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Date: 6/26/2023
LUDLOW — The Board of Selectmen and Town Administrator Marc Strange announced that the town of Ludlow recently received a state financial management review that is recommending improvements to town operations.
The town requested this free service, provided by the Massachusetts Department of Review Division of Local Services, to make town operations more efficient and maximize the use of taxpayer dollars.
The last time Ludlow had a final management review done was in 2004 and Strange said he and the Board of Selectmen wanted an updated report.
“The report that was done in 2004 when I first started I have kind of been using that as a guide post for how we could make the town more efficient. Obviously with it being from 2004 it was outdated so we reached back out to DLS and asked them to come back in and do a refresher,” Strange said.
The new report also examined the financial management review conducted in 2004 which focused on the town’s organizational and reconciliation issues at the time.
It stated, “Ludlow has made tremendous strides since that review in its financial reconciliations but continues to grapple with a decentralized form of government and ill-defined organizational structure. As such, several of our current recommendations echo the sentiments of the 2004 review, emphasizing Ludlow’s need to formally define its structure and operations.”
The review process included a look at Ludlow’s financial documents, bylaws, warrant articles, annual budgets, tax recapitulations, debt service schedules, individual audit reports and more.
The DLS also interviewed both elected and appointed officials, department heads, administration and office staff including Strange, Selectmen James Gennette and Tony Goncalves, Finance Committee member Darlene Cincone, Human Resources Director Carrie Ribeiro, Chief Procurement Officer Lori Belanger, former Town Accountant Kimberly Collins, Assistant Assesor Jose Alves, former Collector Fred Pereira, Collector/Treasurer Elsa Barros, Assistant Treasurer Georgina Pereira and Collector’s Administrative Assistant Lori Leduc.
The report stated, “In the face of the pandemic and recent economic hardships and uncertainties, Ludlow has done well to maintain good fiscal health and positive financial trends. We believe our following recommendations will serve to strengthen town operations and ensure Ludlow’s long-term success and stability.”
The report also included recommendations to further help the town succeed.
Those recommendations include establishing a government study committee, incorporating financial policies and forecasting in budget development, adopting a budget process bylaw, expanding Munis data entry, providing Munis training for employees, consider in-house property inspections, discontinue the use of manual receivable records and outsource bill printing and mailing to a third party.
The Board of Selectmen discussed establishing a government study committee at its June 20 meeting and will begin soliciting applications.
It will be a maximum 11 person committee with two selectmen and nine residents.
Establishing a government study committee could help review topics including comparing roles between a town administrator versus a town manager, creating a municipal finance department, appointing a Board of Assessors, and establishing clear town committees.
Strange added creating a municipal finance department is also on the towns radar.
“It is kind of an anomaly of Massachusetts state law like if you want to have a finance director, you actually have to formally create a municipal finance department, so we are going to ask Town Meeting to approve that in October,” Strange said.
The Finance Committee is a separate group of volunteers appointed by the town moderator who provide a check on the budget process and might recommend changes on the budget that is being put forth by the town administration.
A municipal finance department and financial director would work for the town and work hand in hand with the Strange and put the budget together to present to the Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen for their approval, according to Strange.
Adopting a budget process bylaw would include working to clearly define budget practices, roles and responsibilities of officials, boards and committees.
Strange added, “Right now, there is kind of an unspoken process as to who is responsible to creating the budget and what the different roles are for the board and the town administrator and the Finance Committee. I think it would be super helpful and is something to look at when we do the charter review.”
Strange said that the DLS is always helping the town create a financial forecast by going over revenue and expenditures for five years in the past and predicting five years in the future.
For in-house property inspections, municipalities are required to inspect each parcel of real property at least once every 10 years so by performing property inspections rather than outsourcing, it would help provide additional control through the implementation of directives, which will ensure continuity before the next certification year.
Ludlow currently uses Munis for its financial management software and payroll system but is in the process of a major upgrade to its Munis system with hopes to use the expanded software capabilities to streamline financial processes and reduce its reliance on paper-based forms and manual data entry.
Strange said when it comes to outsourcing bill printing and mailing to a third party, currently Ludlow prints and processes bills, which can be excessively time-consuming for staff.
Outsourcing this process can free up operations and resources that can be reallocated to other tasks.
The full report could be viewed at tinyurl.com/3htadkcj.
“We are now using the results of this report to guide as we move forward with the changing government and other changes, we need to make to make the town more efficient,” Strange added.