Templeton advisory committee pauses town-accountant bonding discussion; new accountant working through year-end reconciliations

TempletonAdvisory Committee members discussed whether the town should require a fidelity bond for the town accountant after earlier payroll filing issues and an IRS inquiry. After staff reported that many Massachusetts towns do not bond their town accountants and that bonding companies sometimes refuse such bonds, the committee agreed to defer or drop the bonding proposal until the new town administrator and the new town accountant are settled.
Committee members said bonding companies sometimes view bonding town accountants as outside their accepted exposures and that statutory or underwriting limits can make bonding an accountant impractical. "Nobody bonds their town accountants," a committee member said after the group surveyed neighboring towns. A town accountant who spoke to the committee said she would check with the town's insurance/bonding provider and that bonding costs and coverage levels vary with the amount of money handled.
Separately, the committee heard from Amber Patel, the new town accountant, who described ongoing work to reconcile cash and accounts receivable and to close out fiscal-year 2025. Patel said she had reconciled cash and nearly completed accounts receivable but still needed to reconcile ambulance receivables and address a small variance before producing accurate combined balance sheets. "Technically, all [BVAs] are technically a work in progress," she said, explaining that until 2025 is rolled over the BVAs that include multiple funds will not be fully accurate.
Committee members agreed to allow the new accountant time to settle in and to delay month-end BVA approvals until reconciliations and outstanding items are resolved. Members emphasized the need for a single town administrator to review departmental responsibilities (for example, payroll and benefits) and to make recommendations about structural separations between Treasurer, Collector and Accountant functions.
Why it matters: The discussion affects internal financial controls, year-end free-cash certification, and public confidence in municipal bookkeeping. The committee concluded that immediate bonding is unlikely to be practicable and that improving reconciliation and processes with the new accountant and town administrator is the priority.
Next steps: The committee dropped the bonding motion for now and will revisit the issue after the new town administrator has had time to review operations; Amber Patel will continue reconciling fiscal 2025 and return to advisory with updated BVAs when the roll-over and reconciliations are complete.