from the Massachusetts Municipal Association web page:
Voters in 11 communities, including the city of Boston, approved Community Preservation Act proposals on Nov. 8, while voters defeated CPA proposals in five communities.
CPA questions passed in Billerica, Boston, Chelsea, Holyoke, Hull, Norwood, Pittsfield, Rockland, Springfield, Watertown and Wrentham – the largest number of municipalities to adopt the CPA on a single election date. Measures were defeated in Amesbury, Danvers, East Bridgewater, Palmer and South Hadley.
Nearly half of the cities and towns in Massachusetts (172) have adopted the program.
The Community Preservation Act, passed in 2000, allows participating municipalities to place a surcharge of up to 3 percent on real property in order to create a local dedicated fund for the four allowable CPA purposes: open space preservation, historic preservation, outdoor recreation and affordable housing. Communities that have adopted the CPA receive annual distributions from the state’s Community Preservation Trust Fund.
The adoption of the CPA by additional municipalities will put additional strain on the matching funds provided by the state. On Nov. 16, the Department of Revenue announced that the state match rate for Round 1 this year will be 20.6 percent, the lowest in the program’s history.
From 2002 to 2007, the state matched 100 percent of the local revenue raised through CPA surcharges. The state match has dropped since then, hitting 26.6 percent in 2011. A state law change in 2012 added additional revenue to the CPA Trust Fund, raising the match to 52.2 percent, but increased adoption in recent years has meant that the fund is divided among more communities, reducing the match percentage.
The cities and towns that adopted the CPA on Nov. 8 won’t begin collecting a state match until 2018.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Sunday, November 20, 2016
I regularly see one comment on several blogs and hear the same at some meetings; "where will the money come from?"
Templeton has basically three sources of revenue, local real and personal property tax, state aid and local receipts, such as motor vehicle excise tax, inspection fees, dog license, etc. This is followed by possible grants from the state and federal government. That is pretty much where the money comes from - out of your pocket, one way or another.
The tax rate is arrived at by looking at the total amount of expenses that the voters approve at town meeting. That is where it is decided what is wanted and how much voters are willing to spend for those items. Naturally, the only way to have a say is to attend town meeting.
From the web site of division of local services, click on gateway to the right of the page.
Information submitted on November 16, 2016 at 1:55 P.M. by the deputy assessor.
Templeton 2017 levy ceiling equals $14,943,478.00 with a levy limit of $8,758,243.00.
followed is the levy limit of $8,758,243.00 plus debt exclusion (s) of $881,045.00 equals the maximum allowable levy limit to $9,639,288.00.
There is also a FY 2017 new growth figure of $69,092.00.
(at the bottom of the form is note: the information has not been approved and is subject to change)
That is what is available by way of real and personal property tax. If you look at the budget versus actual report of October 2016, it shows the levy before debt exclusion (s) add in as $8,769,022.00, now add in the $881,045.00 and you get $9,650,067.00. It does look like someone used a figure that did not match reality. Does that add up to a shortfall or another budget issue? I sure hope the treasurer / collector has their numbers right.
For the record, at the May 2016 annual town meeting, advisory committee proposed using a levy limit before debt exclusions of $8,739,022.00, a very conservative approach.
The following is from MA DOR "Levy limits; a primer on proposition 2 1/2"
What is a Levy? The property tax levy is the revenue a community can raise through real and personal property taxes. The property tax levy is the largest source of revenue for most cities and towns.
What is a Levy Ceiling? What is a Levy Limit? Proposition 2 1 ⁄2 places constraints on the amount of the levy raised by a city or town and on how much the levy can be increased from year to year. A levy limit is a restriction on the amount of property taxes a community can levy. Proposition 2 1 ⁄2 established two types of levy limits: First, a community cannot levy more than 2.5 percent of the total full and fair cash value of all taxable real and personal property in the community. Second, a community’s levy is also constrained in that it can only increase by a certain amount from year to year, the levy limit. The levy limit will always be below, or at most, equal to the levy ceiling. The levy limit may not exceed the levy ceiling. Proposition 21 ⁄2 does provide communities with some flexibility. It is possible for a community to levy above its levy limit or its levy ceiling on a temporary basis, as well as to increase its levy limit on a permanent basis. These options are discussed in more detail in other sections of this primer. The concepts of levy ceiling and levy limit are illustrated in Figure 1. How is a Levy Ceiling Calculated? The levy ceiling is determined by calculating 2.5 percent of the total full and fair cash value of taxable real and personal property in the community: Full and Fair Cash Value x 2.5% = LEVY CEILING.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Templeton has basically three sources of revenue, local real and personal property tax, state aid and local receipts, such as motor vehicle excise tax, inspection fees, dog license, etc. This is followed by possible grants from the state and federal government. That is pretty much where the money comes from - out of your pocket, one way or another.
The tax rate is arrived at by looking at the total amount of expenses that the voters approve at town meeting. That is where it is decided what is wanted and how much voters are willing to spend for those items. Naturally, the only way to have a say is to attend town meeting.
From the web site of division of local services, click on gateway to the right of the page.
Information submitted on November 16, 2016 at 1:55 P.M. by the deputy assessor.
Templeton 2017 levy ceiling equals $14,943,478.00 with a levy limit of $8,758,243.00.
followed is the levy limit of $8,758,243.00 plus debt exclusion (s) of $881,045.00 equals the maximum allowable levy limit to $9,639,288.00.
There is also a FY 2017 new growth figure of $69,092.00.
(at the bottom of the form is note: the information has not been approved and is subject to change)
That is what is available by way of real and personal property tax. If you look at the budget versus actual report of October 2016, it shows the levy before debt exclusion (s) add in as $8,769,022.00, now add in the $881,045.00 and you get $9,650,067.00. It does look like someone used a figure that did not match reality. Does that add up to a shortfall or another budget issue? I sure hope the treasurer / collector has their numbers right.
For the record, at the May 2016 annual town meeting, advisory committee proposed using a levy limit before debt exclusions of $8,739,022.00, a very conservative approach.
The following is from MA DOR "Levy limits; a primer on proposition 2 1/2"
What is a Levy? The property tax levy is the revenue a community can raise through real and personal property taxes. The property tax levy is the largest source of revenue for most cities and towns.
What is a Levy Ceiling? What is a Levy Limit? Proposition 2 1 ⁄2 places constraints on the amount of the levy raised by a city or town and on how much the levy can be increased from year to year. A levy limit is a restriction on the amount of property taxes a community can levy. Proposition 2 1 ⁄2 established two types of levy limits: First, a community cannot levy more than 2.5 percent of the total full and fair cash value of all taxable real and personal property in the community. Second, a community’s levy is also constrained in that it can only increase by a certain amount from year to year, the levy limit. The levy limit will always be below, or at most, equal to the levy ceiling. The levy limit may not exceed the levy ceiling. Proposition 21 ⁄2 does provide communities with some flexibility. It is possible for a community to levy above its levy limit or its levy ceiling on a temporary basis, as well as to increase its levy limit on a permanent basis. These options are discussed in more detail in other sections of this primer. The concepts of levy ceiling and levy limit are illustrated in Figure 1. How is a Levy Ceiling Calculated? The levy ceiling is determined by calculating 2.5 percent of the total full and fair cash value of taxable real and personal property in the community: Full and Fair Cash Value x 2.5% = LEVY CEILING.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Friday, November 18, 2016
Happenings in Templeton - as we hear them.
Possible new veterans service officer in Templeton - wife of current/former Templeton veterans service officer John Caplis.
Templeton Senior Center gets a 30 day extension and the food pantry will be allowed to stay open no matter because the down stairs is in code -???
Some cuts coming as it seems the fiscal year 2017 expense spread sheet was/is not as good as the selectmen and former town administrator told town meeting it was/is.
I take that as the selectmen and town administrator fibbed to town meeting, so if they think a tax override is the way to go to fix that mess, good luck with that approach.
Assistant treasurer/collector now doing the payroll for the town, per orders from the selectmen/town administrator, because apparently the town treasurer/collector "has alot on her plate."
On the good side, 4 selectmen signed the tax recap sheet and all of the assessors signed so it has been sent off to the DOR. selectmen John Columbus could not be bothered with signing the most important document.
The DOR office in Boston is keeping an eye on Templeton while wondering how Templeton is going to borrow 47 million for a new school and the one million dollars for police station work.
There are apparently about 20 candidates for town administrator for Templeton.
There is serious talk about the merging of cemetery and highway as well as some eyes on and questions about sewer debt and the spending over there by the way the process was done - apparently there may have been some steps or a process that was shall we say, mishandled.
enjoy the weekend.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Possible new veterans service officer in Templeton - wife of current/former Templeton veterans service officer John Caplis.
Templeton Senior Center gets a 30 day extension and the food pantry will be allowed to stay open no matter because the down stairs is in code -???
Some cuts coming as it seems the fiscal year 2017 expense spread sheet was/is not as good as the selectmen and former town administrator told town meeting it was/is.
I take that as the selectmen and town administrator fibbed to town meeting, so if they think a tax override is the way to go to fix that mess, good luck with that approach.
Assistant treasurer/collector now doing the payroll for the town, per orders from the selectmen/town administrator, because apparently the town treasurer/collector "has alot on her plate."
On the good side, 4 selectmen signed the tax recap sheet and all of the assessors signed so it has been sent off to the DOR. selectmen John Columbus could not be bothered with signing the most important document.
The DOR office in Boston is keeping an eye on Templeton while wondering how Templeton is going to borrow 47 million for a new school and the one million dollars for police station work.
There are apparently about 20 candidates for town administrator for Templeton.
There is serious talk about the merging of cemetery and highway as well as some eyes on and questions about sewer debt and the spending over there by the way the process was done - apparently there may have been some steps or a process that was shall we say, mishandled.
enjoy the weekend.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Contract/agreement with UMass. Edwad J. Collins jr. center for public management.
This can be found on the Templeton town web site, under board of selectmen, town contracts/agreements.
The document is dated June 6, 2016 and it contains a professional fee (on page 4) for carrying out certain tasks. The fee is $14,000.00 and before you go further, look at the expense spread sheet presented to the town meeting back in May of 2016. There was $8,500.00 put forward for this. Perhaps realizing their error, selectmen proposed a transfer of$5,500.00 to cover/make up the difference. Problem is, on page 4, it describes what else the town (taxpayers) are on the hook for: town administrator candidates expenses, advertising, background checks and the center's out of pocket expenses(printing, mileage, lodging, etc.) These costs are not included in the professional fee.
It states Collins will bill $8,500.00 when task 2 is complete and $5,500.00 when task five is complete. It also states the professional fee for carrying out tasks one through four is $14,000.00 So read this and ask your self if this signing this agreement is an indication of how the town's finances are still in a mess and appear to be getting worse rather than better. My opinion is the selectmen went about a very coordinated effort to make the town's financial picture look much better than it was to gain a positive school vote.
posted by Jeff Bennett
This can be found on the Templeton town web site, under board of selectmen, town contracts/agreements.
The document is dated June 6, 2016 and it contains a professional fee (on page 4) for carrying out certain tasks. The fee is $14,000.00 and before you go further, look at the expense spread sheet presented to the town meeting back in May of 2016. There was $8,500.00 put forward for this. Perhaps realizing their error, selectmen proposed a transfer of$5,500.00 to cover/make up the difference. Problem is, on page 4, it describes what else the town (taxpayers) are on the hook for: town administrator candidates expenses, advertising, background checks and the center's out of pocket expenses(printing, mileage, lodging, etc.) These costs are not included in the professional fee.
It states Collins will bill $8,500.00 when task 2 is complete and $5,500.00 when task five is complete. It also states the professional fee for carrying out tasks one through four is $14,000.00 So read this and ask your self if this signing this agreement is an indication of how the town's finances are still in a mess and appear to be getting worse rather than better. My opinion is the selectmen went about a very coordinated effort to make the town's financial picture look much better than it was to gain a positive school vote.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Selectmen vote on a single tax rate for Templeton. That is, residential and business / commercial pay the same tax rate. With that vote, it was indicated the tax recap paper work could be filed before Thanksgiving and the tax rate could be set by the DOR and tax bills could go out. Now, the selectmen want to hold off on that action. Apparently there are some figures from the treasurer/collector that are not accurate or correct. No real surprise there from someone who serves on the Advisory Committee. We have gotten documents with conflicting numbers on them several times. It is a head scratcher when debt figures go up despite debt being paid off. This raises the question on whether the information from the treasurer / collector can be trusted. This also raises the question how accurate is the information on the already filed schedule A for Templeton. The information received so far shows different figures for the same item several times. Either things are not as fine as has been reported or someone in a very important position does not know the job as well as they should. Either way, more delay in filing an important piece of information.
If you are a follower of Templeton events, there are a few emails and reports where the question of "pushing" the numbers or "fixing" the numbers so the paperwork could be filed, as the case for the schedule A. I am still waiting for the annual town report of 2015 to be redone per town meeting vote.
As for the auction of town property, there was about $14,000.00 raised or bid and now the wining bids have to be paid off, as was indicated by the interim town administrator. Selectmen opted to reject bids on items 17, 21,25 and 26 and it was stated it would be a winter project for the highway department, as it was stated by the interim town administrator that Bud Chase informed him that the highway crew could take these items apart for scrap which would result in more money for the town. I have to wonder if anyone has checked the price of scrap recently.
item #17 listed as 53 elementary school desks
item #21 listed as metal folding chairs
item 25 listed as 29 orange hard plastic chairs
item # 26 listed as 3 metal filing cabinets.
Question asked about when a fire chief will be hired/chosen, the answer was the selectmen are on it. Seems like more delay and the chairman seemed to blame the no vote on taking $87,000.00 from town savings at the most recent special town meeting as part of the reason. Just more delay and lack of action on the part of selectmen. In my opinion anyway.
posted by Jeff Bennett
If you are a follower of Templeton events, there are a few emails and reports where the question of "pushing" the numbers or "fixing" the numbers so the paperwork could be filed, as the case for the schedule A. I am still waiting for the annual town report of 2015 to be redone per town meeting vote.
As for the auction of town property, there was about $14,000.00 raised or bid and now the wining bids have to be paid off, as was indicated by the interim town administrator. Selectmen opted to reject bids on items 17, 21,25 and 26 and it was stated it would be a winter project for the highway department, as it was stated by the interim town administrator that Bud Chase informed him that the highway crew could take these items apart for scrap which would result in more money for the town. I have to wonder if anyone has checked the price of scrap recently.
item #17 listed as 53 elementary school desks
item #21 listed as metal folding chairs
item 25 listed as 29 orange hard plastic chairs
item # 26 listed as 3 metal filing cabinets.
Question asked about when a fire chief will be hired/chosen, the answer was the selectmen are on it. Seems like more delay and the chairman seemed to blame the no vote on taking $87,000.00 from town savings at the most recent special town meeting as part of the reason. Just more delay and lack of action on the part of selectmen. In my opinion anyway.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Friday, November 11, 2016
Recently the Templeton held a "workshop" meeting, open to public and recorded. In that meeting, one selectmen seemed to hint this would be her last time as selectmen, we shall see. Another selectmen, I believe it was Julie Richards, commented on how some town employees were not working the hours they were being paid. Which is interesting as I have recently asked for time sheets of all town hall employees and the selectmen said they were/are not public records. I was told the town does not release medical or personnel records. Problem is I did not ask for either, I asked for time sheets involving the spending of public funds from a fund/account containing public money. But, back to the meeting, after selectmen Richards made the comment, selectmen Brooks made the statement that "we should place office hours time on the doors" it was quickly pointed out that is already done and the times are even on the town website. In my opinion, the thing that strikes me is if one selectmen knows employees are not working the hours they are suppose to, why has it not been addressed? Selectmen are management, the bosses, in charge, so do something about it. I believe the residents and taxpayers of Templeton deserve to have this taken care of as they pay for these things to happen. It is one thing for a selectmen to say or state they have amazing relationships with town employees, but that is not what taxpayers pay for, it is service and part of that service is employees working the hours that they are paid to work. Time sheets should show that and perhaps that is why they do not want me to have them?
posted by Jeff Bennett
posted by Jeff Bennett
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Public records exemptions:
Exemption (c) – The Privacy Exemption Exemption (c), the privacy exemption, is the most frequently invoked exemption. The language of the exemption limits its application to: personnel and medical files or information; also any other materials or data relating to a specifically named individual, the disclosure of which may constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (43)
43 G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(c).
The privacy exemption is made up of two separate clauses, the first of which exempts personnel and medical files. As a general rule, medical information will always be of a sufficiently personal nature to warrant exemption.44 The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined that exempting personnel information from disclosure serves to protect the government’s ability to function effectively as an employer.45 The release of certain personnel information could disrupt the government’s capability to conduct sensitive and careful investigations regarding employees.46 While statutorily exempting personnel information from the expansive definition of public records, the legislature did not explicitly define personnel information.47 However, judicial decisions acknowledge that the term is neither rigid, nor exact, and that the determination is case-specific.48 The custodian’s classification of materials as “personnel information” is not conclusive.49 Instead, the nature or character of the documents, as opposed to the documents’ label, is crucial to the analysis.50 The nature of some materials and the context in which they arise take them beyond what the legislature contemplated when exempting personnel information.51
Public employees have a diminished expectation of privacy in matters relating to their public employment.56 Consequently, the public will have greater access to information that relates to an individual’s public employment than to the same individual’s private activities.57 For example, an individual’s public employment salary is a public record, but the source or amount of private income generally is not public information.
The public interest in the financial information of a public employee outweighs the privacy interest where the financial compensation in question is drawn on an account held by a government entity and comprised of taxpayer funds.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Exemption (c) – The Privacy Exemption Exemption (c), the privacy exemption, is the most frequently invoked exemption. The language of the exemption limits its application to: personnel and medical files or information; also any other materials or data relating to a specifically named individual, the disclosure of which may constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (43)
43 G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(c).
The privacy exemption is made up of two separate clauses, the first of which exempts personnel and medical files. As a general rule, medical information will always be of a sufficiently personal nature to warrant exemption.44 The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined that exempting personnel information from disclosure serves to protect the government’s ability to function effectively as an employer.45 The release of certain personnel information could disrupt the government’s capability to conduct sensitive and careful investigations regarding employees.46 While statutorily exempting personnel information from the expansive definition of public records, the legislature did not explicitly define personnel information.47 However, judicial decisions acknowledge that the term is neither rigid, nor exact, and that the determination is case-specific.48 The custodian’s classification of materials as “personnel information” is not conclusive.49 Instead, the nature or character of the documents, as opposed to the documents’ label, is crucial to the analysis.50 The nature of some materials and the context in which they arise take them beyond what the legislature contemplated when exempting personnel information.51
Public employees have a diminished expectation of privacy in matters relating to their public employment.56 Consequently, the public will have greater access to information that relates to an individual’s public employment than to the same individual’s private activities.57 For example, an individual’s public employment salary is a public record, but the source or amount of private income generally is not public information.
The public interest in the financial information of a public employee outweighs the privacy interest where the financial compensation in question is drawn on an account held by a government entity and comprised of taxpayer funds.
posted by Jeff Bennett
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