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Taunton finance committee approves payroll and accounts payable warrants; asks for list of opioid‑settlement consultants on payroll
Summary
The Committee on Finance and Salaries approved a payroll warrant of $1,634,428.36 and an accounts payable warrant read aloud during the meeting; a councilor asked staff to provide a list of consultants who were paid from opioid settlement funds that appeared on the payroll warrant.
The Taunton Committee on Finance and Salaries on March 11 approved a payroll warrant for $1,634,428.36 and an accounts payable warrant read into the record. The committee also voted to request a list of consultants being paid from an opioid settlement line shown in the payroll warrant.
At the start of its session the committee moved to approve minutes and then reviewed the payroll and accounts‑payable warrants. The payroll warrant amount announced was $1,634,428.36; the motion to approve that amount carried by voice vote.
Committee staff then read the accounts payable warrant amount aloud and listed major expenditures included in the warrant as read: $273,000 for police ammunition and supplies; $128,000 for group dental insurance payments; $185,000 for student transportation; $107,000 for student tuition payments to the Justice Resource Institute; $130,000 for student tuition payments to the May Institute; $103,000 for a school gym floor replacement; $135,000 for various electricity payments; and $119,000 for Veolia for solid‑waste disposal and pump station improvements.
The accounts payable amount was read in the meeting transcript as $2,729,008,487.63 (read aloud). That large figure appears inconsistent with the line items presented and likely contains a numeric transcription or reading error; the committee approved the accounts payable warrant as read by voice vote. (See audit notes about numeric precision.)
After the warrants were approved a committee member asked for clarification about several payroll entries, including payments to consultants that the auditor indicated were being paid from opioid settlement funds. The councilor moved — and the committee approved — a request that staff provide a list of the individuals and entities receiving payroll payments from the opioid‑settlement line so the committee can review who is paid from those funds.
The committee then adjourned.
