Massachusetts Finance Committees - duties per MGL.
Primary responsibility is to advise and make recommendations to town meeting on the budget and other areas of finance. Note: These days, most, if not all, articles on a town meeting warrant involve finance in one way or another.
Oversight of town reserve fund.
Involved in end of year financial transfers between and with in department budgets.
Adjusting revolving fund spending limits.
The above duties are spelled out in MA state law and are expounded in local by-law and policy.
While the above statutory authority or responsibility does not differ from town to town, the role of finance committee and the process does.
There certainly ways things can be done, things can be adjusted so the process can be smoother, so that an end of the year financial transfer to balance out the end of year budget does not come down to a 4 to 6 week back and forth between two entities.
I personally think its another instance of trying to fix stupid!
ReplyDeleteThe problem isn't the committees meeting separately that causes the delays, its the absolute lack of process followed by the applicants.
Whatever you think, the Advisory has a process to apply for funds from the Towns Reserve. If applicants dont fill out forms, attend meetings to answer questions, then yes the process takes longer, but the process works, the applicants didn't!
This all comes from the same arrogant attitude of the "Superior Board" and its administrator not following procedures of the ""underlings"............total BS.
Following the procedures would incur a 1 week wait based on present meeting schedules.......if process was followed, but that would entail holding them accountable............lol. We all know it must be Advisory Committee that needs fixing as its been the most changed, adjusted, abused set of bylaws in town since Terenzini. So much so the town cannot even keep them up to date.
Stop changing processes that work and fix workers that dont follow processes!
Just to be clear, the superior board crapola began before Terenzini came to town; that began with Bob Markel. Changes to by-law concerning advisory came from advisory committee and were approved by town meeting. Following that, we can look at funds that required end of year transfers and increase those budgets to hopefully avoid further end of year transfers. On efficiency of government, which can be a hot topic, why be inefficient and require 2 meetings when it could be done in one meeting.
ReplyDeleteMany of the attempted and successful bylaw changes to Advisory originated from TA or Selectman and yes Town Meeting approved it, but why wouldn't they, they dont think the Selectman are that petty. Town Meeting gives them far to much credit.
ReplyDeleteTown Government isn't designed to be efficient, or they would have 1 person, not 2 Boards/Committees doing transfer, but since they designed it with two Boards/Committee deciding transfers then 2 meetings was obviously the plan. Maybe allowing for time to review, rethink, rather than hurriedly "yessing" as is so common with the Select boards of late.
Efficiency would require altering our style of government. To that I vote YES!
two entities yes, but I find no requirement in law for 2 different meetings. 2 meetings is an assumption of government. On town meeting, advisory has the floor so to speak, to talk to town meeting on by-laws or anything else, make the case and see what happens, 3 selectmen and town administrator voted for watering the lawn at GW but town meeting said no. The system can work. Of course we could just skip the easy way and call a special town meeting for transfers.
ReplyDelete2 meeting is an assumption of government, true, but so is the idea that government is suppose to be efficient.
ReplyDeleteTown Meeting understanding an issue in 15 minutes that 3 selectman and a TA fail to comprehend after 9 months is not exactly "working" in my eyes
That is why town meeting has their own committee, to try and explain things to them, town meeting meets a couple times per year and advisory meets 2 times per month, clarify things to town meeting.
ReplyDelete