HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-04-10 Finance Committee Minutes
Finance Committee Meeting
April 10, 2007
The meeting convened at 7:37 p.m. in the Conference Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading,
Chairman Andrew Grimes, Finance Committee
Massachusetts. Present were
members, Hal Torman, Paul Bolger, Michelle Williams, Ronald Powell and David
Greenfield
. Also present were Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob
LeLacheur, Police Chief James Cormier, Fire Chief Greg Burns, DPW Director Ted
McIntire, Technology Administrator Bill Connors, Accountant Gail LaPointe, Systems
Consultant John Killoran, Treasurer/Collector Nancy Heffernan, School HR Director &
Business Manager Mary Delai, Chris Caruso and School Committee Member Elaine
Webb.
Chairman Andrew Grimes called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m., informed the Finance
Committee Members that the Audit Committee will meet Thursday, May 10. Bob
LeLacheur reported that Article 14, Woodland Street dirt road, was being discussed
tonight at the Selectman Meeting. Once a decision was reached he would inform the
members.
Under Article 15, Snow and Ice, a revision of $19,200 was made due to the snow storm
on April 4, 2007. It was also reported at this time that the School Committee deferred
their vote for the end of the school year because of the upcoming storm on Thursday,
April 12.
On motion by Andrew Grimes seconded by Hal Torman to accept the revision to
Article 15. Not Voted.
Gail LaPointe handed out a packet of all Revolving accounts. She gave an explanation
on the report and what this packet consisted of and asked that the members take it with
them and email her with any questions they may have.
She then moved on to the questions the Finance Committee members had in regards to a
new Financial System for the Town of Reading. Before she began, she introduced the
town employees, listed above, that have been involved in the process to choose a new
software program. She also introduced John Killoran, an independent consultant, who is
helping the town to determine it needs for the new Financial System. In the FinCom
Agenda that was handed out to everyone Gail LaPointe listed the questions and also gave
a timeline of events that happened to choose and evaluate potential software programs.
It was reported that there are 2 vendors that are the front runners. They have talked to 18
different communities about their software and found out that quite a few of these
communities are upgrading to the frontrunners.Implementation will be a 3 year process.
The old system will be up and running as each new module goes into effect. John
Killoran feels a 3 year process is reasonable in his experience. Bill Connors said we are
in good shape in regards to the hardware.
Annual major releases can be emailed. There is a test area to see how these releases will
change and operate before the town chooses to upgrade. Small glitches can be fixed
easily.
Extended Service Agreements – Small communities opt for this more so, but John
Killoran feels the need to look into this more and to find out about a pay as you go
system. Security issued within the system – A workflow program will give permission
and access to individuals that should have it.
Some of the benefits in regards to reports are they can easily be exported to Excel and
Word. You can export selected information into different reports. Gail LaPointe attached
a couple of budget samples to the agenda for members to review. How much data will
get on a new system is still in discussion. Gail asked the people who attended if they
would like to say a few words regarding a new financial system.
Mary Delai spoke of the risks we have with the current system.
1.Large number of disconnected data
2.
Purchase Order system on its’ own individual system
3.
Do not have position control
Efficiency gains – Ease of doing regular financial reporting. Chief Cormier thinks the
enhancement in the payroll area is a great benefit, the Human Resource connection and
also the ease of reporting.
Ted McIntyre spoke of the utility billing, the ability to have a history of usage on the bills
and more frequent billing.
Chief Burns talked about the Ambulance billing. It’s nice to have a vendor driven
program, so they can get more data for reports.
Nancy Heffernan spoke about the payroll and said it would be nice to have a breakdown
of what type of pay an employee is receiving.
Gail LaPointe also mentioned how it would eliminate some internal paperwork. She also
mentioned document storage. Actual invoices can be scanned and viewed at anytime to
see what was actually purchased.
The next step is to negotiate the terms and conditions with the chosen company.
Michelle Williams thought the efficiency of a new system is great. Gail Lapointe
mentioned to the members that we will be able to store more information.
On motion by Andrew Grimes seconded by Paul Bolger the meeting was adjourned
at 10:12 p.m. on a vote of 6-0-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Secretary