TO:            Board of Selectmen
FROM:      Carter Terenzini, Town Administrator
RE:             Administrator's Weekly Report
DATE:        December 14, 2017
CC:             All Departments

Town Hall will be closing at noon on Thursday, December 21, for the Holiday. Other Town

Offices will be closed at noon on Friday, December 22, for the Holiday.

All Town offices will re-open on Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Important Notices

Budget and Legislative Packages Are Due January 2, 2018

Please make sure all of your units and committees are submitting their projects to the CPC

We are having a continuing problem with CH. 30B procurements. Please confer with this

office before entering into any purchase or contract with a value of greater than $2,500.00. 

More formal guidance will be issued in mid January after conferring with the BOS.

Business Meeting or Workshop: The following is intended to supplement agenda items where a full memorandum may not have been required or updates are needed.

Weekly Report:  We opened the bids for the timber cut at the landfill and highway site (s). Our estimate was for a gross income of $15k with a net of $10k. The actual bids are closer to a gross income of $21k with a net of $15k. This will be on your 1/08 agenda. We have rejected the Police Station bids. The Chief met with the project manager and others to try and see where the major differences were between the estimates and the final bids. He will be prepared to brief you at your January workshop along with a plan to go forward. The several offices of the Treasurer/Collector and Development Services have been relocated. While we have a few more things to do over the coming year, this should address the safety concerns expressed by the Town Auditor. That said, the new security features for the Treasurer/Collector will mean a need to relocate the copying and faxing activities of some to the hall copier or other methods. Eric arranged for Jackie Abbott from the State's Operational Services Division to come to Town Hall on Tuesday to train staff members how to use CommBuys for state-wide contracts. Jackie trained staff members on how to make purchases and post bids for services on CommBuys. The staff felt more confident and prepared to use CommBuys in the future after the training. Along with Eric Politt, the following people attended: Eric Baker Dispatch, Felicia Kuehl, the accounts payable clerk from NRSD, Holly Young from the BOS office, Mallory Seamon of development services and Pam Rogers from DPW office. COA and Fire both wanted to attend but had other obligations. They will receive training on CommBuys in the near future.


Assessors:  The past two weeks have been very busy in our offices as work was being done in getting bills ready for 3rd and 4th quarter billing. Exemptions have been posted; liens for utilities have been placed on the tax bills. The actual FY 2018 Real Estate and Personal Property Commitment was processed on Tuesday afternoon and the files have been sent to the Collector/Treasurer office to export to the billing company. This year's tax bills bring a tax rate of $16.72 (an increase of .60 cents per thousand valuation) One reason for the increase is for the elementary school feasibility studies that were never committed in 2009 and 2013 thru 2015. Also real estate property values have increased this year.

posted meeting for December 19, 2017:

1. Meet and Greet the New Committee
Chair-MAJ Michael Currie
Co-Chair Hal Bourgeois
Secretary SGT Christine Caplis
Treasurer Ted Furr
2. Approving Calendar FY14
3. Budget FY15
4. Director’s Operation Report (John Caplis).
5. New Business
a. Look at Bylaws
6. Set next quarters meeting dates.
7. Executive Session, if desired.

from the Templeton Town website:

Name
Title
Phone

Jessica Butts
Director of Veterans Services

This is one of the things that piss me off! Veterans should have a clear idea of who is in charge and whom to contact. The Veterans Committee should also know and post the correct information!

Anonymous8:06 AM

State facts or shut your trap!

Comments like this start all kinds of rumours, accusations, conspiracies

Some facts about Carter Terenzini;

He had an affair with an employee under his supervision.

He failed to disclose this in an interview for a job as Administrator/Manager.

He claimed to have a degree that he did not have.

One Town where he served as Administrator had residents bring forth an article to eliminate the position of Administrator, apparently after seeing the "writing on the wall" so to speak, Terenzini left.

In Spencer, Terenzini called people who wrote about him on line and other places the "maggots of malice"

You can find newspaper articles and even quotes from selectmen in towns where he has served to verify the above.

You can also be the judge if Terenzini has changed his management style or not. You can look into how things are going at Town Hall. 

Questions asked by the Advisory Committee:
Answered by the part time town administrator:

 Carter Terenzini
> 
> Town Administrator
> 
> Town of Templeton
> 
> 160 Patriots Road
> 
> East Templeton, MA 01438
> 
> 1.978.894.2753
> 
> From: advisorycommittee templeton1.org [mailto:advisorycommittee@templeton1.org] 
> Sent: Thursday, December 7, 2017 7:19 AM
> To: hyoung templeton1.org <hyoung@templeton1.org <mailto:hyoung@templeton1.org> >
> Cc: Carter Terenzini <townadministrator@templeton1.org <mailto:townadministrator@templeton1.org> >
> Subject: Advisory questions
> 
> Holly,
> 
> Before the committee questions, Advisory did agree to have a meeting on December 20, 2017, a Wednesday, at 6:00 P.M. at Town Hall in the conference room. This is an already scheduled/planned date for a meeting. I just wish to confirm with you that this is a good day/date/time. Planned items will be Advisory budget for FY2019 and Committee report for the ATR so as to meet time lines put forth by the administrator.
> 
> Now for the questions:
> 
> 1. - Is the BOS financial policy shown on the Town website under the BOS tab the most current up to date one or has there been changes or additions that have not yet been posted?

Holly Young -"I can answer the first question for you, however, the others will have to wait for Carter to answer when he is back in the office on Monday. The financial policy on the website is the latest completed one. It is on the agenda for Monday for an amendment to it to be voted. I’m assuming once that is updated, we will replace the current one on the website."
> 
> 2. - As to the 5 million dollar bond anticipation note (BAN) for the Town that was due to be settled by December 1, 2017 been paid off or has it been extended?
> 
> The Ban was paid out of a new BAN executed a few days earlier.  This is not uncommon of how things are done as we move a project toward permanent bonding.
> 
> 3. - Are there any other bond anticipation notes (BANs) out at this time?
> 
> We have four totaling $9.9M.
> 
> 4. - Does the Town have a firm to conduct the Templeton FY 2017 audit in pace and if so, who is it?
> 
> Roselli and Clark has conducted the FY 2017 audit under the terms of its agreement for FY ’13 through FY 17.  They have completed their field work.
> 
> Lastly, while this is not a question, the committee voted that it is not feasible at this time to give a hard date for the required pre-town meeting by the Advisory Committee. There is a time line requirement by aw and the committee will meet time line and forward it to this office in a timely manner.
> 
> Please let us know at your earliest convenience that Kelli and I might attend if we have not made a prior commitment. 
> 
> Also, Paul Grubb will be in touch with the administrator with regards to VADAR training days/dates. 
> 
> regards;
> 
> Jeff Bennett

Let's Work It Out: The Importance of Reconciliation
Melinda Ordway and Marcia Bohinc - Technical Assistance Bureau


All too frequently, headlines around the Commonwealth have reported the occurrence of missing money, misappropriations, or unauthorized spending in cities and towns. While the risk that a community may fail to detect fraud or otherwise safeguard its assets is a very real and critical problem, perhaps the strongest internal control for managing the situation is the performance of regular accounting reconciliations.

The Division of Local Services (DLS) has continually preached the importance of conducting frequent and prompt reconciliations. A reconciliation involves comparing two separately controlled sets of records to verify whether related account balances agree. This fundamental accounting process helps identify any unusual postings that could be caused by bookkeeping errors, or worse, by deception. The process of proving that transactions are in balance is essential for ensuring the integrity of general ledger data and mitigating fraud.


As a best practice, every community should conduct reconciliations of its two largest assets, cash and receivables, at least monthly to ensure records are accurate and no money is missing. However, the local volume of transactions may dictate that these reconciliations occur weekly, or even daily, given how time-consuming it can be to determine the source of discrepancies.

As the custodian of all revenues, tax titles, and tax possessions, the treasurer must keep a timely and accurate cashbook and reconcile this comprehensive journal of receipts and payments (including bank deposits and withdrawals) against bank statements each month. The collector maintains listings of the community’s various outstanding receivables, each of which is based on a receivable control. In this record of original entry, it begins with the initial tax commitment and tracks each processed collection, abatement, exemption, and tax title transfer, and is adjusted for each issued refund, resulting in the outstanding receivable balance.

After the treasurer and collector have internally reconciled their records, they should provide the balances to the accounting officer for comparison with the general ledger. The financial officers should then meet to discuss any identified discrepancies (caused by missing information, keying errors, timing differences, etc.) with the goal of resolving them. The results of these reconciliations should be reported to the community’s central manager or executive body to verify they were done and provide explanations for any outstanding variances.

Beyond cash and receivables, there are other bookkeeping records that must be periodically reconciled with the general ledger. These include the treasurer’s debt schedule and payroll with holdings, the assessors’ commitment and overlay charges, and other municipal and school department revenue and expenditure records.



To provide guidance and reinforce accountability, local officials should formally adopt a reconciliation policy that identifies each reconciliation to be conducted, assigns responsibilities, establishes deadlines, and requires the results be reported to the chief administrative or executive officer. Sample policies can be found in manuals posted on the Technical Assistance Bureau’s webpage. It should be every community’s goal to prioritize and complete regular reconciliations. Apart from the risk of potentially undetected revenue losses, the lack of timely reconciliations could delay or otherwise negatively impact the certification of free cash by DLS. It could also delay an audit engagement and result in a comment in the audit firm’s management letter.

from the Division of Local Services
May - 2016





The decision to borrow money can be intimidating. To make matters more uncertain, the mechanics of issuing debt may be the least understood financial process among citizens, local officials, and even some professional staff. Generally known is the statutory requirement that a town meeting or a city council can authorize borrowing only by a two-thirds vote. State law also specifies what expenditure purposes may be funded through debt and the allowed duration of the borrowing term (M.G.L. c. 44). The terms of a borrowing are made final when a majority of the board of selectmen or the mayor affixes their signatures to required documentation. However, between authorization and issuance much more occurs with little notice outside the treasurer’s office.



Short-term Debt Short-term debt can be classified best as borrowing through the issue of notes in anticipation of either paying them off or permanently financing the debt. Short-term borrowing also allows communities to make interest-only payments. However, such debt usually has a maturity date of no more than two years, though in some cases, statute dictates a shorter time frame. Additionally, a community might choose to reissue short-term debt and/or to make principal payments under certain circumstances. The various types of short-term debt vehicles used in Massachusetts include the following:

Revenue Anticipation Notes (RANs) – These notes, issued for a maximum of one year, are used to stabilize cash flow when the treasurer’s cash balances are low or forecasted to go negative (M.G.L. c. 44, §4). These notes are issued to fill a cash need, usually until receipt of quarterly or semiannual tax payments or local aid distributions from the Commonwealth.

Federal and State Aid Anticipation Notes (FAANs and SAANs) – These notes are issued to fund spending in anticipation of grant receipts, with the expectation that the note will be paid off upon receiving federal, state or other funds (e.g., Chapter 90 highway project reimbursements).


Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs) – These notes are issued to provide funding for capital improvements. BANs are usually paid off with the proceeds of long-term financing instruments, such as general obligation bonds. However, state law allows for the reissue of a BAN for up to five years if principle payments are made in accordance with an amortization schedule that would be required if the outstanding balance were financed as long-term debt (M.G.L. c. 44, §17). Since short-term debt normally carries a lower interest rate than permanent, this strategy may make sense under certain circumstances.

Templeton Tax Rate through the years:

From the Division of Local Services website

Fiscal Year - 2014 - $16.24

Fiscal Year - 2015 - $16.64

Fiscal Year - 2016 - $16.47

Fiscal Year - 2017 - $16.12

Fiscal Year - 2018 - $16.72

Some of that increase is due to debt payment of feasibility for new school. Part of the price for increase in property values due to the building of a new school is more taxes;  again, Merry Christmas.