Hi,
Wanted to update you on the Budget VS Actual Reports. You will only be receiving them once a month now after the Interim TA has reviewed and approved them to be sent. You should get the one for October on or around the 7th of November.
Kelli Pontbriand
Accountant
Town of Templeton
978-894-2765
from the latest report of the Town Administrator:
"The VADAR system refuses to pay any amount due if it will cause the line item to go over budget. I believe that the Town Administrator - in their role as defacto finance director - should be deciding whether or not to do this override (I need to know when a department heads run over their budget and be looking at how we will address it.)"
My thought is if you have a weekly budget versus actual, you have a better tracking of funds available and therefore how much you have to spend. When you have up to date information, you know, like keeping your checkbook register up to date or keeping track of account balance and how much you pay on a debit card. If department heads are doing their job, they should not be spending more than they were given at town meeting. It seems pretty simple but this is Templeton where we seem to always try to reinvent the rules of finance, in my opinion. Lets see if any selectmen speak out on this or do they continue to smile in public and say everything is alright, you know, just like the 2017 budget, so called.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Over spend your budget !! Oh my, why did you do that ? Where do you thing money is going to come from, to keep your department going to the end of the year ?? The thing is, I do believe if people are not responsible they need to know that no one is going to bail them out this year, or next. It is time for these department heads to be responsible because I think the people who pay the bills, expect nothing less.
ReplyDeleteExcuse me - "You will only be receiving them once a month now after the Interim TA has reviewed and approved them to be sent." - 1)Running the budget v actual report is neither a difficult or time consuming task. Why does the TA have to review and approve? What is he approving? Budget v actual reports are factual. What was appropriated at town meeting for each department verses what has been spent by each department as of a certain date. Nice transparency BOS!!!
ReplyDeleteDoes "review and approve" really mean "fix and adjust" the budget vs actual ?? Sure does to me. Push the button and hand over the results, that is all our Accountant has to do. We have enough trouble without anyone playing with the BVA's. It does always come out in the wash ! 2+2=4 not 5 or 9. The AB will be hard to fool, trust me on this. Bev
DeleteWhy would Templeton Selectmen pursue regionalization with Hubbardston for Highway Ops when they can't even arbitrate good working relations between Highway, Cemetery/Parks, Water, Sewer and Electric? How about some leadership that prevents Templeton from fixing roads in favor of buying new equipment? Why can't they broker and/or direct a deal where these departments share equipment and personnel?
ReplyDeleteWhy would a Templeton Selectperson be more concerned with the "honor" of votes in Phillipston than she is with showing some "honor" for the vote of Templeton residents and taxpayers? That stupid NRSD override was handily defeated at Annual Town Election. That is where big-dollar votes belong. Not a series of decreasingly attended meetings and elections until the Phillipston Phreeloaders are brought in to rig the vote?
Maybe someone should buy her next house in Phillipston when this one is foreclosed?
Maybe you should leave my personal life out of it. That's my business and not yours.
ReplyDeleteThe process, as I stated previously was legal and handled in the right manner.
We have asked our interim TA to explore options and this includes merging departments within our own town as was discussed at a public BOS meeting.