MA Ranked 48 of 50 on Fiscal Condition

Given the agreement between the MA House and Senate on the state budget which is now in the Governor's hand to review and vote on, it would be interesting to know how MA finances compare overall with the other states.

Does your state have its fiscal affairs in order? It’s not an easy question to answer, in part because the question can mean so many different things, including:

• Can the state pay its current bills? (cash solvency)

• Will annual revenues be sufficient to cover budgeted expenditures? (budget solvency)

• Are the state’s long-term liabilities—think bonds and loans—sustainable? (long-run solvency)

• How much room is there to raise additional revenue should the need arise? (service-level solvency)

• Can the state meet its pension and health care obligations? (trust fund solvency)

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has compiled this information in an interactive manner so you can check on the state by state comparison.

Long-run solvency. Can a state meet its long-term spending commitments? Will there be enough money to cushion it from economic shocks or other long-term fiscal risks?

MA does not do well. We are ranked 48 of the 50. Yes, well down the bottom.

You can find the rankings here
http://mercatus.org/statefiscalrankings

The MA summary is here
http://mercatus.org/statefiscalrankings/massachusetts

A video explanation of the process can be found here

Fiscal Responsibility: A Taxpayer’s Perspective - Mar 5th

The Franklin Republican Town Committee is proud to sponsor the following event:

What: Fiscal Responsibility: A Taxpayer’s Perspective
Who: Mass Fiscal Alliance, Paul Craney, Executive Director (speaker)
Where: Alumni Restaraunt (391 East Central St, Franklin, MA)
When: Thursday, March 5th, 2015; 7-10pm

Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to promoting better government and right-of-center fiscal and economic policy solutions. 

They have an office near the Statehouse in Boston and their website is www.MassFiscal.org and they launched a first of its kind, online and real-time, state legislative scorecard which may be found at www.MassFiscalScorecard.org

screen grab of MassFiscal webpage

"property taxes will continue to be a solid source of revenue"

The Milford Daily News reports on the five year financial forecast that is in the current set of documents for Wednesday's Town Council meeting. The forecast says FY 2016 should be ok but FY 2017 is another budget year where balancing the budget will present some problems. 

This financial reason is the driving factor behind the moves to sell both the Pond St and Emmons St properties. The town needs to expand its taxable base to bring in additional revenue.

Nutting said that beginning next year, revenue increases may start to lag behind town expenses, forcing the town to stretch itself thinner in order to balance the budget. 

"By FY 2017, the forecast strongly suggests we could be in a position to use some reserves, reduce the current level of services, and consider a tax increase or some combination of the above to balance the budget," he explained. 

The only short-term solution to reducing costs is cutting town employees, Nutting said, an option he views as a last resort. 

"This will directly affect the quality of education and public services currently provided by the town," he said.

Continue reading the article here: http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150107/NEWS/150108229/1994/NEWS#sthash.0xUy51VN.dpuf

150 Emmons St - one of the topics on the agenda

Details on the five year fiscal plan can be found beginning on page 43 of the released set of documents for the agenda for the Town Council meeting, They can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2015/01/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-jan-7.html

Franklin, MA: Five Year Fiscal Forecast - Draft

This was the draft copy sent to the Town Council on Jan 10, 2014. The 'final' copy is scheduled for discussion at the Town Council meeting on Wednesday evening.

For simplicity, this copy includes the text and not the tables of the forecast itself. The 'final' copy will be published in its entirety.




The full agenda for Wednesday's meeting can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/02/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-feb-5.html

Franklin Municipal Building

Franklin - Fiscal Policy Draft Update

There is a fiscal policy that Franklin operates with. This year, the policy is being consider for revision and the revisions will include input from the Finance Committee, Town Council and School Committee.

The Finance Committee reviewed and discussed the update at their meeting on Tuesday. This was also mentioned during the Town Administrators update during the Council meeting on Weds. It is scheduled for further discussion within the budget subcommittee before the Council takes it up. It is also scheduled for review by the School Committee.

Extension of the School Year Beyond June 30

For those inquiring minds - what if we did have to go beyond June 30th to complete the school year? The State has an answer.


Extension of the School Year Beyond June 30

DESE, in consultation with the Division of Local Services (DLS), issued the following guidance
regarding possible extension of the school year beyond June 30.


Q: If the school year is extended beyond June 30 in order to comply with the 180-day equirement, may the district pay salaries and costs incurred from the current year's budget?

A: The Department of Revenue's Division of Local Services has advised that the answer is yes. If the school year must be extended beyond June 30 to comply with state law on student learning time, that would extend the scope of the municipality's appropriation for the schools beyond June 30. See Mass. General Laws Chapter 71, Section 40, which provides that the compensation paid teachers is deemed "fully earned at the end of the school year, and proportionately earned during the school year" (emphasis added). Teachers, therefore, could teach school in early July to comply with the 180-day requirement, and any salaries paid would appear on warrants payable for the fiscal year that ended on June 30.

In short, state law permits the school year (and salary payments) to extend beyond June 30 in these circumstances. School officials still should consult with their own legal counsel to determine whether any provisions in collective bargaining agreements or local ordinances would affect the decision to schedule school days after June 30.

This information can be found on Page 2 of the bulletin located here

Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: fiscal policies

What are the fiscal policies of Franklin?

The policies are published on the Town website (PDF) and can be viewed here:

FranklinMA_fiscalpolicies

Municipal Calendar

From the MA Dept of Revenue, Division of Local Services "City & Town" Newsletter for July 2010 comes the following. I don't pretend to know this in detail. It may very well go over your head too. The point of sharing it is as many folks head into vacation time, there is much still to be done in the Municipal Building. The fiscal year just closed June 30th, which means the books need to be closed, accounts balanced, etc. The following provides some detail into the behind the scenes stuff that just happens!

Municipal Calendar

July 1: Collector:Mail Annual Preliminary Tax Bills

For communities issuing annual preliminary tax bills, the preliminary quarterly or semi-annual bills should be mailed by this date.

July 15: Accountant: Certification Date for Free Cash: Anytime after Books are Closed

Two weeks after the close of a fiscal year, all accounts are closed out and the resulting balance sheet and supplemental documentation submitted to DOR. Free cash is certified any time after this date.

July 15: Accountant: Report Community Preservation Fund Balance: Anytime after Books are Closed After the close of a fiscal year, the fund balance is submitted to DOR (Form CP-2) and notice given to the Community Preservation Committee and other financial officers. The fund balance may be appropriated anytime after that report.

July 15:School Business Officials: Certification Date for Excess and Deficiency (E&D) Fund

Two weeks after the close of a fiscal year, all accounts are closed and the resulting balance sheet (a pre-closing trial balance or audited financial statements will not be accepted unless requested by the Director of Accounts) and supplemental documentation are submitted to DOR. E&D Fund is certified any time after this date.

July 15: Assessors: Deadline for Appealing Commissioner’s Pipeline Valuations to ATB

July 20: DOR/BLA: Notification of Changes in Proposed EQVs (even numbered years only)

July 20: DOR/BLA: Notification of Changes in Proposed SOL Valuations (every 4th year after 2005)

August 1: Taxpayer: Quarterly Tax Bills — Deadline for Paying 1st Quarterly Tax Bill Without Interest

According to M.G.L. Ch. 59, Sec. 57C, this is the deadline for receipt of the 1st Quarter preliminary tax payment without interest, unless the preliminary bills were mailed after July 1. If mailed by August 1, the 1st Quarterly payment is due August 1, or 30 days after the bills were mailed, whichever is later, and the 2nd Quarterly payment is due November 1. If mailed after August 1, the preliminary tax is due as a single installment on November 1, or 30 days after the bills were mailed, whichever is later.

August 1: Taxpayer: Annual Boat Excise Return Due

August 1: Accountant: Notification of Total Receipts of Preceding Year

The total actual local receipts (e.g., motor vehicle excise, fines, fees, water/sewer charges) of the previous fiscal year must be included on Schedule A of the Tax Rate Recapitulation Sheet (Recap) which is submitted by the Assessors to DOR. On the Recap, the Accountant certifies the previous fiscal year’s actual revenues, and the Assessors use this information to project the next fiscal year’s revenues. Any estimates of local receipts on the Recap that differ significantly from the previous year’s actual receipts must be accompanied by documentation justifying the change in order to be approved by the Commissioner of Revenue.

August 1: Assessors: Deadline for Appealing EQVs to ATB (even numbered years only)

August 1: Assessors: Deadline for Appealing SOL Valuations to ATB (every 4th year after 2005)

August 15: Assessor: Deadline to Vote to Seek Approval for Authorization to Issue Optional Preliminary Tax Bills For semi-annual communities issuing optional preliminary property tax bills, the Assessors must vote to seek authorization to issue the bills from DOR by this date. After receiving approval, Assessors must submit a Pro-forma Tax Rate Recap Sheet to DOR for review and issue the tax bills by October 1.

August 31: Taxpayer: Last Filing Day for Classified Forest Land, M.G.L. Ch. 61

August 31: DOR/BOA: Issue Instructions for Determining Local and District Tax Rates A copy of the Tax Rate Recap Sheet and its instructions are forwarded to the town.

August 31: Assessors: Begin work on Tax Rate Recapitulation Sheet (to set tax rate for semi-annual bills) Until the Tax Rate Recap Sheet is completed and certified by the Commissioner of Revenue, the community may not set a tax rate nor send out its property tax bills (unless it issues preliminary quarterly tax bills or requests from DOR the authority to send out pre liminary tax notices if DOR requirements are met). Communities should begin gathering the information in enough time for the tax rate to be set and tax bills mailed by October 1. The Tax Rate Recap Sheet provides Mayors or Selectmen with a ready-made financial management tool because the town’s most important financial management information is summarized on this form. The Mayor or Selectmen should review the Recap Sheet in preliminary form in order to understand the following financial information: Page 1 (Tax Rate Summary) — The proposed tax levy should be compared to the levy limit. If a town does not levy to its limit, the remaining levy is referred to as excess levy capacity. Excess levy capacity is lost to the community for the current fiscal year although it will always remain in the levy limit calculation. Page 2 (Amount To Be Raised) — This section includes appropriations and other local expenditures not appropriated. These include overlay deficits, revenue deficits, state and county charges, Cherry Sheet offset items, and the allowance for abatements and exemptions. By comparing this information to the prior year(s), any significant changes can be determined. Page 2 (Estimated Receipts & Revenues From Other Sources) — In particular, Sec tion C shows the amount appropriated from free cash and other available funds. By comparing the amounts appropriated to the balances in these accounts (available from the Accountant/Auditor), the Mayor or Selectmen can get a sense of how their non-property tax revenues are being used. Page 3, Schedule A (Local Receipts Not Allocated) — By comparing these figures to prior year(s), the Mayor or Selectmen can determine any changes in these revenues. Page 4, Schedule B (Certification of Appropriations and Source of Funding) — This section includes financial votes of City/Town Council or Town Meeting not previously reported on last year’s recap.

Franklin, MA