from the current pages of Policies and Procedures for selectmen:

On Templeton Town website under the Board of Selectmen.

Minutes shall contain a full statement of all actions taken by the Board and of the disposition of all proposals for
action. Minutes of Executive Sessions shall be separately kept and recorded in accordance with the above
procedures. Minutes (other than of Executive Session) are open for public inspection. Copies of all approved
open session minutes shall be posted on the Town Website for viewing and recorded with the Town Clerk.

yet on Town website, meeting calendar, selectmen meeting at such a date & time, that minutes ARE NOT on file with Town Clerk.

from the face book page of Diane Brooks:

Diane Haley Brooks
May 17 at 2:48pm · Templeton, MA ·
Grrrrr. I believe that with a great attitude, high intentions, honor, honesty, integrity and a spirit of cooperation we can accomplish many things individually and as a whole no matter what path we have chosen to walk in our career or any kind of service.
I am so tired of back stabbing, nit picking, a lack of concern and care, the out to get you attitude along with not understand the consequences for all actions and how about the general disregard for respect of another's thoughts and opinions.

Suggestion for a solution to this dilemma, rather than standing on a soap box on face book, (figuratively) get up and speak up at a selectmen meeting and ask or state why the Board of Selectmen are not following their own rules that the board voted on? Now that would be a solution and an accomplishment done in open meeting. That would be one less item that Bennett could bring up, as in nit picking as Ms. Brooks put it.

posted by Jeff Bennett

following is a post from Town of Templeton, MA facebook page, which seems to have quite a few pictures of Holly Young, but I digress, please read and pay attention to what is written:

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

from face book:

Diane Haley Brooks

May 17 at 2:48pm · Templeton, MA · 

Grrrrr. I believe that with a great attitude, high intentions, honor, honesty,

 integrity and a spirit of cooperation we can accomplish many things individually and as a whole no matter what path we have chosen to walk in our career or any kind of service.

I am so tired of back stabbing, nit picking, a lack of concern and care, the out to get you attitude along with not understand the consequences for all actions and how about the general disregard for respect of another'sthoughts and opinions.

Think before you speak. Quit with the gossip as it's hateful and hurtful. Reserve your judgement for when you know all the facts. Go get the facts and don't assume what you hear or read is gospel. Don't speak harshly as everyone deserves the utmost regard.

We all make decisions with the information we have at that moment in time. Use the golden rule always and truly try harder to put yourself in another's shoes.

If your are complaining or gossiping and not offering any solutions, you become part of the problem.

Listen more. Talk less. Be patient. Come from a place of love or at least like.

I am not sure who selectmen Brooks is referring to, if anyone in particular, but perhaps the cooperation and honesty should begin with the board of selectmen. Those words are easy to write and sound noble and all and most likely gets some cheerleading such as "tell em sista" but they really mean nothing nor amount to anything without action. Someone should try to put aside the click and remember about the whole town. I suspect we will see all of this integrity, honor, honesty and spirit of cooperation when the fire chief situation plays out. I have already seen it with regards to the budget. Remember the former chairman spoke of using some free cash to supplement a budget and when someone spoke up about that is how the town got in trouble in the first place and the chair told the person to leave and the rest of the board members sat in silence, that pretty much said it all, through action, or lack of it.

posted by Jeff Bennett

Finance Committee (or Advisory or Warrant Committee) The finance committee—or, in some towns, the advisory or warrant committee—is a town’s official fiscal watchdog. Its primary, statutory responsibility is to advise and make recommendations to town meeting on the budget and other areas of finance. One of the finance committee’s most important functions involves making transfers from the town’s reserve fund (a contingency fund normally created as part of annual budget appropriations) to other line items in the budget for extraordinary or unforeseen occurrences.

While the finance committee plays a vital role, it is within the executive authority of the selectmen, and/or their appointees, to prepare the town’s budget. The selectmen have ultimate responsibility to the residents for this service. The finance committee’s responsibility is to review the budget submitted to them and to make recommendations regarding the budget to the town’s legislative body: the town meeting.

The above is from the most current Handbook for Selectmen.

I think this spells out that the Advisory/finance committee is a checker or balancer on the selectmen and the Town's departments as a whole. I think of this as I do an Inspector General. This was demonstrated when one member of the Templeton Advisory Committee asked a question on one transfer, which resulted in a revelation that some action concerning financial transfers could be seen as illegal and some time was spent by selectmen and accountant making changes and then stating there would be some reclassification of some accounts to fix this issue. That is why it is important to have such a committee and to remain independent as possible.

Jeff Bennett

Removing Disorderly Persons:

 State law does permit a presiding officer to order a person to leave a public meeting for unruly conduct and, if he or she does not leave, to order a constable or other officer to remove the person from the meeting [G.L. c. 30A, §20(f)]. While it may be tempting to do this at times, it is best not to, except under the most dire circumstances, and then only in consultation with legal counsel. Ordering someone removed from a meeting is fraught with the danger of a costly lawsuit and rarely worth the risk. There are several alternative steps a board can take rather than removing someone.

 The best is to take a recess. Rarely after a recess does the person continue his or her unruly behavior. Or, a police officer can be called in to speak to the person about being disruptive, which usually has the effect of restoring calm. When all else fails, the board should consider adjourning the meeting to another date. While a board may not want to appear to have backed down due to someone’s conduct, the wiser path is to avoid a controversy.

The above is from the pages of the newest edition of the Handbook for Selectmen. I think they should all read it, especially John Columbus.

Jeff Bennett

In hopes of showing how things can workout in municipal government with regards to taxes;

the following email may shed some light and perhaps lead to a question or two.

Date: January 5, 2016 at 10:18 AM
Subject: Re: a few questions

All -

In an attempt to coordinate the work the Abrahams accounting firm and our auditors, I asked Mark Abrahams to set up a conference call with Matthew Hunt, CPA, of Clifton Larson Allen, our auditors.  During that call, the auditors informed us that they will require not only an accurate general ledger but also subsidiary ledgers for revenue and expenditures.  What this means, for example, is that instead of providing an accurate accounting of the total of motor vehicle taxes collected in FY'2013, we are also being required to provide a subsidiary revenue ledger with all accruals of motor vehicle taxes during the fiscal year.  This is requiring more work and is consuming more time.  A similar subsidiary ledger is being required for expenditures.  

At this point, the auditors are coming to the Town offices at the end of this month, and we expect that they can begin the audit for Fiscal '13.  The Abrahams group has one person working daily in the Accounting office and one person working 1-2 days per week.  The FY'13 cash book is complete, and work begins today on the FY'14 cash book.

Regarding taxes, there are two reasons for the $0,17 rate reduction: 

 1) There was $99,000 in new growth;

 2) the MSBA reimbursement of $175,000 was used to reduce the amount of debt service on the second $500,000 for elementary school design instead of going to the general fund and becoming free cash.  This was required by the DOR Springfield Office.  

So, if we have lower new growth than the previous year and without an MSBA reimbursement to reduce the debt load, what will happen when setting the next tax rate set?

I also have to question the MSBA item because if I remember correctly, we had a special town meeting in MArch 2016, and this email date is January 2016. Up until the March meeting, the $500,000.00 was on paper borrowed by the school district. Yep, there is still alot of shuffing going on in ole Templeton with regards to money.

Jeff Bennett

Date: May 12, 2016 at 11:20 AM
Subject: Advisory Committee Recommendations

The proposed operating budget for Fiscal 2017 with Advisory Committee recommendations is attached.  

Their approach is based upon a reduction in expected revenue from New Growth.  For Fiscal 2016, new growth brought in an additional $94,000.  In the prior year, it was $69,000.  

I estimated new growth producing an additional $80,000 in revenue for FY'17.  Thought that this was a conservative estimate, below the current year, in an economy that is doing better.  The Advisory Committee cut the expected new growth revenue to $50,000, and they reduce the Town Administrator salary to $52,000 from $80,000 and they reduce the line item for wage and salary adjustments from $35,000 to $12,000 while giving a raise to the Deputy Assessor, the only Town employee given a raise directly in the budget of the Advisory Committee.  

Assessors are always ultra-conservative about estimating new growth.  Have never encountered Assessors who do it differently.  If our Assessors stand up at Town Meeting and support the lower number, the ATM will likely go along with Advisory Committee recommendations.  Singling out their Deputy Assessor for a raise will likely increase the pressure on the Assessors to support the AC new growth figure.

The BoS and I have supported a higher salary for the Deputy Assessor during the past year.  Her salary in FY'15 was $43K.  She was given two increases in FY'16 that brought her salary to $54K, and she was given an additional $2K in t our FY'17 budget.  Luanne is an excellent employee and she deserves a good salary.  I question why a $12K increase over two fiscal years is inadequate.  Is the AC attempting to influence the Assessors to support for their view of new growth?

I had $25,000 in the Selectmen's budget for raises for non-unionized employees.  It was raised to $35,000 in case we need to increase the Fire Chief's salary during recruitment.  The current Chief is paid $64K.  I put $70K in the FY'17 budget and an additional $10 buried in the BoS budget in case we need it.  

Also, the BoS has said that they want to recruit a permanent T.A. during Fiscal '17.  Why reduce the T.A. salary in the budget when it will have to be raised back to $80K or beyond during recruitment?

Kelli said that Jeff Bennett prevailed upon the AC to raise the budget for Veterans Benefits to $95K.  Not sure why.  AC supports the revolving fund which will use state reimbursements to fund Veterans Benefits.

Rm

posted by Jeff Bennett