WARREN — The town recently received the findings and recommendations of its financial management review, an evaluation of the town’s financial management practices, operations, and organizational structure.

The review was requested by the Board of Selectmen and conducted by the Division of Local Services’ Financial Management Resource Bureau. This project is a result of the Community Compact Cabinet initiative, a program with the goal of assisting towns in achieving municipal best practices that promote efficiency, accountability, and transparency.

Town Administrator James Ferrera said the review was helpful, but many of the findings were “really of no surprise to us.” Ferrera said that many of the recommendations were already being implemented and several others are being addressed.

Among the recommendations was to appoint a government study committee, which Ferrera said the Board of Selectmen may be doing at some point to examine at the organizational structure of the town’s government. This study would require the appointment of a citizen’s committee made up of individuals of varying backgrounds within the town, such as business owners, town officials, and residents.

The goal of the study would be to explore what is working well within the current government structure along with changes that should be considered. Should this study take place, the committee would report the findings to the board for consideration, and if necessary, may call for a town meeting to act upon the study results.

The review called for a plan for financial management system implementation, and a combination of grant and town funding that would pay for the town’s new Vadar System, a financial management software. Ferrera said the town applied in the fall of 2023 for an information technology grant from the state to “address the lack of technology that is currently in the town when it comes to financial software.

We were awarded $65,000, which will pay for the implementation of financial management software and this way all the finance depts can be linked together and able to communicate with each other.”

Ferrera said the recommendation of investing in an other post-employment benefits trust fund is already being discussed by the board and passed as an article on the annual Town Meeting warrant. This fund is used for financial needs the town may have in relation to providing payment to current and future retirees employed by the town.

Ferrera said the Financial Management Resource Bureau was “pleased to see we are already doing this.”
Another recommendation was the funding of professional development opportunities for the assistant assessor. Ferrera said the town has been working with Hampden’s principal assessor during non-business hours to help train the town’s new assistant assessor, Betty-Jo O’Brien.

The approximately four weeks of training were valuable in preparing O’Brien for the role, and the town is continuing to invest in sending O’Brien to state sponsored trainings regularly.

The review spotlighted some of the things Ferrera has done over the past year that has increased the town’s successful adoption of best municipal practices. Some of these include working with every board and monitoring the town’s daily operations, making sure the town had a qualified sewer operator, and meeting with each department to assess their budget needs.

Additionally, the review suggested the town consider a bi-weekly payroll. Town employees are currently paid weekly. A bi-weekly payroll would reduce processing time, free up staff time and save money. Ferrera said the town is looking into the possibility of implementing this.

“The town is very appreciative of the Department of Revenue for conducting this review, coming out for a few different days to interview us and putting this research together. They did a really great job and we have to thank them,” Ferrera said. The financial review is available at warren-ma.gov.