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Needham Retirement Board approves payroll and expense warrants; flags duplicate KMS payment during audit review
Summary
The Town of Needham Retirement Board on March 25 approved February minutes, payroll and the $266,837.97 expense warrant while asking staff to resolve a duplicate KMS invoice found during the ongoing audit; the board also asked staff to correct a conference payee error.
The Town of Needham Retirement Board on March 25 approved meeting minutes and its monthly payroll and expense warrants while asking staff to clarify accounting details uncovered during the board packet review.
During the meeting Chair Michelle Valancort confirmed the board accepted the February meeting minutes and moved on to the payroll and expense warrants. The payroll warrant was approved after a roll call vote; there was some back-and-forth about whether a cited figure represented net or gross payroll (the transcript refers to an approximate $1.37 million gross figure). The board then approved the expense warrant, presented as $266,837.97.
Board member Bob Merles told colleagues that an invoice from KMS that had appeared on a prior accounts-payable warrant — recorded at $9,450 on last month’s AP warrant — appeared to have been paid twice. He asked staff to confirm whether the item had been accrued twice so auditors do not record the amount twice. Staff reported the duplicate check had been voided and returned.
"The check has been voided and returned to us," a staff member said, and the board directed staff to provide reconciled records to the auditors (identified in the transcript as CBIZ) so the duplicated amount can be corrected in audit workpapers.
Board members also questioned a $450 line item that appeared to be for a hotel; staff clarified the charge should be applied to the 2026 Mass Public Retirement Director’s Conference (April 26–28, Martha’s Vineyard) and said they would correct the payee and invoice coding.
Chair Valancort and others asked that future meeting packets include invoices laid out for review and to place the signature line on the same page as the warrant to avoid administrative confusion. After those clarifications, the board took roll-call votes to approve the payroll and expense warrants.
The board will provide corrected invoice documentation to the auditors and follow up with staff to prevent duplicate payments going forward.
