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Town of Princeton, Mass.
BOARD OF SELECTMEN -- July 15, 2013
6:00 PM Open Meeting The meeting was called to order in the Town Hall Annex. Present were Chairman Stan Moss, Edith Morgan, Neil Sulmasy and Town Administrator John Lebeaux.
New Business
Firefighter and EMT Brian Long, president of the Princeton FF & EMT Association, presented a $1,500 check to Selectmen to help fund new playground equipment at TP School. They had raised the money with their Mothers Day pancake breakfast and other donations. Stan noted that the project has brought together many groups and individuals throughout the community, providing the support of gifts and in-kind services.
Old Business
Advisory Board members Chair John Shipman, Jim Comer, George Handy and Dave Cruise were present to discuss WRSD budget issues and the possibility of a special town meeting in August. George and Dave had conducted some research, which George presented with spreadsheets that he handed out, that outlined inequities in the apportionment of state chapter 70 funding to communities. He was spurred by the fact that Princeton received, this year, only $55 per student from Chapter 70, while in 2009 the town had received $1,290 and in 2010 it was $1,605. The cost, per pupil, in the WRSD this year is $9,050, and each town has to contribute that amount, minus its Chapter 70 apportionment. The regional system receives $25 million of which Princeton got $25,000, or one-tenth of one percent. He presented numbers from other communities to show that Princeton
received, possibly the least amount of state funding, per pupil, than any other community in Mass. The consensus among both boards was that the whole procedure was patently unfair.
George relayed a discussion with Roger Hatch, administrator of School Finance at Mass.Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. George’s interpretation is that essentially the state doles out the Chapter 70 funding to each school district as a single unit, so that a regional system is treated the same as a single city or town’s school department. It is then the responsibility of the regional district to apportion the funding to each town as a reimbursement each year. George explained his interpretation of what has occurred over the years. The state uses a spreadsheet with financial data of all cities and towns, and publishes the information. This spreadsheet is a tool for the preliminary construction of the Chapter 70 fund and is not used for subsequent actions.
Regional districts, however, have typically used this spreadsheet to apportion Chapter 70 funds to the communities that make up its district, although it was not created for that particular use. George noted that there are other methods and formulae that the state has crafted, which could be used by a regional district for distributing state funds in a more fair manner, but it is up to each district to adopt and implement a procedure. He added that no one had ever questioned how the school district allocated local contributions.
Edith asked for direction on the next step. All agreed that nothing could be done about FY14, since the budget was a “fait accompli” and asking member towns to voluntarily readjust their Chapt. 70 reimbursements to build up Princeton’s would be unrealistic, as was a court order that could force the issue. Dave suggested getting Roger Hatch into a meeting with local officials. John L. pointed out that the BOS now has to confirm the data and all the questions that have been raised. He has checked the regional agreement, which only refers to MGL sections, and has not discovered any additional policies on the local level. Stan said the Advisory Board could produce a special report to be broadcast to all residents via internet, etc. George insisted that town officials have to
establish an ultimate goal [achieving fairness] and identify who is responsible for setting allocations to each town, with a focus on doing something about it for the FY15 budget.
George did note that overall, the WRSD seems fiscally responsible, since the cost per student has not risen much since 2007. John L. wants to see something in writing, from the district or the state, and perhaps seek some legal counsel. He offered to work with Stan and get a meeting together with the Advisory Board and the Princeton WRSD School Committee members to address this issue.
7:40 PM After noting that a special town meeting to approve the latest school budget was unnecessary, and scheduling plus costs were a concern, the BOS voted all in favor to not hold a STM for that purpose.
Considering the Reserve Fund Transfer for vacation time owed to the estate of Gaile Rollins, the BOS voted all in favor to approve and sign the transfer of $447.31 into the Council on Aging salary fund. The Advisory Board members, including John Shipman and James Comer, voted all in favor to approve and sign the same transfer document.
Also, both boards voted all in favor to approve and sign an interdepartmental transfer from the Town Administrator Expense Account into the Salary Account for a sum of $.60, to close the books on FY13, as per the town accountant’s request.
New Business
7:50 PM Selectmen voted all in favor to appoint Bruce Dean to the Princeton Center Management Committee for a term to end June 30, 2014.
John L. presented an update on the Code RED Emergency Notification System. He recently attended a training session on it along with Chief Powers, Chief Bennett, Terri Longtine for BOH and Chris Trudeau from PMLD. The town already has a database of over 1,300 land-line phone numbers, and a major effort will be made to get residents onto the town website to register their preferred numbers, so they can be contacted by cell phone, email or text message.
Warrants
Board reviewed and signed FY13 Vendor and Payroll Warrant # 27 and FY14 #1
Adjourned
8:02 PM Selectmen voted all in favor to adjourn
Respectfully submitted, Marie Auger, administrative assistant
Referenced Documents; spreadsheets for WRSD town financial information; spreadsheet on reserve fund transfer; press release about Code RED
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