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Southborough advisory committee reviews proposed reserve fund transfer procedure
Summary
Advisory members reviewed a draft reserve fund transfer request procedure, recommended adding a sample form, clarifying notification and negative-vote handling, and asked for edits to return at the Aug. 5 meeting.
The Town of Southborough Advisory Committee on July 29 reviewed a draft procedure for reserve fund transfer requests that the town administrator and finance group prepared. Chair Marcy Jones summarized the steps: requesters submit a form to the town administrator, the administrator provides comments before the scheduled meeting, the committee discusses and votes, and, following a positive vote, an approved signatory sends copies to the town accountant and the requester.
Members urged procedural clarifications and a clearer administrative routing to reduce errors. Tim said the committee must be notified "as soon as possible even when they're considering that this might be a need so that we can potentially hold some of that money," and cautioned the committee "we don't fund after the fact" based on past incidents. Several speakers recommended attaching a sample form to the policy, setting a threshold for higher-level approval, and adding language for the steps following a negative vote.
The draft cites that "reserve fund requirements ... are governed by chapter 46 of Massachusetts General Law," and members discussed typical magnitudes, noting past approvals in the low-to-mid six figures (an example of about $134,000 was cited). The committee agreed to produce edits and return the revised procedure at the Aug. 5 meeting for further review and to forward feedback to the Select Board and finance director as appropriate.
The committee did not take a final vote on the procedure; the item will continue at the next meeting.
