Ayer, MA finance committee - according to data, population of 8,000

Mission

The responsibility of the Finance Committee is to act in the best interest of the taxpayer. The Finance Committee is the representative and advisory committee for Town Meeting; the legislative body of government in the Town of Ayer. The committee’s primary responsibility is to present a balanced budget for Annual Town Meeting which provides an efficient use of available funds by maximizing revenue streams and ensuring expenses are quantified. The committee reviews and provides recommendations on all monetary municipal warrant articles. The committee provides information on the Town of Ayer’s financial health, execution of financial processes, and financial efficiency for voters to make educated decisions. Final decision making responsibility rests with elected officials and those who vote at Town Meeting and general elections.

Someone asked for this, so here you go.

Tax rate for Templeton, MA for 2018 is $16.72 per thousand.

Tax rate for Phillipston, MA for 2018 is $16.48 per thousand
(from their tax recap sheet on DLS website)

Tax rate for Winchendon, Ma for 2018 is $17.35 per thousand
(from their tax recap sheet on DLS website)

Tax rate for Hubbardston, MA for 2018 is $15.13 per thousand
(from their tax recap sheet on DLS website)

Tax rate for Royalston, MA for 2018 is $14,44 per thousand
(from their tax recap sheet on DLS website)

Tax rate for Wesminster, MA for 2018 is $18.55 per thousand
(from their tax recap sheet on DLS website)

Tax rate for Ashburnham, MA for 2018 is $23.40 per thousand
(from their tax recap sheet on DLS website)
Ashburnham's new school is on the books being paid for by tax rate)
listed on MSBA website with a 30 million dollar budget

Tax rate for Gardner, MA for 2018 is $20.27 per thousand
(from their tax recap sheet on DLS website)

Not many $20.00 per thousand Towns around Templeton.

A 2016 article on gas tax in Massachusetts. 

Cities and Towns get their chapter 90 monies from the fuel tax, except alot of those tax dollars go to pay for tunnels in Boston and other projects that benefit Templeton how?

BOSTON -- The state Legislature is poised to vote on a bill requiring the state to apply for federal funding to test a new tax on drivers, based on the number of miles traveled.

Gov. Charlie Baker has said he opposes the pilot program.

Supporters of the proposal say the state must come up with a new way to fund transportation infrastructure, since the growth of fuel efficient cars means the state will get less money from the state gas tax. The vehicle miles traveled tax could eventually replace the gas tax.

So how much money does Massachusetts get from the state gas tax?

Data obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue shows that state revenue from the gas tax dropped on the heels of the 2008 recession, from $672.7 million in 2008 to $654 million in 2009. The revenue began to rebound around 2011.

In 2013, Massachusetts increased the state gas tax from 21 cents per gallon to 24 cents per gallon. With that shift, the state's revenue grew significantly, to $766 million in the year that ended on June 30.

Great news Templeton residents:

advisorycommittee templeton1.org <advisorycommittee@templeton1.org>

 

|

Today, 7:41 AM

You;

Wilfred Spring (185wilberdr@gmail.com);

Beverly Bartolomeo (bartsfarm@comcast.net);

Elizabeth Toth (liz_toth@hotmail.com);

jfarrell59@gmail.com;

> ---------- Original Message ----------
> From: townadministrator <townadministrator@templeton1.org>
> To: Advisory Committee <advisorycommittee@templeton1.org>, Diane Haley Brooks <seldhaleybrooks@templeton1.org>, John Caplis <selectmen.caplis@templeton1.org>, selectmen.fortes@templeton1.org, selectmen.morrison@templeton1.org, selectmen.richard@templeton1.org
> Date: March 7, 2018 at 1:37 PM
> Subject: Monty Tech
>
> You can see their proposed budget here:
> https://ma02212741.schoolwires.net/cms/lib/MA02212741/Centricity/Domain/8/FY
> 19PublicHearingBudget%202%2021%2018.pdf
>
> Their public hearing is now set for next Wednesday night.
>
> It did not contain any good news for you.  Our proposed assessment is up
> $50k (see page 10).  This is roughly $35k above our hoped for increase of
> $15k+/-.  I am told that it is driven by the change in the net school
> spending formula (i.e.. minimum contribution). 
> 
> So. that $32k we moved from grants to the revenue ledger the other evening
> is now eaten up here and cannot offer us any assistance in offsetting the
> potential NRSD assessment.   

> Many Thanks
> Carter Terenzini
>
> Town Administrator
> Town of Templeton
> 160 Patriots Road
> East Templeton, MA 01438
> 1.978.894.2753

Perhaps there should be some clarity on a few things, and perhaps such clarity could/should come from the board of selectmen. Massachusetts General Law, chapter 39, section 16 states how things are suppose to work. It states that Towns may by by-law provide for election or appointment of a finance/advisory committee; as in towns have a choice of which way to go on that.

The law also states that the finance committee/advisory shall submit a budget unless there is a town by-law for selectmen to do it. Templeton has two separate by-laws contradicting each. Templeton advisory committee went to Town Administrator with the question and asked that Town Counsel be sent the question for some kind of clarity. That was done and the answers were it could be done by agreement between the two committees in one way or another, then fix the by-law issue or go to Town Meeting and have it decided there. I will dig up the response from legal counsel to post it here.

Thing is, if there is a legal right for Advisory to submit a budget and selectmen control the warrant, how would the budget presentation get on the warrant without a legal - in court fight? Go to your state senate or representative and suddenly "that is a local issue' go to the Department of Revenue and "that is a local issue" so short of spending money on lawyers, there should be a meeting of selectmen and advisory and come to agreement and then fix the damn by-laws.

Templeton General Town by-laws state:

Article III - Town Officers;

Section 4. “It shall be duty of the Town Administrator in conjunction with the BOS to consider expenditures and develop a budget for the ensuing fiscal year of the several boards, officers and committees of the town, as prepared by them in such form and detail as prescribed by the Town Administrator.”
Passed 5-16-13, Approved by A/G 8-22-13. Amended 5-19-14, Approved by A/G 7-2-14

Article IV - Advisory Committee;

Section 4. It shall be the duty of the Advisory Committee annually to consider the expenditures in previous years and the estimated requirements for the ensuing year of the several boards, officers and committees of the town, as prepared by them in such form and detail as may be prescribed by said committee. The said committee shall add to such statement of expenditures and estimates another column, giving the amounts which in its opinion should be appropriated for the ensuing year, and shall further add thereto such explanations and suggestions relating to the proposed appropriations as it may deem expedient, and report thereon as provided in section five of Article II.

Sections 1-4, 5, 6 Passed 3-5-51, Section 4a Passed 3-9-57, Amended 3-10-73, Approved by A/G 7-27-73, Amended 5-16-13, Approved by A/G 8-22-13 Sections 1 & 2 Amended 5-11-11, Approved by A/G 5-17-11

It is my personal belief that this conflicting item (s) were not addressed because of the then board of selectmen (s) position of "we are the superior board and we are elected and you are just appointed.) and you may ask selectmen Brooks about that. Again, that is my personal belief as a resident.

Important Note: Talked about at a meeting of board of selectmen, proposed amendment to Town general by-laws - clarify the role in which Advisory Committee can comment on warrant.

To create or not??


What the Massachusetts General Law states:

Chapter 39 - Section 16:

Section 16: Appropriation, advisory or finance committees; appointment; tenure; powers and duties

Section 16. Every town whose valuation for the purpose of apportioning the state tax exceeds one million dollars shall, and any other town may, by by-law provide for the election or the appointment and duties of appropriation, advisory or finance committees, who shall consider any or all municipal questions for the purpose of making reports or recommendations to the town; and such by-laws may provide that committees so appointed or elected may continue in office for terms not exceeding three years from the date of appointment or election.

In every town having a committee appointed under authority of this section, such committee, or the selectmen if authorized by a by-law of the town, and, in any town not having such a committee, the selectmen, shall submit a budget at the annual town meeting.

Also, there are mention of the Finance or Advisory Committee (s) in the Handbook for Selectmen and Handbook for Finance Committees.

So, unless a Town has a by-law stating the selectmen shall submit a budget to Town Meeting, it would be the job of the Finance or Advisory Committee. Templeton has Two by-laws on this topic, which means we have conflicting by-laws guiding the Town on how we do things. This was questioned by the Templeton Advisory Committee through a Town Administrator, Robert Markel, the question was sent to Town Counsel and options to deal with these issues were provided but as of yet, not dealt with. 

No matter who does what, it is kind of hard to make and present a report to Town Meeting without first creating one, so to the Anonymous poster who stated Advisory Committee is to advise not create would be wrong. If one does more research, you will find one of the most important jobs of the Finance or Advisory Committee is to oversee the Town's reserve fund. There is a process to request money from the reserve fund, it is commonly called a policy and it was created by the Advisory Committee.

With some talk of an increase in school assessment for Templeton and perhaps an override (tax increase) to support that possible increase, it should be noted that there are two members who make up the Narragansett Regional School District.

One member has always paid it's required minimum local contribution, one member has always paid it's target local contribution, in fact, this member has always paid more than required, not including any other tax overrides. This can be confirmed by looking at Town records (annual Town reports), district paper work and information from the department of elementary and secondary education, which is available online. This member also has shown it's continued support of the schools and especially the children by way of agreeing to fund the building of a new elementary school. This member of the Narragansett School district would be Templeton!

Despite the fact that some Templeton residents always question the moves of the district school committee and it's spending of taxpayer dollars, Templeton has always paid it's share. This fact should not be lost in any discussion of a future increase in Templeton's Town assessment to support the school.

If one takes the time to check, either online or through direct contact with the DESE, you should be able to confirm that a minimum local contribution is required and the target local contribution need to be met as well (by requirement of law?), so the point of this information is to inform anyone interested, that despite claims by some, Templeton has not only met it's required contributions, it has paid more and that is not required by law. Again, this post concerns Templeton because that is the Town that concerns me. It also apparently concerned another Town resident who took the time to research this subject and prove it true. The Town resident also managed to get the then superintendent of the district to acknowledge that the information was true. For some reason, the resident was unable to get it published in The Gardner News, even after several attempts to do so.

Templeton provided more dollars than required to support the schools and additionally providing more dollars to build a new elementary school. Too often said that Templeton residents do not support the schools because they fail to provide even the minimum required dollars and that is simply not correct.