Terenzini critical of town’s past practices as he unveils $68M operating budget
Temporary Town Administrator Carter Terenzini offered up a $68 million operating budget for Fiscal Year 2022 and some warnings about Grafton’s past budgeting practices.
“When you keep moving recurring expenses to free cash, there comes a time when you are going to run out of free cash,” Terenzini told the Select Board and Finance Committee Wednesday.
The operating budget is a 5.2 percent increase over the current year, totaling $68,287,943. The school department portion is $39,707,473.
Terenzini has run the town for the past six months after the town parted ways with former town administrator Tim McInerney, and the challenges he faced were both COVID-19 related and a result of past practices.
Among them: the town accountant’s office was largely vacant since June after former accountant Anita Patel joined the school department as finance director and the department’s assistant departed on a four-month leave of absence. Former assistant town administrator Rebecca Meekins left Grafton for a similar role in Northborough. And in the Town Clerk’s office, Kandy Lavallee was out on leave for five months and her office assistant for four.
With department heads absent, nine Covid cases within the Municipal Center, and the inconvenience of staff working remotely, the budget remains a work in progress — another reason Town Meeting was moved from May to June.
Terenzini also identified several issues he believes the town needs to address:
Recurring costs (tree trimming, unemployment insurance, capital leases, accumulated leave buyouts) have been moved to non-recurring revenue sources;
Sewer Enterprise Funds must be clearly identified and separated;
Financial Management policies need to be updated to reflect best practices;
All town buildings need to be managed centrally for needs and repairs.
Additionally, the town needs to do a compensation study on a regular basis to ensure the town is not falling behind in pay. Terenzini said two people who were offered positions refused them based on salary, and the town accountant position was upgraded to finance director to attract someone with the necessary skills.
“You have the same two staffers for your $70 million budget as I have had in towns with a $20 million budget,” he said, noting that human resources staff are also lacking in the Municipal Center.
Attending the meeting via Zoom, incoming town administrator Evan Brassard was undoubtably taking notes, as was new Finance Director Mary Lauria. Luckily, Brassard and Lauria have a history: for the past five years, they were both in the town of Monson in the exact positions they will hold in Grafton.
Brassard and Terenzini will overlap in Grafton for some time to examine the town finances further. Brassard’s first day of work is February 22.
