from the Municipal calendar: August 31
Begin Work on Tax Rate Recapitulation Sheet (to set tax rate for semi-annual bills)
Until the Tax Rate Recap Sheet is completed and certified by the Commissioner of Revenue, the community may not set a tax rate nor send out its property tax bills (unless it issues preliminary quarterly tax bills or requests from DOR the authority to send out preliminary tax notices if DOR requirements are met). Communities should begin gathering the information in enough time for the tax rate to be set and tax bills mailed by October 1. The Tax Rate Recap Sheet provides Mayors or Selectmen with a ready-made financial management tool because the town's most important financial management information is summarized on this form. The Mayor or Selectmen should review the Recap Sheet in preliminary form in order to understand the following financial information:
Page 1 (Tax Rate Summary) -The proposed tax levy should be compared to the levy limit. If a community does not levy to its limit, the remaining levy is referred to as excess levy capacity. Excess levy capacity is lost to the community for the current fiscal year although it will always remain in the levy limit calculation.
Page 2 (Amount To Be Raised) -This section includes appropriations and other local expenditures not appropriated. These include overlay deficits, revenue deficits, state and county charges, Cherry Sheet offset items, and the allowance for abatements and exemptions. By comparing this information to the prior year(s), any significant changes can be determined.
Page 3, Schedule A (Local Receipts Not Allocated) -By comparing these figures to prior year(s), the Mayor or Selectmen can determine any changes in these revenues.
Page 4, Schedule B (Certification of Appropriations and Source of Funding) -This section includes financial votes of City/Town Council or Town Meeting not previously reported on last year's recap.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Friday, August 5, 2016
What is or could be on the horizon:
NEW POLL: Mass. governor Baker recently opposed a Fed-sponsored vehicle-miles traveled tax pilot program. Bad choice? Would this not be a sound alternative to a gas tax boost for generating state revenue?
Drop by our homepage and take this week's poll question, which considers miles-traveled taxation as a potential boon to state revenue.
Drop by our homepage and take this week's poll question, which considers miles-traveled taxation as a potential boon to state revenue.
This would be a tax on the miles you actually drive, question is, how will they (government) enforce this? How will they track your mileage without tracking you? I guess they did not think about the consequences of all the electric cars, hybrids and increased mileage requirements which results in less gas used which means less gas tax collected which equals less money for roads. Here is an idea, stop paying Iran 400 million dollars and no over one billion in interest to Iran. Actually stop sending tax dollars over seas and start spending them here, at home. I would not look for that to happen so we can expect for this mileage tax to not go away and rather expect them to keep it on the table and eventually get to us.
The Massachusetts state legislature wanted the governor to apply of a federal "grant" (your tax dollars) to do a pilot program here in the commonwealth, work out the kinks, figure out the way to track you and see how much money can be taken in, then tell you this is the new thing, pay to drive, in addition to what it already costs you. This looks like it makes all of Massachusetts one large toll plaza. What do out of state drivers pay under this system? This item needs to stay on the radar.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Some information from past Templeton tax recapitulation sheets and fiscal year 2017 budget spread sheet from town meeting.
Fiscal Year estimate Fiscal Year actual differential
2012 - $788,000.00 $853,798.00 $65,798.00 above estimate
2013 - $821,000.00 $813,759.00 $ 7,241.00 under estimate
2014 - $888,779.00 $948,747.00 $59,968.00 above estimate
2015 - $942,000.00 $970,753.00 $28,753.00 above estimate
2016 - $980,000.00 to be determined to be determined
2017 - $1,110,00.00 to be determined to be determined
So, is an increase in motor vehicle excise tax receipts of $130,000.00 an unrealistic expectation?
posted by Jeff Bennett
Fiscal Year estimate Fiscal Year actual differential
2012 - $788,000.00 $853,798.00 $65,798.00 above estimate
2013 - $821,000.00 $813,759.00 $ 7,241.00 under estimate
2014 - $888,779.00 $948,747.00 $59,968.00 above estimate
2015 - $942,000.00 $970,753.00 $28,753.00 above estimate
2016 - $980,000.00 to be determined to be determined
2017 - $1,110,00.00 to be determined to be determined
So, is an increase in motor vehicle excise tax receipts of $130,000.00 an unrealistic expectation?
posted by Jeff Bennett
Templeton fiscal year schedule A versus fiscal 2017 spread sheet presented to Town Meeting:
If you go to the Templeton Town web site and find the 2017 operating budget document, and if you find and look at page 10 of the excel spread sheet, you can look at long term debt, under heading of debt service - long term.
look at the column titled FY 2015 and scroll down to debt service - long term.
What you will see is principle on long term debt - $1,287,024.00
What you will see is interest on long term debt - $ 0.00
On the Templeton schedule A, for fiscal 2015 is long term debt - $1,007,597.00
On Templeton schedule A, for fiscal 2015 is interest on long term debt $ 279,427.00
The total is the above figure of - $1,287,024.00
Perhaps not a big deal, but why not show the people who pay the bills, what exactly it is costing them to have this one million plus dollar debt on the books?
Would that be called transparency?
Would complete transparency be a good idea for a 47 million dollar project?
What would the total interest cost be on 24 million dollars over 28 years at 3.5%?
The above is not a lecture, it is information and a few questions for thought.
posted by Jeff Bennett
If you go to the Templeton Town web site and find the 2017 operating budget document, and if you find and look at page 10 of the excel spread sheet, you can look at long term debt, under heading of debt service - long term.
look at the column titled FY 2015 and scroll down to debt service - long term.
What you will see is principle on long term debt - $1,287,024.00
What you will see is interest on long term debt - $ 0.00
On the Templeton schedule A, for fiscal 2015 is long term debt - $1,007,597.00
On Templeton schedule A, for fiscal 2015 is interest on long term debt $ 279,427.00
The total is the above figure of - $1,287,024.00
Perhaps not a big deal, but why not show the people who pay the bills, what exactly it is costing them to have this one million plus dollar debt on the books?
Would that be called transparency?
Would complete transparency be a good idea for a 47 million dollar project?
What would the total interest cost be on 24 million dollars over 28 years at 3.5%?
The above is not a lecture, it is information and a few questions for thought.
posted by Jeff Bennett
John Columbus - Templeton Selectman Sorry Kevin, I'm not complaining. The Town has an $800,000 deficit from FY 2013. we had to spend an additional $100,000 to clean up the mess. Those responsible won't acknowledge their culpability and have the gall to lecture the current board on finances. They even denigrate Bob Markel, the person most responsible for getting the Town back on track. We are solving issues, they are not.
What happened to the $750,000.00 certified free cash that we were told was coming? The supposed funds John Columbus talked about using for some expense a little prior to the May 2016 elections. He, as chairman, threw a person out of a meeting of selectmen, after that individual commented that was not a good thing to consider.
I think the above caption/instagram photo may say it all, with regards to John Columbus, but I think if checks some facts, he would see that on the Templeton Town meeting warrant for May 15,16,21,23 2012, which includes the budget for fiscal 2013, he will find a familiar name, Columbus. Members of the select board at that time were Robert Columbus, Chris Stewart, Patrick Mullins, Virginia Wilder and Jeff Bennett. Those were the selectmen from the recall election in February to the election in May of 2012. I also can say that if John checked or if he had attended, I told people at a meeting in the KIVA, the fall of 2013 that if they wanted to point a finger, if they wanted someone to blame, that would be me, Jeff Bennett, as I was the current Chairman of the Board of Selectmen. I did not hear John Columbus say much at a meeting on July 21, 2016, at the KIVA, where discussion focused mostly on budget issues for fiscal 2017. If you check, you will find John Columbus was the chairman of the Board of Selectmen for the time of January 1, 2016 until the first meeting of the BOS after the May election of 2016. So to John Columbus, will you be stating your culpability in the current budget mess? Or will you continue to denigrate those who are trying to advise you on a course that perhaps will stop this from happening again as we move forward. I believe it is important enough that it deserves the effort to try to instill the changes needed to get a budget process in place that demonstrates Fact, Law, and Transparency. (Thank You Jeff) John may take some things as lecturing, but it is advice based on experience, outside information and looking at how other communities successfully get a town meeting warrant and budget spread sheet out to the voters at least three weeks prior to Town Meeting. I would like to see Templeton do the same. When we have a person changing something that the selectmen have already voted on, the day before town meeting, I think someone could use a lecture. Remember John, you were the Chairman of the select board while that budget was put together, so take responsibility for it. In a sense, listen to what you wrote on your face book page.
That is my opinion, and in no way reflects any thought or position of the Advisory Committee, of which I am a member.
posted by Jeff Bennett
What happened to the $750,000.00 certified free cash that we were told was coming? The supposed funds John Columbus talked about using for some expense a little prior to the May 2016 elections. He, as chairman, threw a person out of a meeting of selectmen, after that individual commented that was not a good thing to consider.
I think the above caption/instagram photo may say it all, with regards to John Columbus, but I think if checks some facts, he would see that on the Templeton Town meeting warrant for May 15,16,21,23 2012, which includes the budget for fiscal 2013, he will find a familiar name, Columbus. Members of the select board at that time were Robert Columbus, Chris Stewart, Patrick Mullins, Virginia Wilder and Jeff Bennett. Those were the selectmen from the recall election in February to the election in May of 2012. I also can say that if John checked or if he had attended, I told people at a meeting in the KIVA, the fall of 2013 that if they wanted to point a finger, if they wanted someone to blame, that would be me, Jeff Bennett, as I was the current Chairman of the Board of Selectmen. I did not hear John Columbus say much at a meeting on July 21, 2016, at the KIVA, where discussion focused mostly on budget issues for fiscal 2017. If you check, you will find John Columbus was the chairman of the Board of Selectmen for the time of January 1, 2016 until the first meeting of the BOS after the May election of 2016. So to John Columbus, will you be stating your culpability in the current budget mess? Or will you continue to denigrate those who are trying to advise you on a course that perhaps will stop this from happening again as we move forward. I believe it is important enough that it deserves the effort to try to instill the changes needed to get a budget process in place that demonstrates Fact, Law, and Transparency. (Thank You Jeff) John may take some things as lecturing, but it is advice based on experience, outside information and looking at how other communities successfully get a town meeting warrant and budget spread sheet out to the voters at least three weeks prior to Town Meeting. I would like to see Templeton do the same. When we have a person changing something that the selectmen have already voted on, the day before town meeting, I think someone could use a lecture. Remember John, you were the Chairman of the select board while that budget was put together, so take responsibility for it. In a sense, listen to what you wrote on your face book page.
That is my opinion, and in no way reflects any thought or position of the Advisory Committee, of which I am a member.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Saturday, July 30, 2016
The Town of Templeton's schedule A, for fiscal year 2015, which is normally suppose to be in by October, was approved by Deborah Wagner on June 28, 2016. This is a very important document for budgeting, along with the tax recapitulation sheet. Hopefully this schedule A will be available to the Advisory Committee upon request. This material along with the schedule A and tax recap sheet for fiscal 2016 will be very useful in preparing estimates for the next budget cycle, fiscal 2018. This process should begin in November. Hopefully there will be more cooperation on the part of the selectmen this year.
posted by Jeff Bennett
posted by Jeff Bennett
Friday, July 29, 2016
email trail of a record request from the Advisory Committee, no form, no forwarding to Holly, no check with the selectmen first. Apparently, residents are not on the list containing who can view records of spending of public funds. The below email also seems to show who has custody and knowledge of Town financial records, if only this much interest had taken place on the fiscal 2017 budget spread sheet.
Sent from my iPhone
posted by Jeff Bennett
Kelli
Thank you, you are doing well please let the BoS have a look prior.
Thank you
John Caplis
Sent from my iPhone
I was waiting on the last of the Revenue…and I think Kate got it all entered today…so you will have it on Monday…I want to just go over it one more time before I send it out.Kelli PontbriandAccountantTown of Templeton978-894-2765From: Templeton, MA Advisory Board [mailto:templetonadvisoryboard@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2016 2:57 PM
To: accountant@templeton1.org
Cc: Nodrog here; Wilfred Spring; Kate Fulton; Jeff Bennett; Beverly Bartolomeo; Julie Farrell; Selectman Caplis
Subject: End of year Budget to Actual for FY16Kelli,Last week I asked if the the Advisory Committee would be able to get the End of Year Budget to Actual for FY16. It was indicated that it would be ready this week. Will it be available this week? The Committee is meeting next Wednesday and it will be necessary for us to receive it by then in order to help us with reviewing the BOS proposed budget changes for FY17.Thank you in advance for providing the BvA for FY16Wil
posted by Jeff Bennett
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