The
Collector
Treasurer
A publication of the Massachusetts Collectors and Treasurers Association
Volume 27
MCTA's Annual
Fall & Holiday
Meeting will be
in Sutton
November 19th
The Pleasant Valley Country
Club, in Sutton, MA will be the site
for this year’s Fall & Holiday Meeting.
The Association held its 2013
Fall/Holiday Meeting at PVCC and
we anticipate another enjoyable
gathering.
The Pleasant Valley
Country Club is located just south of
Worcester and is a very attractive
facility. We hope that you will make
plans to join us for this Fall/Holiday
Meeting.
Registration will begin at 8:30 AM
and the Continental Breakfast will be
sponsored by Easthampton Savings
Bank. The meeting will start with a
Joint Session presentation from
Hugh Goulding, Special Agent,
United States Secret Service, who
will speak on “Know Your Money”.
Kathleen Colleary, Chief, Bureau of
Finance Law for the Department of
Revenue will address our members
on “Stakeholder Engagement, New
Initiatives by the Dept. of Local
Services Legal Staff”, and rounding
out the program will be Attorney
Steve Roche, MCTA Legislative
Agent on a Beacon Hill Update.
This will be followed by
presentation of Certificates to the
Newly Certified and Re-Certified
Collectors
and
Treasurers,
in
addition to a wonderful luncheon and
the awarding of holiday door prizes.
Autumn 2014
No 3
MCTA Staff School
Newly Certified Treasurers
Annual Staff School was held at the
Town of Dudley Administration
th
th
Building on September 10 and 24 .
th
The
September
10
classes
attended by over 65 staff members
offered the Basics to Collectors &
Treasurers
staff,
while
the
September 24th Session, which was
attended by over 70 staff members
offered Advanced classes. MCTA
would like to acknowledge and thank
all the Faculty members who gave
their
time,
knowledge
and
experience in making the Staff
School a very successful educational
event. MCTA would also like to
thank Kevin Adolph of SoftRight and
Bill Cowin of Tallage, LLC for their
contribution
in
hosting
the
Continental Breakfast on September
th
10 & 24th. MCTA would also like to
thank MCTA Past President and
Town
Treasurer/Collector
Rich
Carmignani of Dudley for making
arrangements for the Staff School to
be
located
at
the
Town
Administration Building. .
Angelina
Bragdon,
Treasurer,
Mohawk Trail & Hawlemont RSD,
Krystal Feeley, Treasurer and
Collector., Town of Lincoln, Jessica
Gomez, Treasurer and Collector
Town
of
Grafton,
Stephanie
L’Etalien, Treasurer and Collector,
Town of Hopedale, Kristen Noel,
Treasurer, Town of Hubbardston,
Darleen Sullivan, Treasurer and
Collector, Town of Norwell, Diane
Lawless, Treasurer/Collector, Town
of Freetown
Dues, Dues, and Dues
Second notices will be
mailed
in
October.
Please check to see if
your Fiscal Year 2015
dues have been paid.
We
appreciate
your
membership.
Newly Certified Collectors
Anne Cervantes, Collector and
Treasurer, Town of Sterling, Leigh
Deveneau-Martinelli, Collector and
Treasurer, Town of Ware, Monica
Ford, Collector and Treasurer, Town
of Winthrop, Donna Gauthier,
Collector, Town of North Brookfield,
Idalina Geraldes, Collector, City of
Fall
River,
Karen
Girouard,
Treasurer/Collector,
Town
of
Buzzards Bay, David Guzman,
Collector, City of Holyoke, Julie
Lanquirand,
Treasurer/Collector,
Town
of
Newburyport,
June
Massee,
Collector,
Town
of
Blandford,
Maureen
Niemi.,
Collector, Town of Hyannis, Jean
Richard, Collector and Treasurer,
Town of Randolph, Catherine
VanDyne, Collector and Treasurer,
Town of Norton, Jennifer Yarid,
Collector and Treasurer, Town of
North Andover, Jennifer Yaskell,
Collector and Treasurer, Town of
Manchester.
Continued on Page 3
1
The President’s Page
By
Tom Florence
Collector & Treasurer of the Town of East
Longmeadow
From the President:
I hope everyone had a great
summer and is enjoying the early fall
weather. The past few months have
moved very quickly. It was great to
th
see so many people at the 44
Annual School at the University of
Massachusetts in Amherst. We had
a record number of members; 455
registered for classes and in
addition, 44 members registering for
the Collectors and Treasurers
Examination. We had a few new
faculty members along with a more
streamlined curriculum. I want to
thank Tere DeSilva and the
Education Committee for putting
together a successful program, as
well as our faculty members for
volunteering their time and talents to
teach. Thanks to all the members
who manned the Information Desk
checking attendance lists and
answering general questions. We
are looking at all the evaluations
forms for helpful suggestions. Each
year we make slight adjustments to
the program and we receive positive
feedback from our changes. Your
input and evaluations are always
important to us.
Association Calendar
2013 - 2014
Nov. 19, 2014
Fall/Holiday Meeting
Pleasant Valley
Country Club
Sutton, MA
April 15, 2015
Spring Meeting
Sterling National
Country Club
Sterling, MA
May 6, 2015
New Collector and
Treasurer Day
Town of Dudley
May, 2015
State House Day
June 14/17, 2015 65th Annual Cape
Conference, Resort &
Conf. Hotel, Hyannis
. I want to thank all our Associate
Aug. 11/14,
45thparticipation
Annual Schooland
Members
for2015
their
Mass, Amherst
support at our UAnnual
School in
sponsoring
coffees
breaks
and
Sept. 9 & 23, ’15 Annual Staff School
Town of Dudley
Administration
Building, Dudley, MA
I want to thank all our associate
members for their participation and
support at our Annual School in
sponsoring coffee breaks and
luncheons. We greatly appreciate
their generosity.
I want to congratulate all our
newly
certified
Treasurers,
Collectors, Assistant Treasurers and
Assistant Collectors on passing the
Certification Examination with many
members
celebrating
their
accomplishments. We hope you will
consider
becoming
an
active
member of one of our association’s
committees.
The Annual MCTA staff school
th
was held on September 11
(Beginners sessions) and September
th
24 (Advanced sessions) with over
130
members
attending
both
classes. We had an even breakout
amongst Collectors and Treasurers
this year. It’s a great turnout for so
many who think these classes are
worthwhile and provide a great
learning opportunity. Thanks to our
faculty members for donating their
time as well as past President Rich
Carmignani for hosting the school at
the Dudley Municipal Complex. We
also want to thank SoftRight and
Tallage
for
sponsoring
the
continental breakfast.
We will again be returning to the
Pleasant Valley Country Club in
Sutton for this year’s Fall and
Holiday Meeting which will be held
th
on November 19 . The Education
Committee is firming up the program
and speakers. There will be a joint
session called “Know your Money”.
We will have a Special Agent from
the United States Secret Service
present. Another session will have
Kathleen Colleary, Chief Bureau of
Finance Law, from the DOR discuss
“Update of the Gateway System
Forms”. Finally we will invite our
newly Elected State Treasurer to say
a few words and then have Attorney
Steve Roche, our MCTA lobbyist,
present our Legislative package to
the membership. Just before lunch
we will present the Certificates to our
newly certified members as well as
re-certification certificates. Following
lunch we will award the Holiday Door
prizes. Please join us for this always
entertaining
and
informational
meeting.
2
Our Legislative committee has
been working hard putting together
our Legislative package which will be
presented to us for approval at the
Fall Holiday meeting. Barbara Auger
and Steve Roche have been busy
formalizing the package. The MCTA
needs to have well-presented bills
with supportive legislators behind
them that will be ready for review
once a House/Senate joint session
requests them.
With a new
legislation upcoming after the
November elections, we need to be
proactive with our bill summaries and
sponsorships before bill numbers are
assigned in late January. As always,
please reach out and stay in touch
with your newly elected legislators.
I would like to thank everyone
who has been involved in planning,
organizing, teaching and substituting
at our recent events.
All our
committee members and especially
Mike Hanlon and Diane O’Donnell
have been such a big help in putting
our events together. When you have
events with 500 people involved,
things just don’t happen overnight
without months of preparation. We
are fortunate to be part of a group
with great committees which directly
leads to the success of this
association.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us at
any time regarding any possible
committee openings as well as any
ideas, topics or comments you may
have. Your feedback is critical to our
association.
Enjoy your autumn and I look
forward to seeing you at the
Fall/Holiday Meeting.
Tom
The Collector-Treasurer
Published quarterly by the Massachusetts Collectors
and Treasurers Association, 510 King Street,
Littleton, Massachusetts 01460
President
Tom Florence
1st Vice President
Teresa DeSilva
nd
2 Vice President
Barbara Auger
Treasurer
Ellen Guerin
Secretary
Victor Garofalo
Exec Director
Mike Hanlon
Editor
Mike Hanlon
Assoc. Editor
Diane O’Donnell
Tel. (978) 952-6644
Fax. (978) 952- 6655
E-Mail [email protected]
Comings - - - - - - And Goings - - - - - - (This feature in The Collector-Treasurer is
intended to help our members keep abreast of
changes taking place within our professional
community. With your help in sending us latebreaking changes by fax or e-mail, we will be
able to keep current on the whereabouts of
our members and friends. Please tell us of
changes you have not yet seen in print)
Bette Phelps is the new Treasurer in the
Town of New Ashford, replacing Tammy
Steinhoff.
Jennifer Petit is the new Treasurer in
the Town of Brimfield, replacing Kirsten
Weldon.
Diane Sturtevant is the new Treasurer in
the Town of Hinsdale, replacing Deborah
Cotter.
Marilyn Scaglione is the new Treasurer
of the Town of New Marlborough,
replacing Pat Mielke, who retired.
Steve
Price
is
the
new
Treasurer/Collector in the Town of
Natick, replacing Ted Jenkowski.
Diane Midura is the new Treasurer for
the Town of Wellfleet, replacing Dawn
Rickman, who retired.
Linda St. Onge is the new Treasurer in
the Town of Palmer, replacing Kristine
Bissell.
Carolyn Baldyga is the new Collector in
the Town of Palmer, replacing Kristine
Bissell.
Education
Committee Report
By First Vice President Tere DeSilva
Collector & Treasurer of the Town of
Easton
My, how quickly time is flying! It is
already Fall and we are preparing for
our Holiday meeting! This year the
Fall Holiday Meeting will be on
th
Wednesday November 19 at the
Pleasant Valley Country Club in
Sutton. We have a great program of
speakers that I think you will all find
interesting.
We will also be
presenting certificates to those who
passed the examinations in August
as well as to those who are now
recertified….
Speaking of August and exams our
th
44 Annual School was a huge
success with 455 attendees. The
faculty that continues to volunteer to
teach at our school remains a
valuable asset as attested to by the
88% passage rate of those who took
the exam. To everyone who stood at
the head of the class and shared
their knowledge – we all thank you!
The success of the educational
program from the Annual School
seems to also be having a positive
effect and influence over the Staff
th
School. This year on September 10
we had 65 attendees of which 44
were Collector’s staff and 21 the
th
Treasurer’s staff. On September 24
we had 68 attendees which were 36
from Collectors and 32 from
Treasurers. This was one of the
largest turnouts we have ever had for
Staff training!
The professional development for
our members never ends. We are
always looking for ideas and
suggestions for our Fall and Spring
programs. The Education Committee
always tries to provide topics and
experts in a timely fashion for issues
we might currently be dealing with. If
you have an idea, please reach out
to one of our committee members.
Also, at this time I would like to say
welcome to our two newest members
– Deb Fox of Marlborough and Jim
Dacey of Franklin. Welcome aboard!
In closing, I forward to seeing you all
at Pleasant Valley Country Club in
th
Sutton on the November 19 !
Best Regards
.
Tere
Con’t from page 1)
Newly Certified Assistant
Treasurers
Julie Bertram, Assistant Treasurer
and Collector, City of Taunton,
JoAnna
Callahan,
Assistant
Treasurer,
Town
of
Hyannis,
Bethany
Couture,
Assistant
Treasurer and Collector, City of
Brockton,
Jennifer
Grasso,
3
Assistant Treasurer,
Town of
Pembroke,
Barbara
Hancock,
Treasurer and Collector, Town of
Deerfield,
Judith
Johnston,
Assistant Treasurer, City of Medford,
Amy Perkins, Assistant Treasurer,
Town of Leicester, Jill Summit,
Assistant Treasurer and Collector,
Town of Danvers, Joan Zuzgo,
Assistant Treasurer, Town of Hadley.
Newly Certified Assistant
Collectors
Judith Dunn, Assistant Treasurer
and Collector, Town of Billerica,
Deborah
Dunphy,
Assistant
Collector, City of Northampton,
Dawn Fonte, Assistant Collector,
Town of East Longmeadow, Julia
Kelley, Assistant Treasurer and
Collector,
Town
of
Scituate,
Margaret McLoughlin, Assistant
Treasurer and Collector, Town of
Hamilton,
Kimberly
Pieffer,
Assistant Collector, Town of Hadley,
Michelle
Shepard,
Assistant
Treasurer and Collector, City of
Fitchburg,
Christine
Wedge,
Assistant
Collector,
Town
of
Chelmsford.
Legislative
Report
Committee
By Second Vice President Barbara Auger,
Treasurer of the City of Taunton
Thank you to all who attended the
Legislative Session this summer at
the Association’s Annual School held
at UMass Amherst. The Legislative
Committee is looking forward to a
very busy yet productive fall! The
Committee is working with Atty.
Steve Roche, the Association’s
Legislative Counsel, to prepare our
submission for the next legislative
session. The MCTA is currently the
sponsor of several bills and is
considering a suggestion to focus
our efforts on fewer proposals. In
response, the Legislative Committee
is considering either prioritizing
proposals or reducing the number of
proposal.
As the Committee
deliberates each proposal, we will be
reaffirming the MCTA point person
and lead sponsors.
Many of the MCTA proposals are
currently being studied by the
assigned
committees;
however
progress had been made in the
following:
H.1830 – An Act Authorizing
Municipal Use of the Prudent
Investor Standards:
Lead Sponsor – Rep. Vinny
deMacedo; MCTA Point Person –
Gerry Lane, Dover
This proposal would allow for a new
clause permitting the use of the
Prudent Investor Rule.
Status: Reported out of the Joint
Committee on Municipalities &
Regional Government. The House
rd
held a 3 reading on 4/16/14.
H.1822 – An Act Relative to
Municipal Use of Insurance
Proceeds:
Lead
Sponsor-James
Cantwell;
MCTA Point Person-Nancy Holt of
Marshfield
This proposal would raise the current
limit municipalities may spend from
insurance
proceeds
without
legislative body approval from
$20,000 to $75,000.
Status – Reported out of the Joint
Committee on Municipalities and
Regional Government. The House
rd
held a 3 reading on 12/16/13.
S.2298 – Establishing a Tax Title
Collection Revolving Fund:
Lead Sponsor – Kenneth Donnelly;
MCTA Point Person John Clark of
Billerica
This proposal would allow a local
option to establish a revolving fund
for tax title collections for any fees,
charges and costs incurred.
Status – Senate recommended bill
ought to pass with an amendment
rd
and was ordered to House for a 3
reading on 7/30/14.
H.3773 – An Act Relating to the
Issuance of Temporary Notes:
Lead Sponsor – Stephen Kulik and
Karen Spilka;
This proposal modifies c44 §17 by
increasing the duration of temporary
borrowing from 5 years to ten years.
Status – Senate approved, House
rd
sent to 3 reading 1/30/14.
Other proposals sponsored by MCTA
and currently sent to study by
committee are:
H.991 – An Act Providing for the
Security of Public Deposits
H.2529 – An Act Relative to the
Collection of Personal Property
Taxes
H.2597 – An Act Relative to Property
Tax Deferral Program
H.2701 – An Act Relative to the
Taxation of Chapter Lands
S.926 – An Act Relative to Local
Licenses and Permit
H.2638 – An Act Relative to Charges
Associated with Condos in Tax Title
S.1310 – An Act Relative to Motor
Vehicle Excise Percentages
S.961 – An Act Relating to Contract
for Certain Town Officials
H.2371 – An Act Allowing Additional
Compensation of Asst. Collectors
and
Asst
Treasurers
upon
Certification
One of the primary races that I
track is the race for State
Treasurer
given
the
close
relationship that office has with
communities. While there are
several candidates in the race,
Deb Goldberg has a significant
lead over her opponents in polls.
She also has access to
substantial personal funds and is
well organized.
During the fall, the Legislative
Committee
will
finalize
the
Legislative package and seek
approval at the Fall/Holiday Meeting
on November 19, 2014.
As we
approach the new Legislative
Session, we encourage you to stay
in
contact
with
your
State
Representatives and Senators to be
able to call upon them to support the
Association’s Legislative proposals.
In closing, I want to thank the
members
of
the
Legislative
Committee for their input and
continued efforts.
Other key races from my
perspective are those for state
senators and representatives. As
I’ve mentioned previously, we are
going to see a lot of new faces
once we begin a new session in
January. In addition to many new
legislators, we are going to see
significant changes in key House
and Senate Leadership positions
including:
Barbara
Of course, the marquee event is
the race for the Corner Office.
Things are really heating up and
the
major
candidates
for
Governor – Martha Coakley and
Charlie Baker - are in a virtual tie
at this point. Expect a lot of
money to be spent this year,
especially by so-called Super
PACs.



News From Beacon Hill
By MCTA’s Registered Agent, Steve Roche
MCTA LOBBYIST REPORT – FALL 2014
[email protected]
AND THE WINNER IS …..
As I write this report, we are 5
weeks out from the November 4th
Election. It was a fairly lackluster
turnout at the State Primary on
September 13th. The results were
interesting and now the surviving
candidates are off and running.
4


New Senate President
New Senate Budget
Chairman
New House Chair of
Financial Services
New Chair of the House
Rules Committee
New Assistant House
Floor Leader
These positions directly affect
many of our legislative proposals.
Of course, election results could
affect incumbents who hold other
key positions on Beacon Hill.
… MEANWHILE AT THE STATE
HOUSE
As you might guess, it’s fairly
quiet at the State House but
things are still happening. The
House and Senate recently gave
final approval to legislation
regarding the Legal List. House
3954 is presently awaiting action
on the Governor’s Desk; here’s a
link for the bill:
https://malegislature.gov/
Bills/188/House/H3954
We’re still working on securing
action on our revised Tax Title
Revolving Fund Bill – Senate
2298 – and our Insurance
Proceeds Bill – House 1822.
Since this can only happen during
‘informal sessions’, we must
ensure that there are no
objections to these measures.
We’re also awaiting action on the
final supplemental budget from
Governor Patrick. House 4301
includes nearly $25 million to
fund a number of programs and
numerous collective bargaining
agreements. It includes:



$1.7 million for the
Municipal Regionalization
and Efficiencies Incentive
Reserve
$62 million for snow and
ice removal
New statutory powers to
increase the Governor’s
budgeting powers
Legislature. The concern is the
loss of hundreds of millions of
dollars for road and bridge
projects across the state if
Question 1 passes.
Question 2 calls for the extension
of the 5 cent bottle deposit to
water bottles and soft drink
bottles.
Opponents
of
the
initiative fear it will actually drive
up the cost of municipal recycling.
Also, the state would benefit from
roughly $35 million annually
escheating to the state when
bottles are not returned for the
nickel.
Question 3 would repeal the
state’s expanded gaming law,
killing casinos planned for Everett
and Springfield, as well as the
slots parlor under construction in
Plainville. A few fiscal impacts
loom if the law is repealed:

The FY2015 state budget
includes $73 million in
revenues from expected
casino licensing fees

The expanded gaming law
sets aside millions in new
revenue for Local Aid.
There are mixed results in the
polls these days but Questions 1,
2, and 3 are expected to fail.
THE
One benefit of having several
ballot questions is it should drive
up voter turnout in November.
State Secretary Bill Galvin was
quoted as follows:
As you know, we have 4
questions on this year’s ballot. 3
of them, if passed, could
significantly impact cities and
towns.
‘I think the nature of the four
questions will help us in
November. I’m pretty confident
November will be a good turnout.’
Question 1 calls for the repeal of
indexing for the state gas tax.
The indexing was included to
allow the gas tax to increase
without requiring a vote of the
CLOSING TRIBUTE – STATE
REPRESENTATIVE
JOHN
BINIENDA
QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS
ON
5
State
Representative
John
Binienda (D-Worcester) recently
passed away while awaiting a
kidney transplant. John was the
Chair of the House Rules
Committee, a very important post
where he controlled the flow of
legislation to the House Floor. He
served in the House for 28 years
and was not seeking re-election
this year. John was a quiet, polite
man who never forgot where he
came from! RIP John.
Steve
6