Mission
The responsibility of the Finance Committee is to act in the best interest of the taxpayer. The Finance Committee is the representative and advisory committee for Town Meeting; the legislative body of government in the Town of Ayer. The committee’s primary responsibility is to present a balanced budget for Annual Town Meeting which provides an efficient use of available funds by maximizing revenue streams and ensuring expenses are quantified. The committee reviews and provides recommendations on all monetary municipal warrant articles. The committee provides information on the Town of Ayer’s financial health, execution of financial processes, and financial efficiency for voters to make educated decisions. Final decision making responsibility rests with elected officials and those who vote at Town Meeting and general elections.
Someone asked for this, so here you go.
I think the difference between the Advisory Committee and the Board of Selectmen (TA) doing the budget for presentation, is the fact the job of the AC is to deal with numbers. With a line item budget that used to be given to the Annual Town Meeting, you the public knew what you voted for. If you agreed to give a line number a raise, that was your choice. Now that line item is buried under a heading for that department, not giving you a choice of yes or no. It was the policy of the Advisory Committee to speak with just about every dept. to see what they needed and why. The majority of the time there was agreement. Low balling a dept. is as bad as asking for more money than they really need. It is a really bad to have a budget with a deficit, especially if the money is coming out of the next fiscal year. I do not agree with what is done now, but I am only one person I can speak for. I do not appreciate a stash of money, or a padded budget. I feel you have the right to know what you are paying for and if you question anything, should be able to ask, and get a answer. A independent Advisory Committee is crucial to good government. I will always work for my fellow town's people, to the best of my ability. Bev.
ReplyDeleteJust a note, Having a cushion can be acceptable so long as it is up front, not hidden like it was when Mr. Markel was here. Again that gives the voter a choice.
ReplyDeleteBev, with all due respect I believe the Advisory Board now have read only access to the entire budget - I watched this presentation with the Town Admin . Is that not correct ?
ReplyDelete11:10.......... Read only access to accounting software. VADAR
DeleteRegarding the accounting software an interesting statement was made last BOS meeting by Kelli. I think Julie asked relating to the ALS account "why does the balance read zero". Kelli's answer and I'm paraphrasing was something like, "Since we cannot spend it I didn't key in those numbers"...........HUH? This was from the BvA presented at the BOS/Advisory meeting discussing the budget. I'm not an accounting major, municipal finance guru or anything close, but providing a report that shows a zero balance is misrepresenting the budget, dollars, balances......Isn't this an official report?
ReplyDeleteok, please dont go getting all "your attacking Kelli", NO, I'm saying regardless of who, why, right or wrong I dont like that process.
No I don’t think you are attacking Kelli. I think people can go to that YouTube meeting and listen for themselves and hear what was said without paraphrasing or trying to recall exactly what or what not was asked and answered.
DeleteI agree people should listen for themsleves. I was just being lazy and recalling from the meeting. Kelli was right behind me.
DeleteMy understanding when I watched the older gentleman ( sorry his name escapes me ) ask questions that the Town Admin stayed one can go in to detail as to how much was paid for examlple - ofc expense , salary etc ? Am I mistaken ?
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:10 posting : thankyou Bob I mistakenly said budget . I meant to say accounting ( ledger) software for the Town.
ReplyDeleteThats the idea. So the Advisory can access information and advise/question without having to go through the TA to ask the accountant to produce a report which could not be reviewed until the next meeting.
ReplyDeleteRemember, this is the 2018 account, present.
That is access no other town in Ma currently has and I am pleased you all voted to spend money to a get that access. I believe that you can see details at any time and stay on top of things. Before that you had to ask for that this is a big improvement .
ReplyDeleteWe really didn't want to spend the money, but to effectively do our job we felt it was required. We either spent money on access or spent money on employee time. Maybe in the future through a set of standardized reports (to be determined) we can just get print outs or electronic documents regularly dispensed from the accounting office. In the meantime is was decided that this was the best most effective method to accomplish the task.
DeleteI second that.
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ReplyDeleteLooking back at some town videos I decided to downloaded them so that I can perhaps clip out and use on maybe a new blog . This blog has inspired a friend to start their very own.
ReplyDeleteReviewing the past I see that certain residents in our town have in fact spoken up - quite eliquently - some that lived in town maybe their whole lives others just recently. One man struck a chord with me. He was a gentleman in his late 70’s perhaps he came across logical, forthright and honest and almost clarvoyant in his predictions.
Others I listened to some of which where as passionate in their presentations but their actions for doing things I believe are not in the interest of transparency and openness of government but just the opposite to confuse, obfuscate, obstruct and delay. This section of writings by someone comes to mind “ You’ve been screwed by an illegitimate tyrannical government which seeks to deprive you of your god-given rights along with your finances; follow our instructions and you can free yourselves from laws you disagree with and stop paying taxes as well.” I will not dignify those ideas with a cited name but suffices to say they are NOT mine and I hope no one else’s in our state or any other to be fair.
Please educate yourselves - go to the official web pages like : MMA, DLS , Massachusetts Regional School Districts, DOR, DEP, EPA etc then cross check them with independent sources to. There are so many resources now consult those who know the regulations. Perhaps email or call your state and federal officials for clarifications if needed maybe visit the town website to review past budgets etc . Please educate the young old and everyone in between.
I want to thank all who have given me
an opportunity to comment freely here and especially town board members.
ad pondus omnium
And the link to your friend's blog is.....
DeleteThe most valuable asset this town has is their voters. To be effective they have to have a understanding of the facts. I am afraid the pattern of half truths, and incomplete information has had a impact on our community that has not been healthy. That can improve if as other people on this blog have said, "know your facts". What would make me happy is to see the younger people stay at the meeting, not walk out after their "interest only articles" are done. Every article on the warrant will impact the lives of the people who continue to live here for years to come. Please remember that.
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ReplyDeleteWould you like sugar with your coffee ?
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