patton estate gift needs more information
On the surface it sounds like a very good deal for the town, but when all parts of the available information is considered, it may not be the best deal in the long run for the town. The major item to consider is that maintaining the property every year will be large amount of town funds. Next in line is that this property is now off the taxable property list, that means that town funds are being spent to keep the place in good repair, yet no tax funds are generated by same.
Another factor to consider is that after getting this property on the town list, funds will have to be spent bringing the buildings and such up to good repair, another expense.
Now if the town does accept the gift from Mrs Patton, ways to use it so that some income will be forth coming from this purchase will need to be discussed such as using the main house as a site for wedding receptions or other events and the hiring of a staff to operate said property.
Too many questions need answers before a town vote is taking on accepting this gift or turning it down.
One suggested solution that makes sense is to ask Mrs Patton to take back the gift, so speak, and put the property on the open market and sell it, and take the amount of the selling price and donate it to the town for use and upkeep of the Patton Park property in Hamilton.
school budget shows no cuts in staff
The new budget presented by the school board does appear to contain any of the recomendates which were contained in the operational audit that was done of the school system. The audit figure of reducing school personnel was listed as 17, but the new budget instead shows additions to staff list.
The interesting factor here is that in the past week, the newly hired audit firm puta report that show that the school system has a lot of extra funds so to speak, way beyond what the school operating system should have to operate the schools.
In fact several comments were made that some of this excess funds should be return to the towns for past years of over charging towns for funds to operate the schools.
Yet the budget actually apears to include the excess in funds for programs for the coming year and to cover the added staff personnel.
Apparently this school board doesn’t understand plain and simple english, and are more or less ignoring the audit figures and just do a yearly budget, regardless of what town officials are asking about the extra monies they have been reported by this adit firm.
Right now, common sense is one word that this town board doesn’t get or use.
Dleigh Keyser Goes Online
Leigh has taken the column to the intertnet
Talk of the towns is back–just new title!!
And yes, Talk of the Towns is once again back in the print, and just the Title of Around the Towns has been changed. Talk of happenings in both Hamilton and Wenham, and comments about how town business is being handled or in some case, not handled.
Not sure how the first copy of this new way of doing the column will come out, but am giving it a good try, so bear with me. These days the fingers don’t always hit the right keys, but when you reach the age where you are call a senior citizen, I don’t worry about a few misspells here and there.
Also I write as I talk, as the man, said, that being as Townie, and have found in the past that I ran into trouble when a column I wrote for another news letter did not fit what the folks where taught in college, so my column was cancelled.
As the photo on the heading says, these are great towns to live, and we do have problems, but so does every town in the area. I will be trying to bring comments and news about things that the daily newspaper and other weekly news outlet seem to never get into print.
Ok, tha’s enough for this whack at putting out a electronic news letter, otherwise know as a Blog.
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