Government Aid item at the “consensus” revenue growth rate, for an increase of $42 million.
Councillor Blackmer told the committee that the proposed increase was a top priority for cities and towns and would help pay for much-needed municipal services and help avoid over reliance on the property tax.
In written testimony submitted at the hearing, the MMA asked the Legislature to expand the governor’s Chapter 70 education aid recommendation by increasing the minimum aid amount. Under the governor’s recommendation, 249 school districts (77 percent of all operating districts) would receive an increase of only $20 per student. For many districts, this would represent another in a series of years of receiving only minimum aid, which has forced a growing reliance on the property tax to fund schools, a situation that the MMA maintains is not sustainable.
The MMA also asked the Legislature to take a look at the new method developed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to account for economically disadvantaged students in the local foundation budget spending standard and in school aid amounts. A number of school districts have reported that the new method understates the number of disadvantaged students in need of supplemental education programs.
MMA testimony also strongly supported implementation of the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission to update the Chapter 70 “foundation budget” minimum spending standards for special education and health insurance costs for school employees, and to add to the spending standard a measure of recognition for the cost of services for low-income, English Language Learner (ELL) and other students who would benefit from more intensive services.
The MMA also asked the Legislature to fully fund other state mandates and legislative commitments, including special education “circuit breaker” reimbursements, charter school impact transition payments, school transportation reimbursements, and other municipal and school programs.
the above is from the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Cities, towns reminded to provide copies of all CBAs to state
- March 8, 2016
Public employers that are not currently in compliance with this statutory requirement (Ch. 150E, Sec. 7) are asked to file with the DLR an electronic copy of all collective bargaining agreements currently in effect no later than March 31.
A short description of each bargaining unit should accompany each filing.
The DLR’s E-file email address is efile.dlr@state.ma.us. Collective bargaining agreements that exceed email attachment size limits may be filed using the DLR’s large file transfer system. (For assistance using the system, call the DLR at (617) 626-7158.)
Public employers that post copies of collective bargaining agreements on a publicly accessible website may comply with the filing requirement by forwarding a short description of the bargaining unit with a link to the online CBA posting (in lieu of filing an electronic copy of the CBA).
For more information, visit www.mass.gov/dlr.
The above comes from the Massachusetts Municipal Association web page.
posted by Jeff Bennett
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