Chilmark is working to catch up on its cash reconciliations in order to move forward with spending that was eyed for a summer special town meeting. 

The delay on the reconciliations has come up in several select board meetings over the last few months, and have pushed back plans in town, such as sending out tax bills at the start of the year.

In order to get up to speed, the town has hired external help for the treasurer. The latest contract for the aid was signed earlier this month. 

Cash reconciliations are the process of matching internal spending records to the books with the bank, ensuring that all balances are accurate. Reconciliations are the first step to free cash certification from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR), as well as other important streamlined processes that get towns the money they need to function.  

The issue has been stacking up for several years and the town hired auditing firm CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) in January to help get the town caught up through the fiscal year 2024. In June, the town agreed to keep the firm on to help with fiscal year 2025, according to town administrator Timothy Carroll.  

“There is a timing issue in all these things, too,” he said. “If somebody falls behind on their job in the beginning phase of everything, the person on the far end is behind as well.” 

The first contract to hire CLA cost around $40,000 and some progress has been made, according to Mr. Carroll. 

Free cash in the amount of approximately $1 million was certified this month, though not in time for a special town meeting that the select board had pondered for late June. Due to the delay, money from free cash wasn’t able to be accessed at the annual spring town meeting.

Treasurer Dawn Barnes said at a select board meeting in May that she fell behind due to a lack of support.  

“As of December, I blatantly asked to...be put with one of you as my liaison, and we decided not to do that,” she said. “So you can keep coming back to me and tell me that it needs to be done, but this is a build up over three years that you have all been aware of.”  

She also added that her other duties have taken precedent and time over this process.  

“You’re fighting at the bit for me to move forward as fast as I can, but there’s also other things that come together at this time of year,” she said at the meeting.  

Ms. Barnes did not respond to a request for further comment. 

Select board member Matt Poole told the Gazette earlier this month that the approvals for various town funding projects may have contributed to Ms. Barnes falling behind. 

“The borrowing of the fire station and the emergency services building were two big bonds that the town had secured funding for,” he said. “That was something that was her responsibility which was hugely time consuming.” 

Mr. Carroll described the cash reconciliation process as a puzzle, which Ms. Barnes handles by herself the majority of the time. 

“When the treasurer goes to reconcile the books, she has 52 separate departments, half of them collect money, some of them get grants or other things,” he said. “Beach department sells 3,500 beach stickers. Harbor department rents out slips and moorings and collects permit fees. They all come in at slightly different times and they’re all different amounts.” 

He emphasized the importance of cash reconciliations being done on time.  

“Without all that, we can’t issue tax bills,” he said. “I can’t move forward with our budget. Free cash is just one of the symptoms of not getting the cash reconciled.”