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During the year, the Town did a complete restatement of documents for the employees pension plan. We had
been using a plan document that was updated in 1986. Various changes in the tax and labor laws were some
of the reasons for making a restatement at this time. As it had been six years since the Town had last
sought proposals for audit services, the Board of Finance decided that this should be the year to consider
other auditing firms. Specifications were written and five firms submitted proposals to the Town.
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After all considerations, the Board decided to stay with the firm of McGladrey & Pullen. After an unlikely
1,356 to 1,356 tie referendum vote, the voters returned three weeks later and passed a $50,241,000 new high
school building project. There will be significant State construction aid for this project and the Town
of Sterling will be joining in sharing in a pro rata share of the cost. In this year's budget voting
process, there was a significant change in the presentation of capital items for voters to decide on.
Where in past years, the capital needs of the School Department were included in their budget request
amount, all capital items will now be included in the Town Hall budget amount. This should result in
better comparability in school budget requests.
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