Four-Town Refuse District Takes Initiatives to Put Financial Affairs
in Better Order

By MANDY LOCKE

Heeding their auditor's stern warnings, the Martha's
Vineyard Regional Refuse and Resource Recovery District is doing some
financial housekeeping this month.

In the weeks following auditor John J. O'Brien's report
of sloppy bookkeeping and incomplete records, the refuse district
personnel subcommittee is shuffling administrative staff roles.

After the auditor chastised district leadership for paperwork errors
including unsupported vouchers, discarded deposit slips and a meandering
paper trail, district bookkeeper Flora Allen stepped down after nearly
15 years in the post.

"Flora's resignation gives us a clean slate and
opportunity to bring auditor's bookkeeping recommendations into
place," said district chairman Richard Skidmore this week. Ms.
Allen offered the district manager a brief letter of resignation in late
January.

The personnel subcommittee is currently interviewing executive
assistant candidates to take over Ms. Allen's responsibilities.

Last week, district manager Charles Noonan began implementing a new
voucher disbursement system aimed to better track vendor account warrant
numbers and check numbers.

Pointing to more than two dozen classification errors including
unlisted assets and payroll withholding mistakes, the auditor urged the
district to contract professional accounting help throughout the fiscal
year.

Mr. O'Brien will be interviewing two candidates selected from
a pile of applicants for the part-time accounting job.

Controversy has swirled around the district's financial mess
over the last nine months. District leadership blamed unexpected capital
overages for creating deficits of more than a half million dollars and
more than $200,000 in unpaid bills to the district's off-Island
waste handler, SEMASS. The audit confirmed the severity of the
operation's fiscal problems last month.

How a waste handler continuing to operate in the red can assume more
salary obligations became a point of debate during last Thursday's
monthly meeting. No one, however, disputed the need for professional
accounting assistance.

With the 2004 fiscal year budget already approved and member town
assessments already accepted, the district had not planned for
additional administrative staff costs. The budgeted salary for Ms. Allen
- who had climbed as high on the step ladder as possible -
will cover the cost of a new executive assistant and portions of the
accountant's salary.

But district leadership postponed a decision regarding increased
collection fees. Currently charging $144 per ton of municipal solid
waste, the committee already decided to implement a $2 increase per ton
beginning July 1. But some committee members urged the committee to
adopt the $2 increase immediately and raise the tipping fee an
additional $2 on July 1, bringing the total to $148. Mr. Noonan said the
district currently charges about $6 less than competitive waste handlers
on the Island.

Pointing to the potential mishandling of cash at local drop-off
centers, Mr. O'Brien urged the district to completely pull out of
the local centers and only accept roll-off bins from West Tisbury and
Chilmark.

Some committee members hesitated abandoning local drop-offs but
endorsed a system that eliminates the use of cash.

Currently, the district absorbs about $5,000 in bad checks, and Mr.
Noonan said that loss would certainly climb if the district disallowed
cash payments.

Committee members will discuss the matter further with member town
leadership and explore the adoption of mandatory coupon currency.

Upon the auditor's recommendations, Mr. Noonan said he is
collecting bids from security companies to install surveillance
equipment at the collection booth at the Edgartown transfer station.

But all of these changes require money - money that a
chronically cash-strapped district does not have.

"It all comes down to a matter of money," Mr. Skidmore
said. "These things can be very expensive, so they may not all
happen immediately."

Last month, most towns agreed to pay their annual assessments in
quarterly installments rather than twice a year. Mr. Noonan said the new
timing of assessments will help the district make bond payments on
schedule without dipping into operational revenues.

Following the district's bleak audit report, officials from
member towns, namely Chilmark and Edgartown, demanded action plans and
assurances that the district will gain control of their financial mess.
The district will be asking member towns to approve $1.2 million in
borrowing at annual town meetings this spring - funds needed to
cover capital expenses at the Chilmark and Edgartown landfills and
engineering costs for a construction and demolition debris handling
center.

Coming to grips with the work the district must tackle in the months
to come, the committee voted to schedule an additional meeting each
month.

"I'm most encouraged by the board's willingness to
meet twice a month. It ensures that proper attention will be given to
all areas of concern," Mr. Skidmore said.

In other business, the district committee will also meet with SEMASS
officials in March to discuss the possibility of the off-Island handler
taking over operations at the district transfer station.