School committee presses district on late fees, utility billing and payment timing

Committee members raised repeated concerns about payment timing, confusing batches and late fees during the Nov. 10 finance meeting. "We get multiple copies of the same batch per day... it gets a little bit confusing which one is which," Mister Dias said, asking staff to improve naming and labeling so questions can be tied to specific batches.

Dias also cited cases where he received batches that already showed invoices as past due and asked what the district is doing to "crack down on the late fees." Superintendent Curley said the district has taken the utilities issue in-house and negotiated extended payment windows: "we were able to extend the time frame on the utility bills from their general 30 days to now 55 days for National Grid and 45 days for Liberty Utilities," she said, adding that National Grid has placed a hold on late fees and agreed to credit fees charged this past year through Jan. 1.

Curley explained the warrant process to clarify timing: once district batches are approved they are printed on the city's warrant schedule on Monday and, depending on timing, checks are typically issued by the following Friday; the auditor and mayor sign warrants at the city level. She said some delays are due to when the invoice originates and when departments submit paperwork for processing.

Committee members said delayed payments can inflate contractors' costs because vendors build contingency into bids to offset long payment waits and asked whether work sometimes begins before formal committee approvals on contracts over the $25,000 threshold; Curley acknowledged it has occurred in the past and said the district is working to improve controls.

Members asked staff to identify process improvements and to supply an accounting of turnaround times so the committee can report quarterly on finance efficiencies.