Question of the day: which is the official town website, TempletonMA.gov or mytowngovernment.org?

 from the Templeton collector of taxes:

first quarter, July 1 thru September 30.

real estate taxes - $3,439,945.00

CPA taxes 69,765.00

Personal property 53,207.00

excise tax 106,632.00

tax title 36,000.00

meals tax 23,670.00

note: CPA = community preservation funds.

https://dlsgateway.dor.state.ma.us/gateway/DLSPublic/TaxRateRecapPublicReport/TaxRateRecapPublic?jurCode=294&fiscalYear=2025 

Templeton tax rate set and approved by DOR: $12.12 per thousand

The below link will allow anyone to look at Templeton MA local receipts records, such as estimates used in budget to actual dollars collected.

https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.mass.gov%2Finfo-details%2Ftrends-in-local-receipts%3Futm_medium=email%26utm_source=govdelivery/1/0100019308a548d0-06d02708-e2dd-46d3-aa9d-321e6a1d7d2e-000000/9IZEwcnaVeHkNMc0m9h4Vlc6UHp2HkHODTIeVhgjf9I=378

 In an Oct. 18 letter to stakeholders, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection announced changes to emissions regulations affecting medium- and heavy-duty trucks — the Heavy-duty Omnibus and Advanced Clean Truck rules.

MassDEP said it plans to file emergency regulations to delay the start of the Heavy-duty Omnibus rule until model year 2026, effective upon filing.

The department also indicated that it will exercise enforcement discretion under the Advanced Clean Truck regulation exempting state and local government vehicles used for snow plowing and removal and street sweepers for model years 2025 and 2026.

 A GUIDE TO COSTING MUNICIPAL SERVICES 

What is the full cost of collecting and disposing of trash in your community? 

How much does it cost to provide fire protection? 

 What would it cost to increase service levels? 

How much could be saved by reducing services? 

 If you charge fees for municipal services, what percentage of the cost of service do they cover? 

Under what circumstances should fees be increased? 

 Could some municipal services be provided more efficiently by private firms? 

 As a local official – whether you are a mayor or selectman, manager or executive secretary, auditor or accountant, department head, member of the finance committee or any other member of municipal government – you may have asked these or other questions related to the cost of municipal services. Costing is a management and policymaking tool that helps to answer these questions.

 It differs from traditional municipal budgeting and accounting in three ways: 

 1. Costing looks at the cost of all resources used to provide services rather than expenditures made to operate municipal departments; 

 2. Costing includes all costs of providing a service, not just those found in the budget or financial reports of the department responsible for the service; 

 3. Costing focuses on the cost of the resources used to provide a service during a given period of time, regardless of when cash disbursements are made to purchase these resources. The purpose of costing is not simply to collect cost data, but to provide municipal managers and officials with information they can use to make better management decisions in several areas:

 The debt exclusion question that just passed at town meeting is for 4 million dollars and it is on the ballot for state election. there was no 1.2 - 2-million-dollar debt exclusion question. I would suggest calling the assessor's office of Templeton at 978-894-2760 and ask what $1.00 on the tax rate raises and then ask how 4 million would increase current tax rate. Keep in mind there still needs to be a tax classification hearing in front of the select board and the tax recap sheet still needs to be approved by state DOR. Remember, the tax rate can go down while your tax bill can still go up, due in large part to the revaluation process and the greatest increase in valuations in Templeton have been residential real estate, mostly because that is where the most sales have been happening. Financial history shows over the past 10 years to date, the greatest increase in taxes has been residential, no matter what the percentage increase may have been in this revaluation year, which happens every 5 years now. Again, simply call the assessors before you are told the sky is falling and an override is coming with it