[Editor’s Note: References to the name of Temple’s Fire Chief, David True, have been corrected.]
TEMPLE – Voters gathered at the town hall Monday evening to discuss the proposed 2018 budget and to choose two new town officials – one selectman and a road commissioner.
David Lovejoy was voted in as the town’s newest selectman, taking Kevin White’s three-year seat while Road Commissioner Toby Hellgren was reelected for another two year term.
The amount of $32,200 was passed to pay town officers, with selectmen recommending a $1,000 raise to Fire Department Chief David True. He moved to decline the raise, amending the article to read that $1,000 gets paid to Deputy Chief Wayne Tuttle. The article passed as amended.
“It’s not the department you knew in the 70s. Wayne keeps things going and he deserves this pay. The only way I can make things happen is with his help and the others,” True said.
Voters passed another article against one of the selectmen recommendations, keeping the 3 percent discount for taxes paid within 30 days of the billing date.
“Someone is out there paying for that discount,” Selectman Austin Foss said in response to why the board is against the article.
The article led to a bigger discussion regarding unpaid property taxes. Several residents voiced that the amount of unpaid taxes is getting out of hand, selectmen assured them that steps are being taken to address the issue.
“We can’t just go to people’s homes and demand their money. It’s a long process,” Selectman Tracy Dunham said.
Town members approved an article raising administrative funds in the amount of $250 for the newly established Varnum Pond Watershed Association. The group was formed last year after being involved with repairs on Varnum Pond Road. The pond, which is Wilton’s water supply, as well as the surrounding area, is looking at updates to improve the environment of the watershed. By becoming an official non-profit, the association hopes to have the opportunity to apply for more grants that will cover the costs of helping with these issues.
Congratulations Dave!
Correction: The name of Temple’s fire chief is David True
Thanks, this has been corrected.
If Temple wants taxes paid on time why is it so difficult to pay taxes? Lets see 2 days a week the town office is open and for those who are basically home bound it is even harder to arrange banking and getting a ride to the town office on their schedule. Some would think more town office hours would be the solution but that is counter productive to the wonderful effort our town fathers are putting in to keep our taxes down. I say get online.It is 2018 and I pay all my bills online without issue that way. The program to make this happen would be self maintaining pretty much and would save a ton of paperwork and expense. If the State and federal government along with light, phone, and almost all other business have internet accounts then we can also. Come on folks let Temple be a leader this way and make it happen. There are probably residents here who would volunteer their time to help set it up.
Temple needs to catch up with rest of the municipalities in Franklin county. To late to be a leader of online town payments most of been doing it for a couple of years.
Binny, have you contacted the Tax Collector to see if it is a Possibility?? If it is not possible it is something we should look at. We meet every Monday night (except Monday holidays then we meet on Thursday) from 6:00pm – 7:30 pm. We welcome any and all questions.
I pay most of my bills online too, Binny. If the receiver is not listed so they can just transfer the funds online, the bank service will mail the check (at no charge to me or receiver). Temple doesn’t need to to have an internet account or a program, just a mailbox.
@ Binny, Hi, I am from Chesterville. Last year we went with rapid renewal. It works great. But, since then we have hired another office employee and increased the town office payroll hours from 32 hours per week to 42 hours per week. It seemed to cost chesterville money instead of saving money.
@savings?; just to clarify, prior to the changes in the Chesterville Town Office, the Town was paying $47,000 for the Town Office Payroll; currently, the Town is paying $44,432; which is actually a savings of $2,568, plus the Town is getting an additional 268 man hours/year.