December meeting for Advisory Committee cancelled due to lack of quorum?

Town Administrator can predict how much town will take in from new growth, but is unable to predict ho much will be transferred from Town's enterprise funds to cover costs on insurance and retirement and is also unable to predict how much money will be received from state aid. With 6 years of financial data, the administrator should be able to pencil in some good estimates. I mean where did the figures for future new growth and vehicle ese tax come from??

Financial data shows the enterprise funds have not transferred over less than 1.5 million dollars each of the last 6 years. Total state aid has not been less than 1.6 million for each of the last 6 years.

https://www.mytowngovernment.org/viewer?document=ahNzfnRvd25nb3Zlcm5tZW50LWhychoLEg1Eb2N1bWVudE1vZGVsGICAwOL9wNcJDA

Emails within this document show a disturbing trend in Templeton governance.

Templeton needs a bylaw limiting selectmen to serve only on the board of selectmen, per recommendations from department of revenue in 2 financial reviews of the town of Templeton. Templeton already has bylaw limiting elective offices held by selectmen - only the board of selectmen.

 What’s the difference between annual and special meetings?

Each town must hold an annual Town Meeting. Additional Town Meetings are called special meetings. They may be called as many times during the year as necessary.

Templeton had a town meeting on November 15, 2023- it was a special town meeting, which means the moderator cannot appoint anyone to the advisory committee. According to town bylaws, the moderator can appoint a person to the advisory committee up to 30 days after annual town meeting dissolves. Selectmen and town administrator can call it a fall town meeting, but it is a special town meeting and people (voters) need to know and remember that.

 Once again, Templeton selectmen show they do not know town bylaws, do not understand them and this is a serious and sad state of affairs. First, Templeton has a bylaw on advisory committee, it states how members are appointed and who appoints them as well as when a vacancy happens during the year at any time.

One section of said bylaw states:

Upon the effective date of this revised article of the Town Bylaws, the terms of all existing members of the Advisory Committee shall terminate at the next Town Meeting; the Moderator shall then appoint five members to serve until the conclusion of the next Annual Town Meeting. The Moderator of the Annual Town Meeting shall, within 30 days after said meeting, appoint one member of said Committee for a term of one year, two members for terms of two years, and two members for terms of three years. After the term of these initial appointments, the Moderator shall within 30 days after the adjournment of every Annual Town Meeting, appoint for a term of three years the number of persons as may be necessary, to provide a committee of five members. The terms of office of said members shall commence immediately upon being sworn in by the Town Clerk and shall expire at the close of final adjournment of the Annual Town Meeting at which their successors are appointed. The Advisory Committee shall choose its own officers and its members shall serve without pay, and it shall cause to be kept a true record of its proceedings.

Another section states:

Vacancy - If a member resigns or is absent from five consecutive meetings of the Advisory Committee, except in case of illness, the position shall be deemed to be vacant and shall be filled as herein provided. The Advisory Committee shall notify the Town Administrator, who will first check to determine if there are any interest forms of Town registered voters on file to fill the vacancy. If none, the Town Administrator will ensure the vacancy is posted to the Town web site. The Select Board shall thereupon fill such vacancy of the Committee, and this appointment shall expire at the final adjournment of the next succeeding Annual Town Meeting. The Select Board shall instruct the Town Administrator to notify the Town Clerk and the Advisory Committee of any such appointment. The Moderator, at the next annual Town Meeting, shall appoint a successor to complete the unexpired term.

I submitted an interest form to serve on advisory, I attended BOS meeting to get appointed and when the item came up, the chairman of the select board asked me how I wanted to be appointed because we are less than 30 days from town meeting. Templeton just had a town meeting on November 15, 2023, which is after the town had our required by state law annual town meeting, which makes the November town meeting a special town meeting and the moderator cannot, according to the bylaw appoint anyone to advisory after more than 30 days have passed since the adjournment/dissolve our annual town meeting. Our selectmen need to read and understand town bylaws, those are "marching orders" from town voters, you know, the boss of the selectmen.

 Senior Tax Work-Off Abatement Program (the program) recognizes that many senior citizens can provide a wealth of knowledge and skills from which the Town could benefit in its various departmental needs. The program is designed to match municipal volunteer opportunities with eligible taxpayers in order to assist them with property tax bills, increase involvement in municipal government, and enhance municipal services by utilizing the skills and abilities of qualified volunteer residents. Under this property tax-relief program, eligible homeowners aged 60 or older volunteer their service to the Town and are compensated at a rate per hour of service that is credited to their real property tax bills. These credits may be in addition to any property tax exemptions that they may be eligible for under other statutes, such as personal exemptions under M.G.L. c. 59 § 5 or residential exemptions under M.G.L c. 59 § 5C. If eligible they may also defer the balance of their taxes under M.G.L. c. 58 § 5(41A).

Templeton selectmen and Council on Aging should put this matter before annual town meeting in order to lower age of senior work off and pursue and ensure residents are aware of additional programs to aid seniors in property tax relief. They deserve that effort.

 When reviewing the previous 15 EQVs, it becomes apparent that changes in values have had their ups and downs. Despite these fluctuations, there has been a 433% increase over 28 years. All four classes of property have seen major increases from the 1994 EQV to the 2022 EQV, with Residential showing the greatest increase and Industrial showing the smallest.

There has been a continuing increase in EQVs for all four property classes over the last four EQVs. Residential continues to represent the most significant change, increasing from $787B in 2014 to $1.3T in 2022.

Reviewing Commercial, Industrial and Personal Property EQV

Property is broken into four separate and distinct classifications. They are residential, commercial, industrial, and personal property. More information on property classification and taxation can be found here. When reviewing EQV broken down by classification, it’s important to acknowledge changes beyond those in the residential class. Commercial EQV has increased 60% from $116B to $186B. Industrial has increased 66% from $31B to $52B. Personal property has increased 63% from $28B to $46B.

The above information came from the MA division local services.

 Pete, Pete and repeattttt.

Just read weekly town administrator report. Under fire dept., it is the same message for 5 weeks in a row (must be good execution)

Apparatus/equipment: 4 gas meters from ladder 1 still out of service for repairs, Engine 2 out of service for normal oil change and service work. While returning from service work Engine 2 developed fuel and oil leaks. It remains out of service for repairs. Engine 3 light tower is out of service for repairs. The truck itself is in service.