A study group to look at regional school district agreement, including what are the steps and process of leaving the district is really no different that the stone bridge study group. It is simply looking at options and the process, whatever it might be, for a town to withdraw from a regional school district. It is not really anything to lose sleep over. Perhaps one thing that will be brought to light is the fact Phillipston selectmen have ignored the agreement completely.

Section VIII in both the 1977 and 2004 versions reads in part:

"Any such proposal for amendment shall be presented to the Secretary of the Regional District School Committee, who shall mail or deliver a notice in writing to the Board of Selectmen of

each of the member towns that a proposal to amend this agreement has been received and shall enclose a copy of such proposal. The Selectmen in each member town shall include in the warrant for the next Special Town Meeting called for the purpose, an article stating the proposal or substance thereof."

Phillipston refused to put it on the warrant for the 2023 Annual Town Meeting. Look at 2024 Annual Town meeting, it was not on the warrant to be considered. The Department of Education has advised that the last agreed upon Regional Agreement remains in place in situations such as these. The district has been in front of the Templeton capital planning committee for a couple things for TES. In short, the last agreed upon Regional Agreement (District, DESE, Templeton, Phillipston) uses the $5,000 threshold. The Draft Regional Agreement's has a threshold of $15,000 which needs Phillipston to put before its voters to either approve or vote down. If voted down, then a RACC needs to be reinstated to discuss the issues that Phillipston has with the draft.

As of right now, they are in violation of any of the Regional Agreements you pick (draft or prior).

Since Templeton is an 85% stake holder in district and the owner of the new elementary school, I believe it to be a good option to look at our options.

 

Town of Templeton, MA

April 15, 2014  · 

Holly Young

April 15, 2014  · 

Message from Town Administrator Bob Markel

The Department of Revenue has always discouraged the use of free cash to balance the budget. Bond rating agencies do the same, and the low bond rating for the Town reflects, in part, the lavish use of free cash to fund the operating budget. However, this is not illegal; it is simply unsound financial policy.

The amount of free cash available changes yearly, and it is not predictable. Free cash is considered one-time revenue, and the Department of Revenues recommends that it used to augment the Stabilization Fund (reserves) or for one-time purchases like capital items.

Audit firms do not do a thorough job of auditing the books (unfortunately). They come and test various areas of the town’s finances to see if there are problems, but some problems are not caught and can persist for years. They tell you up front that they cannot do a thorough audit for the relatively modest amount they charge. The DOR representative at today’s meeting called the standard municipal audit a “hit and run” audit. Still, some firms are more reputable and more competent than others. I cannot name names in this message, but there are several firms that I would never hire.

Recommendation: The Selectboard should create an Audit Committee of knowledgeable citizens who will have two responsibilities: 1) Bid the audit contract every three years, and hire an independent auditor; and 2) Receive the annual audit and do a public review of the findings and the management letter. Municipal auditors are typically hired by the Town Administrator, Town Accountant or Finance Director. This is an inherent conflict of interest since town officials who do the hiring are the ones whose work is being audited. Hiring and receiving the audit should be an arm’s length transaction from the Town’s financial team.

The Department of Revenue oversees 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. They accept data provided by the Town Accountant, the Treasurer/Collector and the Assessors. They often question the data, but they are not always able to verify if data submitted on the Tax Recap or Schedule A are accurate. The DOR does not have access to the town’s accounting system. For example, the DOR was in Templeton today to question whether the Town has properly reported debt obligations on the DE-1 section of Schedule A. Some debt is paid from general revenue within the town budget and some debt is paid through debt exclusion. There is a correct way to report these two types of debt on Schedule A. The DOR representatives checked to see if the Town reported the data correctly, but they are limited in their ability to verify the accuracy of the data.

The long term solution to Templeton’s financial problems is to hire a professional Town Administrator who will put in place a competent financial management team – Accountant, Treasurer, Collector and Assessors. The Selectmen and Advisory Board have the responsibly to oversee the T.A. and the financial team on their management of the Town’s finances. To complement the BoS and Advisory Board, the Audit Committee should retain a reputable accounting firm to conduct an annual audit with the results made public.

Bob Markel

Interim Town Administrator

 Open Burning Permit, Residential$10.00

Open Burning Permit, Agricultural$10.00

Smoke Detector Only Inspection$25.00

Fire Sprinkler System Inspection$25.00

Tank Removal Permit$25.00

Tank Installation Permit$25.00

Blasting Permit$25.00

Oil Burner Installation Permit$25.00

Oil Burner and Tank Installation Permit$25.00

Unvented Gas Appliance Permit$25.00

Black Powder Permit$25.00

Fuel Storage Permit$25.00

Fuel Transport Tank Permit$25.00

Various other inspections and permits as may be deemed necessary by the Department of Fire Services from time to time.$25.00

Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detector inspection $50.00 / single family

$100.00 / two family

$150.00 for any building or structure with six or fewer residential units

$500.00 for any building or structure with more than six units.

Pay taxes for salaries for fire dept. employees and then you have to pay again for a "service" Keep in mind, you have to pay a fee, if you get a permit, to do work and build a home, remodel, etc., and it gets inspected by building inspector, for a fee. When it comes to fire dept, you have to pay extra for them to do their jobs that you already paid for. This is not just a Templeton issue, residents of may towns do things this way. I wonder how many people skip the smoke detector check because of the fees. Town has employee/citizen award at town meeting, perhaps a residents week in say September, smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors inspected free as a service to residents.

 So, should there be a town bylaw to prevent selectmen from serving on any appointed committees, boards, commissions, etc.?

 

from Massachusetts Transportation funding task force.

 FY24 Revenue Gas Tax - 

Tax on motor fuel (gasoline and diesel) $0.24/gallon = $712.7million dollars

 Yesterday, went to meeting of Templeton Council on Aging. The senior center was packed, I had to park in the snow. At the meeting, it was pointed out that senior center staff had helped a senior get housing, now that is really service to residents. That is why funding for the center is important and vital to the town.

Not all of the senior center budget is from taxation, some is paid for by formula grant and others are covered by MART reimbursement to town, so if one looks at budget for senior center, it can be deceiving

 Templeton Center fire station is/would be a great place to have office for town emergency management and for CERT to work out of.

If anyone looks at deed / transfer paperwork involving the Templeton Senior Center, one will find it is "zoned" if you will, for senior services only.

Just like some areas of town are zoned for residential only, so is the senior center. It is for Seniors, not to be used as a "utility closet" because of bad financial management by town administrator and selectmen. We selectmen screw up enough, it needs to stop.

 Massachusetts is one of 27 states that charges residents just to own a vehicle. Basically, the tax is $25 for every $1000 of valuation, with other considerations.

"Massachusetts tends to provide more social services and other services and have higher cost than many other states," she said. "So they look for a variety of sources of revenue and more sources of tax revenue than many other states".

It is a state tax, but cities and towns collect it.

Though many think it's used for streets and roads, transportation or other infrastructure, that's actually not the case. The money goes into the general fund, so every municipality can use it however it wants.

 Boston — Today, at the Massachusetts Municipal Association's Connect 351 conference, Governor Maura Healey announced that she is filing legislation to reform the Chapter 90 roadways program to substantially increase funding for municipal roads and bridges. The Governor also announced that next week, she will file the Municipal Empowerment Act 2.0, which proposes to give municipalities more tools and flexibility to deliver high-quality services for their residents.

The Chapter 90 bond bill the administration is filing today authorizes the state to borrow $1.5 billion over the next five years to improve local transportation networks. Working in tandem with the administration’s recently filed FY26 budget proposal (House 1), the bond bill proposes using voter-approved Fair Share surtax revenues to expand capital capacity, enabling $300 million in annual Chapter 90 funds, a 50 percent increase over the traditional $200 million.

The Chapter 90 program provides municipalities with annual funding for capital improvements on local public ways—improving pavement quality, building sidewalks, restoring bridges, and financing bike and pedestrian infrastructure. Under the program, Massachusetts municipalities are allocated a portion of total program dollars, which allows them to evaluate their unique transportation needs and goals and distribute funding dollars accordingly.

 NORTHAMPTON — A new building code kicks in citywide next Monday that effectively bans the use of fossil fuels in any new buildings or renovations of existing structures in Northampton.

The City Council on Jan. 16 unanimously approved an ordinance that spells out the change, making Northampton one of only 10 communities in Massachusetts to take such measures, and the only one in the western part of the state.

The new code is required for Northampton to participate in the Municipal Fossil Fuel Free Building Demonstration Program, a state-sponsored pilot that allows select cities and towns to enact measures to cut fossil fuels completely for new buildings. All other municipalities in the program are located in affluent suburbs of Boston or on Martha’s Vineyard: Acton, Aquinnah, Brookline, Cambridge, Concord, Lincoln, Lexington, Newton and Arlington.

Under the proposed new building code, all new buildings or renovations to existing buildings will be required to be all-electric, with any use of fossil fuels prohibited. Although new heating systems installed in buildings would have to meet the new guidelines, “like-for-like” replacements of existing fossil fuel equipment, such as a boiler with another boiler, would be permitted.

Several exceptions are in place already for certain types of buildings and facilities, including research labs, hospitals and medical offices, as well as outdoor cooking and heating appliances and emergency generators. Historical buildings are also exempt if following the ordinance “would change the historic fabric of the building,” according to Ben Weil, director of the city’s Climate Action and Project Administration

 Gov. Maura Healey today filed her $61.5 billion state budget plan for fiscal 2026, in tandem with a $1.3 billion fiscal 2025 supplemental budget bill.

The bills include several positive investments in municipal government, though they reflect a budget year with only modest revenue growth expected at the state level.

In order to make some of her proposed investments in fiscal 2026, the governor would leverage several sources of revenue, including surplus surtax revenue (also known as “Fair Share” funding) from fiscal 2024, the Student Opportunity Act Trust Fund, and anticipated surtax revenue budgeted for fiscal 2026.

Healey’s budget bill, known as House 1, would increase the main discretionary local aid account by 2.2% over fiscal 2025, while increasing Chapter 70 school aid by $420 million, honoring the commitments made in the 2019 Student Opportunity Act. Healey proposes increasing the “minimum education aid” figure up to $75 per pupil for fiscal 2026 — significantly above the statutory minimum of a $30 per student increase each fiscal year. This represents the highest amount included in a governor’s budget recommendation.

The governor’s state budget proposal is the first step in a months-long process. The House and Senate Ways and Means committees are expected to host a budget hearing in the coming months on municipal and school aid for fiscal 2026, and the House is expected to debate its budget bill in April, with the Senate deliberating its own bill in May. The Legislature will work to get a final budget bill to the governor by the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/division-of-local-services-municipal-databank 

 Can a MA town increase it's tax levy by more than 2 1/2% without an override or debt exclusion? Yes it can.

Example using simple math.

Town tax levy = $1,000,000.00, but town only spends or levys $900,000.00 for FY2025, leaving $100,000.00 in excess levy capacity. Next FY, automatic prop 2 1/2 increase for FY2026 would be $25,000.00 for a total levy of $1,025,000.00 and the town decides to use that excess capacity of $100,000.00, they then have a levy of $1,125,000.00 for fy2026. No, the law does not allow use of excess 100K to get a levy of $1,225,000.00, but having excess capacity to be available in following years does allow for a levy to increase by more than 2 1/2%.

 January 24, 2024, Templeton selectmen vote, by roll call vote, 5 yes, 0 no, 0 abstain to lower dispatch cost for Phillipston, there by shifting higher cost to Templeton residents. Later, they also voted to use $20,000.00 from E911 grant funds to cover general fund expenses as well as give $5,000.00 to Phillipston from E911 grant funds. So, when you agree to give money away, do not come to me later to complain you need more people, which requires money to pay for them, after you agreed to give money away. You made the bad deal, live with it.

 In a frustrating setback to the Commonwealth's climate goals, Massachusetts drivers incinerated 24 million more gallons of gasoline in 2023 than they did in 2022, according to state tax collection data.

That represents the third consecutive year of rising gasoline consumption in the Commonwealth since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The trend undermines the state's climate strategy, which calls for fossil fuel use to converge quickly toward zero in the next two decades.

Those reports show that Massachusetts collected $612 million in fuel taxes in calendar year 2023. At a tax rate of 24 cents per gallon, that implies that Massachusetts drivers bought and burned 2.55 billion gallons of gasoline last year.

 Looking at finance information from MA division local service (DLS) in fiscal year 2024, Templeton spent 43.80% of it's general fund (GF) budget on education, followed by 15.64% on unclassified, 12.94% on public safety. 11.06% on GF debt service, 8.18% on general government, 6.59% on public works and 1.80% on other.

FY2025, GF revenue was 64.80% tax levy (real estate and personal property tax) 16.29% local receipts (vehicle excise tax and fees to town) 9.62% other and 9.29% state aid.

From this, majority of money to run town comes from real estate taxes and most of that goes to operate the school district. Low on the totem pole is fixing, maintaining and building new sidewalks, etc. Funny how that works, the one thing that everyone and everything moves on, the roads, get little funding. Look at capital improvement plan/recommendations, alot of trucks, tractors, etc., not much of anything for roads, bridges sidewalks, storm drainage, etc. Anything on cross walk signage lights, etc.?