Templeton is on a roll!

What happened to we need to increase pay to attract good people who will stick around?
What could be the cause of the employees leaving?

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
 TOWN OF TEMPLETON, MA
 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

Mechanic: Full-time position maintaining all classes of equipment ranging from passenger vehicles (police cruisers) to 10 wheel dump trucks, loaders, road sweepers, backhoes, brush chippers and the like. Requires High School or GED diploma, valid Class B driver’s license with air brake and hoisting licenses of 1C and 2A and a minimum of three years of experience. Successful applicant will have interpersonal skills, ability to work under pressure to return equipment to the road, and able to work independently using sound judgment under limited supervision.

Foreman – Buildings & Grounds: Full-time position supervising small crew of full and part time laborer’s maintaining the Town’s cemeteries, parks, and buildings; maintains records kept on all lots, locates graves for families and vendors, performs related burial tasks, snow removal, and minor building maintenance, operates a variety of equipment, including backhoe, one ton truck w/plow and tractor and performs minor maintenance on the same and hand help equipment. Requires High School or GED diploma, valid Class D or higher driver’s license with hydraulics endorsement 2B (or ability to earn the same within six months), and a minimum of three years of experience with at least one year in a supervisory role. Successful candidate will have interpersonal skills to deal with people at traumatic times in their lives, ability to work well in a team while also able to work independently using sound judgment under limited supervision.

Driver/Operator/Laborer: Full-Time position performing maintenance duties for town streets and highways, sidewalks, drainage systems of culverts, catch basins and manholes, street sweeping, patching potholes, tree maintenance, snow-plowing, performing minor equipment repairs and assisting others in this and the Buildings & Grounds Department. Requires High School or GED diploma, valid Class B driver’s license with air brake and hoisting licenses of 2B, 4G, and 4E (or ability to earn the same within 6 months) and three years of experience. Successful applicant will have the ability to work well in a team while also able to work independently using sound judgment under limited supervision. Applications from those with only CDL learners permit will also receive consideration.

Seasonal Laborers: Thirty (30) or ten (10) week positions of 40 hr/wk (April 1 or July 1 start) performing grounds maintenance of mowing, edging, weeding, maintaining mulch beds, loading and unloading equipment and supplies, disposing of refuse, assisting in minor roadway maintenance, and cleaning interior and exterior of facilities. Requires High School or GED diploma, valid Class D or higher driver’s license, and be 18 years of age. Successful candidates must be able to work under limited supervision, have tact when in contact with the public, and a working knowledge of the care and use of hand tools and small motorized equipment.

TO: Board of Selectmen
FROM: Carter Terenzini, Town Administrator
RE: Administrator’s Weekly Report
DATE: February 7, 2019
CC: All Departments


5g. We have $16.6M of BANs due at the end of this month. The intent is to pay about $380k in cash from the budget, roll $4M as BANs until 02/20, and then issue General Obligation Bonds of  $12.230+/- M. I say plus or minus because we are required to resize the final GOB by the prorata share of the net premium being earned on the police portion of the bond (We anticipate the final PD portion of the bond to be $2,440,000). The interest rate on the GOB is less than 3.5% while the net interest rate on the BAN is just under 2.09. In November you will need to roll those BANs until 02/20 so that you can then issue a GOB at the appropriate structure to account for the length of time it may take the MSBA to settle your account. While you remain well under budget this can always change so… You may find you need a modest amount of a new BAN may be needed toward the end of the project to cover any changes in this status or the MSBA settlement impact our current cash flows.

Templeton Board of Selectmen Town Hall, 160 Patriots Road, East Templeton Wednesday, February 13, 2019, 6:30 p.m. Agenda 1. Call the Meeting to Order 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Public Comment 4. a. Meeting Minutes~ 1.9.19, 1.23.19 b. Executive Session Minutes~ none 5. New Business: a. Action RE: Appointments & Introductions b. Presentation RE: Senator Gobi & Representative Whipps c. Public Hearing RE: Community Development FY’19 Grant d. Action RE: North Worcester County Drug Task Force e. Action RE: Award Contract RE: Property Revaluation Project f. Action RE: Open Warrant for Annual Town Meeting g. Action RE: Award of GOBs and BANs for Police & School Projects h. Action RE: Sewer Collections by the Office of Treasurer/Collector i. Presentation RE: Audit Exit Conference, Roselli & Associates 6. Old Business: none 7. Board & Staff Member Comments & Reports 8. Potential Request for Executive Session per MGL Ch. 30; §21.2 and 21.3 (Collective Bargaining) and & 21.4 (Deployment of security devices) 9. Adjournment The listing of Agenda items is those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent it is permitted by law. THIS AGENDA IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

from where we have come:

 

Moody's downgrades Town of Templeton MA's GO rating to A2; outlook is negative

30 Jul 2013

Downgrade affects $11.2 million of outstanding debt

New York, July 30, 2013 -- Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the Town of Templeton MA's general obligation rating to A2 from A1 and assigned a negative outlook. Concurrently, we have removed the rating from review, as our downgrade of the rating resolves the earlier action. Moody's placement of the rating under review, with direction uncertain on June 26, 2013, was prompted by a lack of sufficient 2012 financial information, which we have since received.

The town's unlimited and limited tax GO bonds are secured by its GO unlimited and limited tax pledge respectively, subject to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' (Aa1 Stable Outlook) Proposition 2 ½ tax levy limitation. As of June 30, 2012, the town has approximately $6.9 million of unlimited tax GO bonds and $4.3 million of limited tax GO bonds outstanding.

SUMMARY RATINGS RATIONALE

The downgrade to A2 reflects the town's deteriorating financial position, which is driven by rising expenditures and annual transfers to the sewer fund to pay for ongoing projects. This pressure is demonstrated by the town's falling general fund balance levels, which declined by 40% from 2008 to 2012. In addition, the town's new management team may not be able to reverse these trends expeditiously given their limited knowledge of the town's finances. The A2 rating also considers the town's modest-sized tax base, manageable debt burden, and below-average socioeconomic indices.

The negative outlook incorporates Moody's expectation that the town's reserve position will continue to diminish given ongoing operating pressure and management's lack of clear plans to address this pressure.

STRENGTHS

Manageable debt burden

CHALLENGES

Narrowing reserve position

Management's limited understanding of the town's fiscal pressures

General fund substantially supporting the costs of ongoing sewer projects

Modest tax base and wealth levels

OUTLOOK

The negative outlook reflects Moody's expectation that the town's financial position will continue to deteriorate, with additional operating deficits in the near term. It also incorporates the town's lack of formalized plans to reduce the town's dependence on reserves. Further weakening of town reserves could lead to additional rating pressure.

WHAT COULD MAKE THE RATING GO UP (REMOVAL OF NEGATIVE OUTLOOK)

Improvement in management practices, evidenced by the implementation of strategies to reduce reliance on reserves and elimination of qualified audit opinions

Growth and stabilization of general fund reserves

Rating Action: 

Moody's assigns initial A1 to Templeton, MA GOs

04 Feb 2019

New York, February 04, 2019 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned an A1 general obligation unlimited tax rating to the town of Templeton, Massachusetts's General Obligation Municipal Purpose Loan of 2019 Bonds.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The A1 rating incorporates a small but growing tax base, vastly improved financial position from just a few years ago, elevated debt burden, and above average pension liabilities.

RATINGS OUTLOOK

Moody's does not usually assign outlooks to local government credits with this amount of debt outstanding.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE

- Improvements to the tax base

- Sustained improvement in reserve levels

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A DOWNGRADE

- Significant decline in tax base

- Significant drop in reserves

LEGAL SECURITY

The bonds are secured by the town's general obligation unlimited tax pledge as debt service has been voted exempt from the tax levy limits of Proposition 2.5.

USE OF PROCEEDS

The bonds will fund elementary school construction and police station renovations.

Templeton Receives A1 Rating from Moody’s Investor Services

Capping a series of positive improvements in the Town of Templeton’s financial management and status, the Town has received yet another positive recognition on the turnaround of its finances when Moody’s Investors Services, the major rating service for municipal general obligation bonds, gave the Town a rating of A1 on its upcoming issue of $12.250M. This rating is described by Moody’s as being “… judged to be upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.”

Action on this General Obligations Bond – the first of two expected to finance the new Templeton Center Elementary School and expansion and renovation of the police station is expected to be taken by the SelectBoard at their business meeting of February 13th. The Town is expected to receive its FY ’18 audit report at the same meeting from the Town’s audit firm, Roselli and Clark.

The following is from an article on the MMA web site.

Late last month, Gov. Charlie Baker submitted his $42.7 billion fiscal 2020 state budget plan to the Legislature, proposing a spending blueprint that would increase overall state expenditures by 1.5 percent, as the Administration deals with slow revenue growth by restraining most spending across the board and placing an estimated $297 million into the state’s rainy day fund.

A centerpiece of the administration’s budget (House 1) is a seven-year plan to respond to calls for a significant reinvestment in Chapter 70 education aid, after years of below-maintenance increases in state education funding. In spite of a tightly capped property tax, low state aid has led cities and towns to spend more than $2 billion above the prescribed local contribution to schools. Communities have done this by cutting support for core non-school services, such as public works and public safety, and by increasing reliance on the already overburdened property tax. This has created chronic fiscal stress and painful decisions in communities across the state

Under House 1, 183 cities, towns and regional districts would be stuck at a meager $20-per-student minimum aid increase. That means 57 percent of all school districts – ranging from rural districts in western Massachusetts to our capital city of Boston – would continue a slow fiscal decline, affecting hundreds of thousands of students

House 1 would also level-fund regional transportation reimbursements at $68.9 million and transportation for homeless students (McKinney-Vento) at $9.1 million. This would be a hardship for virtually all communities in regional districts and those that transport homeless students who remain sheltered in hotels and motels

Another year of failure from the governor's office. It will be interesting to see what the legislature does on these issues.