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10-20-2022 12:03am
Assistant Town Administrator/Fin. Director Pam Dukeman Retiring, Leaves Westwood Finances "Structurally Sound"
Darlene Cancell
Editor
The Town of Westwood’s finances were the main topic of the night at Select Board's October 11, 2022 meeting, and Pam Dukeman, who is preparing to retire, made her last presentation to Select Board in her role as Assistant Town Administrator and Finance Director. In reviewing Fiscal Year 2022, Ms. Dukeman said that Westwood has continued its practice of making conservative and “structurally sound budgets” and that FY 2022 had closed out smoothly.
The town’s FY 2022 revenue was $108.3 million, with 80 percent of that amount coming from taxes, and 99 percent of taxes were timely collected, Ms. Dukeman reported. The town’s FY 2022 operating budget was $101.6 million, with 50 percent representing School related expenditures, 22 percent representing Municipal costs and 18 percent representing Benefits, Reserves, and Insurance. Debt and Sewer represent 6 percent and 4 percent of the debt, respectively.
The town’s $3.3 million debt level is “well within financial policies” of allowing up to 8 million in debt a year, said Ms. Dukeman, and is reflected in its AAA rating by Standard & Poor’s and AAJ rating by Moody’s. In the context of practicing sound financial policy, Ms. Dukeman noted that Select Board typically looks to bring on new debt when old debt ends.
“What is the runoff of non-exempt debt, going into 2024?” asked Select Board member Marianne LeBlanc Cummings.
Ms. Dukeman answered that the amount is not large - a few hundred thousand dollars. However, she also suggested that Select Board could deliberate and plan in 2024 for future issuance and payments of debt.
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Ms. Dukeman also gave an in-depth presentation on the town’s efforts to comply with Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB), the “Unfunded liability for employees’ post-retirement benefits for health insurance” which Ms. Dukeman noted had not been properly funded by government and many towns in past years. While there is no requirement to fund OPEB, failure to do so would mean Westwood’s liability will continue to grow, with potentially negative impact to future budgets, she stated. Through controlling expenses and investing funds in the State Retiree Benefit Trust, Westwood has made steady progress toward decreasing its liability, from $55.9 million in June 2013 to $19.8 million in June 2021, the date of the town’s last OPEB review.
“We are way ahead,” noted Select Board Clerk Michael Walsh, who compared Westwood’s efforts on this issue to other towns.
Ms. Dukeman closed out her presentation with a reminder to the board of next steps in preparing the town's budget, along with a timeline:
- November 7, 2022 will be Select Board’s tax classification hearing. Select Board will deliberate on the appropriate allocation of taxes between Westwood’s residential and commercial classes;
- Select Board deliberations on planning the FY 2024 budget take place from November 2022 to February 2023;
- February 1, 2023 is the target date for Select Board to issue a municipal budget and summary;
- From there, the budget will pass to the Finance & Warrant Commission (FinCom). FinCom will review the proposed budget and issue recommendations in advance of Town Meeting.
Select Board unanimously voted to adopt the updated financial policies presented by Ms. Dukeman as she prepares her department and the town for her departure from service. Whereas Ms. Dukeman observed that 2014 was the last time the town’s financial policies had been reviewed before now, the updated policies will trigger a policy review every three years. Other substantive changes to the policies include adopting ideas from other communities that are related to risk management and post-employment benefits, she said.
Select Board Chair Robert Gotti praised Ms. Dukeman’s service, stating, “She has provided invaluable insight, guidance, leadership to town residents, town staff, the Select Board during her 31 years of town service. She’s been an integral role in the financing of almost every major capital project in town from Westwood High School to the Senior Center, Thurston Middle School the modular classrooms there, library the Islington Fire Station, police station and the newly broken ground Hanlon-Deerfield elementary school. Pam always delivered the budget in a way that always delivered consistent resident confidence in her knowledge and command of subject . . . . She will be greatly missed.”
Mr. Gotti invited the community to an event at Westwood Public Library on Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 4 p.m. to recognize Ms. Dukeman's service.
Westwood also recently saw the resignation of elected Town Treasurer James Galvin last month. At its October 11th meeting, Select Board unanimously voted in favor of appointing Phil Shapiro as Interim Town Treasurer. Mr. Shapiro will serve through the close of Spring’s Town Meeting in April 2023. Mr. Shapiro was described as being familiar with the requirements of his new role, as he previously served on Westwood’s Finance & Warrant Commission, Board of Assessors, Long Range Financial Planning Committee and Select Board.
