My question is this; is this the best way to do things and more importantly, is it the way things should be done? The Town Treasurer is the one charged with doing the borrowing (see town meeting vote & warrant article) also tracking of Town debt is responsibility of Treasurer, so why would the treasurer be on the sidelines so to speak rather than directly involved? Simpy, the town accountant is charged with ensuring bills are legal and charged to proper account and entered under same and Treasurer is responsible for paying town bills and keeping track of Town debt. Simply put, how much you start with, how much spent and how much is left. My opinion is the Town accountant and treasurer should be front and center, not on the side. Read the following and think about that and remember, just because we do it that way does not mean it is correct. Where have I heard that before? Seems like the Town has just gone in a big circle with town finance which equals changing nothing, in my opinion.

Attached is what I distributed and discussed at last night’s meeting.  The first page is the project budget, showing invoiced to date per budget line etc. The second page is the process that we go through in entering and tracking invoices through the propay  system.  The third page is a printout from the propay system showing the current status.  If you like I can discuss these with you. 

Currently Holly has done a great job getting the invoices into the propay system and getting things up to date.  At this point everything is as far as it can go until the MSBA allows her to enter the full budget into the system, currently only the Feasibility budget is in the Propay system.

Timothy Alix 
Project Manager
Project Management | Northeast
Main +1 413 592 0030 X123 | Mobile +1 860 930 5036 | Fax +1 413 285 8592 Tim.Alix@colliers.com

Colliers International

(formerly Strategic Building Solutions)
67 Hunt Street | Suite 119

Agawam, MA 01001 | United Stateswww.colliers.com/projectmanagementnortheast

I think it’s OK for the Selectman’s office to enter the information and request reimbursement.  The treasurer and accountant will be aware of what is getting reimbursed electronically and can have access to the propay system at any time to take a look at the status.   They will need to understand what the net cost to the Town is on an ongoing basis to ensure that there are sufficient funds to move forward.  With each electronic reimbursement request, paperwork is generated by the system which will need to be signed by multiple parties, so the accountant and Treasurer could review the summaries of each request.  The requests can only be done once a month, so they could plan to review the info at that time.

Timothy Alix 
Project Manager
Project Management | Northeast
Main +1 413 592 0030 X123 | Mobile +1 860 930 5036 | Fax +1 413 285 8592 

Tim.Alix@colliers.com

Jeff Bennett