Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer
HUBBARDSTON The transition from in-house accountant to contracting an outside accounting firm is well on its way, as the Board of Selectmen granted conditional approval this week to negotiate an agreement with Eric Kinsherf, CPA out of Sagamore Beach.
“What that means is he meets all the conditions required,” Town Administrator Anita Scheipers explained.
Current Town Accountant Amy DeLaRoche is set to leave at the end of the fiscal year, leaving the position open. With high turnover in that office, Ms. Scheipers said it might be more efficient to look at outsourcing those services to guarantee a high quality of work and potentially save the town money. The town also contracts out its assessor services to an outside firm.
Ms. Scheipers put out a request for proposals last month in an effort to court firms into applying but received only Mr. Kinsherf’s response. The administrator hoped to have a contract in place by July 1 and recommended selectmen issue their preliminary approval to keep the process moving.
During this year’s annual Town Meeting, voters approved a budget that eliminated the $37,774 accountant salary line item, replacing it with $35,000 for accounting services, which chairman Michael Stauder explained is to cover the anticipated contract.
Hubbardston is not the only town to struggle with a high turnover rate in its accounting office, although it will be the first in the immediate area to turn to an outside firm. Templeton has gone through several accountants in as many years, and interim Town Administrator Bob Markel approached the Hampshire Council of Governments — which provides accounting and other financial services to towns across the state — before hiring its latest permanent town accountant.
The Franklin Regional Council of Governments also provides accounting services to 13 communities within Franklin County, and the Massachusetts Municipal Association, with which Mr. Kinsherf is affiliated, is one of the largest providers of accounting services in New England.
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Town Administrator, Bob Markel tried every which way to fill the position of Town Accountant.
Hubbardston doesn't have the burden of trying to restore its bond rating. Restoring Templeton's books to an auditable condition is a very large and daunting task.
Templeton has had outside contractors as town accountant in the past. Some people believe this may have contributed to the financial issues in Templeton.
Lesson learned - never use proprietary software provided by your Town Accountant!
My opinions...supported by FACTS ! ! !
Julie Farrell
The facts again support not to use the private contractor. At least in Templeton finances we learned the hard way right Jeff Bennett. Lesson learned!
ReplyDeletefor a long time, Scott Sawyer was Templeton Town accountant and Templeton accounting software was Cities and Towns, which belonged to Scott Sawyer, which when he left, without completing or closing the Towns books for that fiscal year. The Town had a one year window which after that, cities and Town software would no longer be good. Selectmen decided on getting VADAR accounting software as it is the same VADAR that was already used in the Assessors office. There was turn over in Accountant and Treasurer and you may recall that current Town treasurer Kate Meyers has filled in in both offices. She did enough of the work so town payroll was made. So, the "facts' are that Templeton's finances were/are in trouble, and will probably be that way for a while. First there were all the financial transfers at the last Town Meeting and then there are the financial transfers on tonight's selectmen meeting. It would seem prudent for the Town to own the accounting software, but if you look towards Winchendon, that itself does not guarantee anything. The above article stated Hubbardston contracts out assessing, so look at that and see if it has worked well and then watch how the accounting contract works out. The fact is, contracting does work, is legal and can save taxpayer dollars. Recently, Templeton Town administrator said that DOR no longer will require the books of FY13 & FY14 to be audited to have any free cash certified. If there is any free cash, it would probably be prudent to put it in a rainy day fund which would probably help in a big way in getting a bond rating back for Templeton. We should soon see just what shape the books are in in Templeton. I believe Templeton Town treasurer and accountant are still in the learning stage as far as municipal books are concerned so lets not pull the corks on the champagne just yet. As previously stated, time will tell how this works for Hubbardston. As for contracting Dave, did Templeton highway repin and bush the town loaders or did they hire that out? Did Templeton highway grind and repave route 101 or was that hired out? Scott Sawyer was Town accountant for a long time and his software of cities & towns was used for a good amount of time. This could probably be checked thru meeting minutes but during his tenure did selectmen Farrell propose, bring up or inquire a change in Town accounting software? It takes a citizens petition and ten signatures to bring that forward to Town Meeting, better yet Dave, did you ever do that? I do not believe anyone thought it was that bad until there was a card pulled out from the house of cards, back in 2011 and who pulled that card? So watch Hubbardston and watch the money and in a year or two, we will see if it worked or not and then we will know if the change from $37,774.00 fro employee to $35,000.00 for contract was worth it.
ReplyDeleteJeff Bennett can get all this info at the highway barn. My time is used for me and my family. If Jeff Bennett wants to use me as his story source he should do a little more than read the Gardner news for his info.
ReplyDeleteAs July1st rolls around i look forward to replace my old worn carolina summer boots with new ones. One would have to wonder if Jeff Bennett as a contractor doesn't wear out a pair of boots in 5 years what it is he does. Count money?
I hope no one forgets Town employee Fred Aponte, former Templeton Town accountant for a while.
ReplyDelete