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.