Tax - A - Templeton is similar to Tax - A -'Chusetts.

Watching a recent editorial comment on TV channel 5, I decided to look at the fees for Templeton. Fees are a tax with another name.

First, there are the charges for public records. These are things that are suppose to be public. The last time I asked for copies of record of spending of public funds for a study, I was told it would cost me over $600.00 to obtain them. Think about that for a moment, taxpayers pay for the building that houses the employees that create and maintain those records, taxpayers pay the people in that building, they pay for all costs including the paper, ink, copier/printer, the light bill, everything and yet when you ask for copies, you are charged a fee, which is a tax by another name.

Now if you want to be sure that your smoke detector is up to date and or is working properly, is placed at the best location, be prepared to pay a fee. On the Templeton website, under the fire department, it has listed a fee of $25.00 for a smoke detector only inspection. A smoke and carbon monoxide detector inspection for a single family home is $50.00, $100.00 for a two family home, $150.00 for a building or structure with six or fewer residential units and $500.00 for more than six residential units. You already pay for the fire department in salary and expense by way of your property taxes and yet when it comes to your safety, there is another tax to pay. seems like it would be in everyone's best interest if these services were covered by your one payment in property taxes. I am betting that if you ask what do you pay property taxes for, you will be told it is for town services.

On the 2017 budget document for Templeton, there is a line that has inspection services salaries - $25.00 per inspection and there is $6,750.00 budgeted from your taxes to pay for this, yet if you check, there is a re-inspection fee of $40.00 under the tab on the Templeton website for electrical inspection. If you check further, you will find that the electrical inspector for Templeton also does this work for other towns.
Down near the bottom of the electrical inspection/permit fee schedule, you will find this: *permit fee will provide one rough and one finish inspection. All other inspections will be $40.00 per inspection. Not meeting code, $50.00 re-inspection fee. The permit cost for a new house is at $180.00.

Now since the electrical and plumbing inspectors are not employees of the Town in a true sense of the word, there has to be some mechanism in place to pay these individuals but taxpayers should not be fleeced by way of fees to do so and the Town should not be charging two, three or more times for this basic service.

One would think it would be to the benefit for everyone if smoke detectors / monoxide detectors were checked free of charge, especially when you already pay for these services through your taxes for, in part, the salaries of the very people who do this work. Imagine paying a fee just so you could pay your property taxes. Wait, you do not really have to imagine that, just pay your light bill and you will also pay a fee just for being a customer.

Jeff Bennett