City implementing suggestions from state
By Doug Grindle Community Reporter

Marlborough - As Marlborough passes the one-year anniversary of a review of city services by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR), city officials said they are well along in implementing many of the report's recommendations.

The Massachusetts DOR's Division of Local Services conducted a study on practices within the city administration in 2006. The report, issued in December 2006, made more than 20 recommendations. Among them was a recommendation that the city create a city-wide chief financial officer (CFO) position, a proposal that has drawn support from several city councilors, including Ward 1 Councilor Joseph Delano.

The report noted that the DOR had acted at the request of the city, and was only a snapshot in time.

"Mayor [Nancy] Stevens requested that the DOR conduct a comprehensive review of Marlborough's fi- nancial practices," the report states. "During our review, we found that the city already has begun reorganizing some operations."

The report's 24 recommendations deal mainly with administrative procedures and specific projects.

One recommendation, for instance, suggested the city auditor review deficits for capital projects and refer the deficits back to the city council for more generous funding, if necessary.

Stevens said many of the reforms are underway, some are being considered and some may never be implemented.

"This is a management review," she said. "It's just a way to look at best practices. The DOR by no way expects us to implement everything in the report."

Stevens noted some recommendations were being implemented even as the report was being written. For instance, transferring responsibility for the water billing department to the Department of Public Works was already being done, Stevens said.

The city auditor is also already doing another recommendation, that the city improve its revenue reporting system, Stevens said.

Some recommendations will need to be pushed forward with city councilors taking the lead and some will be pushed by the mayor's office, while individual city departments will spearhead others.

The recommendation that the city create the position of CFO is one of the most prominent recommendations, and that will likely require lengthy discussion among the mayor's office, city councilors and city departments, Stevens said.

Stevens said any impetus for a new CFO position would likely come from the City Council, and several questions would need to be answered before any action is taken.

"What's the benefit of adding another person?" Stevens asked. "You want to be sure adding new positions adds value."

Stevens noted that in order to create a CFO position, it is likely the city would have to reopen its charter, which would require extensive public discussion.

According to councilors, opening the charter has historically not been easy to do, because public interest is low in making changes to the city's founding document.

Stevens noted that some changes were also held up by last year's election cycle. Councilors were elected in November 2007 and, with a few exceptions, pending legislation died at the end of the year. Measures would have to be reintroduced before they can proceed.

Stevens said the city still has more to do, and more progress is expected in implementing the recommendations in 2008.

"A lot of that we've already done," Stevens said. "There's a handful of things that we probably could do but haven't done yet."

Stevens said one priority would likely be to consolidate personnel functions between city departments.