There shall be a Town Accountant, who shall be appointed by
and work under the direct control and supervision of the Director
of Municipal Finance. From time to time, the Director of Municipal
Finance may serve as Town Accountant, when designated by the Mayor.
In addition to the powers and duties conferred upon the Town
Accountant by General Law and the Charter, the Town Accountant shall
be responsible for the following:
A. The Town Accountant shall examine the books and accounts of all officers,
departments, boards, and committees entrusted with the custody or
expenditure of money.
B. The Town Accountant shall have all of the other powers, duties and responsibilities which are given to Town Accountants by the General Laws, with the exception of the powers of the office which are associated with auditing, including those duties described in MGL c. 41, §§ 50, 51, 53, and 54A, which powers shall be assigned to the Office of Town Auditor, as established by Section
2-8(a) of the Charter.
C. The Town Accountant shall be sworn to the faithful performance of
his/her duties and shall hold no other Town office involving the receipt
or disbursement of money.
D. The Town Accountant shall maintain proper books of accounts in conformance
with Uniform Municipal Accounting Standards. The Town Accountant shall
credit each municipal account with the appropriations approved by
the Town Council for each fiscal year and shall charge against such
accounts any proper and legal expenditures. The Town Accountant shall
maintain said accounts in such form and detail as may be necessary
to clearly exhibit all expenditures and receipts of each Town officer,
department, board or committee, the name of the person or company
to whom such expenditures are paid, and designating the fund or appropriation
from which each expenditure is paid.
E. The Town Accountant shall carefully review all bills, accounts, payrolls,
and claims as may be presented to him/her by any Town officer, department,
board or committee to insure that they are correctly cast and properly
approved and shall endorse each bill, account, payroll or claim, indicating
that he/she has examined the same and deemed it to be correct and
proper. The Town Accountant shall transmit to the Treasurer/Collector
for payment a schedule of all bills, accounts, payrolls and claims
with a warrant for the payment of each.
F. Whenever any appropriation shall have been expended or whenever it
appears that the liabilities incurred against an appropriation may
be in excess of the unexpended balance of such appropriation, the
Town Accountant shall immediately give notice of such fact to the
Director of Municipal Finance and the Mayor, and no further liability
against such appropriation shall be incurred until the Town Council
shall make provision for the payment of same.