In Yesterdays News: Special Town Meeting and Special Election set Damien Fisher News Staff Writer #WINCHENDON - The Select Board voted unanimously to hold a Special Town Meeting on Nov. 24, as well as a Special Election on Dec. 20, as part of the effort to reduce the town’s estimated $3.8 million deficit. The time crunch comes as Winchendon tries to stay ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline to reconcile the deficits discovered this year. The Special Town Meeting warrant will be closed on Nov. 6, and then approved by selectmen on Nov. 10. The warrant is likely to include a request for a Proposition 2 and 1/2 override that will increase the town’s tax base to pay for some amount of the deficit. Last week, Town Manager James Kreidler presented a plan that included an override proposal for around $750,000. The final numbers will be clearer by Nov. 6, Mr. Kreidler said. An override must be approved by residents at both a town meeting and at the ballot box. In normal circumstances, the town would hold the Special Town Meeting vote, then set the date for the Special Election if the override article passes. Mr. Kreidler said that if the town waits to set the special election date until the day of the Special Town Meeting, the soonest date of the special election would be in January — after the Dec. 31 deadline. With the special election date set for Dec. 20, voters have a tricky situation that will require participation at the town meeting and the following election. “If override fails on November 24, we cannot cancel the election,” Mr. Kreidler said. This means that Winchendon will vote on the potential override at the ballot box even if voters reject the measure at town meeting. The hectic push to meet deadlines set by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue include presenting a plan for deficit reduction to the state by Nov. 7. The state will review any plan the town puts forward and can make changes it deems necessary. Mr. Kreidler’s plan includes budget cuts, use of one-time revenues — such as the stabilization accounts — as well as the proposed override. His proposal also includes pay reductions. Mr. Kreidler is taking a three percent pay cut this year, and has asked town employees to give up their three percent raises this year. Mr. Kreidler has not had a raise in seven years. So far, about 40 town employees have agreed to the reductions. Winchendon School District employees have rejected the notion of giving up pay raises. The final numbers of the plan are likely to change this week, as more information becomes known. The current figures show the town’s portion of the deficit to be around $1.3 million, with the school department’s portion to be at $2.5 million. Part of Mr. Kreidler’s plan is for the town to hire a financial director to oversee town and school finance departments. That director would report to the selectmen and the Winchendon School Committee. Committee Chair Michael Niles opposes the creation of the position — stating that his committee must control the school finances. He also said such a position contradicts Massachusetts State Law and that only someone certified in Massachusetts to be a school business manager should be supervising the school’s business department Mr. Kreidler said other communities have finance directors overseeing school and town budgets. The position would be created by an act of the legislature, and therefore fit in with current Massachusetts law. While the committee would still be in control of the school’s budget, the finance director would be able to direct the school’s business department to come into compliance when needed. For example, Mr. Kreidler said the school’s business department has yet to file a final end-of-year report for Fiscal Year 2013. The school and the town are currently in fiscal year 2015. “No one has any authority to compel that be done,” Mr. Kreidler said. “You need somebody to be able to say, ‘do it.’” As for the certification, Selectman Robert O’Keefe pointed out that Superintendent Dr. Salah Khelfaoui currently supervises the school business department. When asked by Mr. O’Keefe, Mr. Niles said Dr. Khelfaoui is not certified to be a school business manager. Finance Committee Chair Thomas Kane said his committee all favors creating the position, and Selectman Chair Fedor Berndt thinks a finance director will ease tensions between the boards, while at the same time providing some oversight to departments that have been operating on their own. “Moving forward this is one way we might prevent this ever happening again,” Mr. Berndt said. An effort by the finance committee was approved by selectmen to seek bids for an independent audit to investigate the creation of the deficits. The requests for proposal will include a request for pricing on a so-called forensic audit. Mr. O’Keefe, a former accountant, warned that a forensic audit in which all documentation and all transactions were examined could run into the millions of dollars. Instead, the town may seek such a detailed audit for a few accounts in the town and school departments where the deficits occurred.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 19:36:09 +0000
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