The Division of Local Services is part of the state’s Department of Revenue (DOR), and the DLS e-newsletter offers to review how towns are operating, and to make suggestions for improvements. It looked like a worthwhile exercise to me for Medfield to ask to have.
DLS Offers New Technical Assistance Services
Technical Assistance Section
We are pleased to announce that the Division of Local Services has redesigned its long-standing and successful technical assistance program. Our goals in doing this are to reach more communities with these services, to provide more targeted recommendations, and to do so within a shorter time frame.
Financial management reviews in the past have typically included a comprehensive review of government structure, financial operations and fiscal health among other things. With the redesigned program, we will continue to review these fundamental municipal issues through on-site interviews and analysis, but the process will allow local officials to: 1.) self-identify areas where assistance is needed or can have the most positive impact, or 2.) rely on DLS to assist in defining the focus of the analysis through an on-site assessment process.
If you think your community might benefit from this new program, whether you have in mind an area of focus or would like assistance in determining which services best meet your needs, we are available to conduct telephone or on-site meetings with local officials to decide the most appropriate course of action.
Examples of the types of technical assistance services that the Division plans to offer are listed below:
1. Review Financial Operations – We will review your core financial operations (or a single financial office) and, where necessary, make recommendations for improvement based on sound management practices.
2. Assess Financial Condition/Fiscal Health – We will assess your community’s financial condition through the use of a scorecard and offer suggestions to improve the long-term outlook and strengthen fiscal health and flexibility.
3. Analyze Government Structure – We will analyze your current government structure and provide recommendations designed to improve the day-to-day management and the level of accountability across your municipal government.
4. Prepare Costing Study/Determine Indirect Costs – We will determine the full cost of providing a particular service such as water or sewer or analyze the indirect costs in an enterprise fund to determine if they are appropriate.
5. Evaluate Information Technology Systems – We will evaluate your Information Technology systems to identify areas of potential risk and provide recommendations to ensure that systems are performing efficiently, that important data can be restored in the event of a disaster and that systems are adequate and secure for the future.
6. Explore Feasibility of Regionalizing/Consolidating Services –We will explore the feasibility of regionalizing or consolidating government services either within a community or where two or more communities are involved.
7. Examine Specific or Emerging Problems – We will review various issues that may have created financial problems for your community including those that have impacted a timely certification of property values, setting a timely tax rate or that have been raised by your auditors in the management letter.
To schedule a consultation, please call Rick Kingsley at 617-626-2376 or send an email to kingsleyf@dor.state.ma.us. All requests for technical assistance services should come from your chief executive officers (usually the board of selectmen or mayor in most communities).
Please visit the Technical Assistance Services webpage to read recent reports and view other resources
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