##VIDEO ID:T8_4Qz7tiFc## Acton in focus is brought to you by Enterprise [Music] Bank welcome to acting in Focus I'm Vivian kop burel your host and my special guest is Maran flatner the director of administration and finance for the town of Acton welcome to the show mar thank you very much I'm so excited to finally host you uh this is exciting it's not often that we get to talk to someone who is in charge of administration and human resources and budgeting but before we get into that could you tell us about who you are how long You' worked through the town and what exactly that you do sure my goodness okay um and being that we just had our budget hearings we have a little bit of this of the history in our brains just recent um so um I work for the town of Acton and I've been with the town of Acton going on 17 years I can't believe time has flown by and has been so much fun and before I came to the town I worked for the Commonwealth and I worked for various state agencies on mergers and other special projects and I worked for the Commonwealth for about 21 years so reason why I say that a total of about 38 39 years in administration and finance so with the Commonwealth my ti was more like Deputy Commissioner of administration and finance um and here in the town director Administration and finance and what it encompasses usually is um Human Resources Finance other administrative functions of whatever the company or the agency in this case the municipality is responsible for and so I just love it and it's a it's something that adjective that some people don't think of when you think of administration Finance is like folks in it is like it's a lot of fun right and it's first of all you have quite an impressive uh span of experience uh both at the state level Town level and like you rightly said when people talk about Finance it's it's a headache to some of us so if you just taking a little bit of that pie what exactly do you do in the with the finance department what does that compose of and uh yeah we'll take it up from there okay great question and So within the town of Acton so our finance department has our accounting office so our accounting office is where all the bills come in the bills are paid also money that we have to ensure that we are accounting for and so it's like a traditional Accounting Office that one would think of in any company and so that's our accounting office and then the other part is is the treasurer's office the treasurer collector so tresa oeri is our Treasurer collector and she's responsible for the treasury so Banks Bank bank accounts um the receivables of money and also the collection of money and so most of it is taxes I know that's something that folks say oh you know me too right is that we pay our taxes and so that's where the Collection comes in um it could be your motor vehicle excise tax it could be your personal property um your real estate tax so whatever that tax is due and that's that department and so then you kind of jump over to the assessor's office let me just back up one second though Kristen cowette is our acting Town accountant so then going over to the assessor's office again our principal assessor is CJ Carol and so the assessor's office is the folks that actually go out and assess the property the valuation of that property so then the tax rate can be certified can be decided upon and that happens like around the November time frame and a tax certification goes in front of the select board and right now that tax rate is $17.15 per thousand and then you jump over to another department of the whole Finance Wing we call the finance wing and we have the town clerk's office and that's led up by Leo Mardo the town clerk's office is responsible for the voting the elections other things as dog licenses and so one wouldn't think that but you have to make sure that your dog has a license if you live in Acton and by the way I'll just put a little plug in for that so the dog licenses um went out a few weeks ago and they are due on February 28th so if you haven't paid for your dog license yet just make sure that you do that either at $17 or $22 you don't want to have to pay a late fee the late fee is $25 so don't try to get there so the dog licenses as an example so that's another part of our finance office they're really busy when it comes to town meeting um special town meetings obviously the elections um as you probably know many people watching um the residents of Acton amazing always so engaged and they came out in droves we had on we believe in recent history that we're aware of one of the largest town meetings last year and is so much effort that's put into that behind the scenes and then we move over to our um actual kind kind of like Budget Finance office piece of it like the budgeting part and um it is um uh a piece where the budget is created um managed in with the support of all the other divisions and so Ellie Anderson is our budget manager and so that's a division within its like within the finance office and that's that's us in a nutshell it kind of gives like a really high overview but there's so much more detail that happens every single day it's pretty amazing to actually see it in the operation well first of all that is a huge responsibility to be in charge of all of that but there are a few things that I want to pick up from what you mentioned I'll start with the assess the property assessments so I have been following social media about you know AR ments about uh what's going on in the town and people's property and we find I have seen resistance from members of the community who are advocating to shut out assessors who come from the town uh what would you want to say to our community in how in ways that what can they do to help support that effort for the town sure right um so um to your point is that we visit the homes so that we can ensure that the home that neighborhood the community is assessed properly so that we can make sure that we then set a correct tax rate and it all ties in together it's not just specific to the tax rate um but we want to make sure that is your home assessed properly and if not then people are concerned about that that's absolutely fine meaning that we want to hear back because if a resident is concerned they come to us and they can file and they can um have their case heard and we have a board of Assessors for that reason and also is that there are abatements there are exemptions through that process but the important of it is to ensure that you care about your home and you put a lot of effort to keep your home up and also is that if you're ever in the position where you want to sell your home if you own your home is that will you get also the right amount for it so it's like full circle but completely understand that when you do get that tax spill and often times you say to yourself wow you know you just it it's an amount that is just you know sometimes challeng Ing and difficult to say that okay this is going to be my tax bill and most likely it's going to increase as the years go by um but it's a value that you own if you're a property owner right you own that right um so I can completely understand as a taxpayer as well yeah oh here comes the tax bill and then maybe just a quick fall off to that for people who are who don't know what to look out for for a town assessa just to avoid you know strangers being in their home what should they be what should they look out for for somebody who approaches them AB yes absolutely so we introduce ourselves we have the town of act and seal is that sometimes often we're in a Town Car where we'll have the seal on the car we have credentials that we can show someone we have a ID we have a picture ID and also if anyone ever feels like that wait a minute I'm not comfortable I'm not sure you are saying who you are then that's okay is that you can say I'm not comfortable you coming into my home I want to First Call the town of actant I want to call the assessor's office and I want to make sure that you are who you say you are yeah and that's fine we would prefer that because you do never know like if there was someone out there who was trying to say they were someone and they weren't right we totally respect that right and sometimes that happens and they'll call and we'll confirm oh thank you so much for that guidance and then now let's go back to the budget again just listening to that chatter on social media people have been frustrated about the increasingly High uh Town budget um could you just give us some insight into some of the factors that have contributed to that and um just for the benefit of uh inform knowledge and awareness sure um so the budget process actually is a long process meaning TimeWise it might last um six seven 8 nine months to get us to that may town meeting in that process that we work very closely with well the select board are our uh bosses and very closely with the finance committee and residents and those residents the voters and the voters tell us is that we want you to make sure that there is for example a transportation program um there is a sustainability division because we believe and we want to have net zero emissions by 2030 whatever that subject is we want to make sure that you um work on this project that the big project over the past few years has been Kelly's corner for example um whatever that is is that we actually take direction from the residents from the voters and build a budget from there and it is challenging like you said is that okay the budget is going up and we have to live within prop two and a half proposition 2 and a half and as many of us know is that last year there was an override and it was a65 Million override and um we were're able to keep 1.2 of that into a tax levy like a reserve um and even passing that which was very very very close um by a very thin margin is that we still count for and are responsible to the residents and the community and the voters of acting and how we spend every single penny so we want to hear and take direction from the community and going like going back to for example the transportation program we hear that that is extremely important that in order to have a strong economy and businesses and a livable Community is that can someone get from point A to point B Because public Transportation gets more challenging as you go outside of the city environment yes it does and so with that is that um how do we then create a budget and a sustainable budget and that's important to us because that's what we are hearing from the community so most of everything that we do if not everything that we do is because the town of Acton the community the residents they're telling us this is what we want and it is hard because all of us see costs going up if it's construction whatever that it is is that construction goes up and so a cost of a capital program increases and it's it is hard to swallow it is hard to see these costs go up but hopefully we're doing the right job and if it is a $39 million or $40 million operating budget that anyone can come to us and say how is all that money being spent and why we totally hear you and respect that um a big part of the budget is FTE full-time equivalencies salaries are the employees um I'm an employee and I Our Town manager John and Gerard takes that very seriously and that always how can we have a position in the best most efficient creative way just because it was this title before and just because it was filled can it be filled differently can we do our jobs differently and it all is part of the process and savings hopefully which is a great transition into the human resources okay the fun part well budgeting is also fun for those who love numers fun and I'll get back to you on that about you know the most fulfilling part of your work but let's first go to the HR since you've kind of easily transitioned us there um what exactly do you do in human resources or what has been your experiences in Human Resources with the town of Acton what are some of the best moments and uh what are the opportunities all in one oh Vivan this is awesome because you asked the question like the best moments and there were so many best moments over these 17 years but what comes to mind immediately as um when I first started and I came from the Commonwealth and um the Commonwealth is a little bit more bureaucratic because there just more layers but what I was able to do at the Commonwealth was create these um uh committees and so so um speaking with the town manager at the time is that we had created an employee recognition committee something you're probably familiar with when you were there and the employee recognition committee is something we're just so proud of because it is something that can be um so cost effective and get a lot of uh mileage out of it that it is so worth it so the employee recognition committee we hold three events per year and one of them is the star recognition program and star stands for service to the town of Acton recognition program and we have an event for employees who have reached their 10 or 20 or 30 or 40y year Milestone and they invite their family and their colleagues come and it's so nice to see that this employee has brought so much knowledge and passion and care to their job to the community over these again 10 20 30 40 years so that's something we're super proud of another one is is that we hold a holiday event and the third one is a professional development day professional development day is at our own Nara Park and it's a day where we do a lot of interaction with each other where you normally don't where if I'm a police officer I may not have too much interaction on a regular basis basis with the librarian um we have a guest speaker and um the chair of the select board speaks about the short and long-term goals and John me and Gerard speaks we have breakout sessions the other thing that we have um that we created over these years that super proud of is the wi committee and something else you're probably remembering is the win committee is the wellness initiative Network committee and over these 17 years we have brought in guest speakers whether it is your physical health your mental health Financial he and we've been able to do this on such a very very small limited budget these speakers 99% of the time will come and speak for free and we'll have lunch and learns and when people leave leave and we do exit interviews and we ask them what could we do better what what have we done well and the majority will say is that you know I came from another Community or came from another company and what the town does for us to keep our morale up the wellness and the ERC those committees that's something I'm really super proud of and cannot do it without the committee members right because the employees volunteer on these committees and it's always always a team effort it really is you can't do anything alone and I'm super proud and super humbled by that human resources we do compensation classification benefits we manage all benefits um hiring uh maybe that's something that I could chat about yes we're looking for uh a a a a number of awesome awesome folks who want to join our team speaking of team that's why we like to hear I really and I'm saying this because I believe it is that it is an awesome place to work um the benefits are phenomenal the public pension system is the best we are very competitive with our health insurance we have always asked our employees what are you looking for in benefits oh I'm looking for hospitalization coverage cancer coverage dental vision pet insurance that's important to people and we offer that so positions that we have open right now we have um emtb which is emergency medical technician basic so firefighter so someone who is looking to be a firefighter emtb um many times is that we'll recruit from uh ambulance companies but also people who have shown interest in the firefighting world and also have either attended or interested in going to the firefighting Academy so a firefighter emtb we're also looking for a firefighter paramedic so that is another level of um uh well well this one is a paramedic but another level up from an emtb basic right and so we are recruiting for firefighter paramedics yeah just a quick question for the two position is there an age limit cuz uh there are certain requirements for that kind of work um for both Public Safety so for fire and police the age limit is age 65 okay um and so unless you get special um dispensation to work Beyond age 65 okay um but other than that um not like 35 or 30 or anything like that okay um and speaking of that we're also uh recruiting for police officers um speaking of the public safety realm and um our police in fire every single Department every single division every single employee um Public Safety is just a field where you see the care and the compassion and the commitment that folks have that in your time of need when you call 911 and they show up it may be like if they say your worst day of your life and having the folks who we have to show up and help you is Paramount to who we are and also is that we just recently posted a director of innovation in technology and so it's you know the acronym director of it but director of innovation and technology so this person will be responsible for our information technology and a big part of that cuz that world is constantly changing it is we are hearing so much about AI right now right and so that's why the Innovation piece of it is tied to the technology piece that is going to be a great exciting Dynamic job m and that is posted right now right and so it's a fully benefited position here in Acton Town Hall phenomenal benefits um I think it's posted between $130 to $160,000 per year right and then maybe just a quick uh clarification for for that position and I saw it up uh are you looking for some because when you talk about it or technology there is a where people just manage uh the proog the network within the or organization and what I'm hearing is you're looking at also somebody who is uh Innovative or supports the Innovation with technology so where is the heaven is what are you most interested in in that person oh yeah sure um so definitely someone who has the work experience no matter what um because it is a it is a um director position um and with that is that has that person in their current or former job been involved with bringing um new technologies and whether that is on social media or what is happening right now with the um um say the the piece of social media where what is being allowed what's not being allowed being on top of those conversations um and again back to artificial intelligence is that it is changes every single day and every minute H every minute you're right and you have to have your hand on the pulse so we're looking for someone who is either has that and willing to be out there and stay on top of whatever is happening not just like local or state but really like National Global as well that's not one job where you you know can keep your blinders on right and because we want to make sure that if you go to our website and have you been able to like click on and find the things that you want to find easily um and if not we want to hear that how how can we update it so we get information out to the people who want it to the community um also in municipalities your information technology department gets involved with for example our North Acton fire station um it is heated and air conditioned by geothermal M geothermal is automated and so many municipalities the information technology department is very closely tied to facilities and operations because there's so much automation now with our facilities and our Public Safety departments radio communication that's extremely important for a police and fire right when you go to town meeting and someone gives you the clicker click right to vote Yes No that's Information Technology yeah no this is great and for those who are interested in those positions this is some because well the HR is giving an insight into what they're looking for so I hope people uh pay attention to this and you can apply at jobs actin ma.gov there we go is there anything about your work that we haven't yet talked about that you would like to tell us or tell our viewers I would um that's a great question and what immediately comes to mind and hopefully this is something that I can say that eventually when I look back maybe years from now that I was most proud of is that I think it's so important to be accessible and to have an open door and that even if it's not something that you are directly responsible for but if I see someone in the hallway if you see a visitor if you pick up the phone and it's not your baileywick is that instead of me just transferring you what are you looking for cuz maybe I can help you or I want to make sure that I bring you to the person that can answer your question is that and and this is and so our town manager John Manera instills this in US is our customer service he created a hotline where Kristen Alexander who manages that hotline is that anyone can call that hotline and you will get a live person you won't get automation where press one press two press three press five five would you like this repeated you get a person and they're going to help answer your question or find it for you and I think for me is that that's something that is extremely important you come to town hall Vivan right I'm on either on the second floor or the first floor wherever I am whether it's Finance or HR but hopefully you can come and you can be two feet away from me like we are right now and I can say hi how can I help you what are you here for let me bring you there let me call and I think that's something that all of us do but it's so quietly done hopefully meaning quietly that we just do it and that people feel welcome yeah and they can come to any of our facilities and be helped and so that's something that I think happens every single day happens every minute of the day and it's it's it's for me it's a it's a big part of who I am and part of the job part of my responsibility director of administration and finance um because those are the things that happen behind the scenes that may not be out there visually right but it's so important to people right um and then I guess as we wrap this up I'll just uh ask uh you do an amazing job with the town with all the huge responsibility occurring so in what ways and acting TV has been supportive in any way that we can but are there ways that we can support you even better uh in the work that you or the town does oh my goodness um like wow this is an opportunity right to say oh Vivian your next speaker can be um but I think that um is we are great partners and you are always there when we need um a meeting televised or live and having it on YouTube I think that um just continuing with that and maybe uh we can come and we can talk more about job openings because we want to get that message out right because we want to make sure that people know about these opportunities so maybe that's like the next place we could visit was I just mentioned like three jobs but we can talk more about those or also is that from the finance angle um in the clerk when town meeting is coming up um or when uh again I made it kind of funny but it's important like hey does your dog have that dog license and so that's something that we could probably work with you on and have more of these shows absolutely no it's been fantastic to have you here to share the work that you do to give us some insight into those very critical departments both finance and HR are the core of operation ations uh in the town so thank you thank you for taking the time to come uh speak with us it's been such an honor and to our viewers I hope that you have learned about what goes on behind the scenes there is more but be in the interest of time that's what she could share and I hope that if you have any questions you'll feel empowered to go to the office the town of Acton at 472 Main Street and get the answers that you need or visit the website uh Acton ma.gov but for now thank you again for being thank you here and to our viewers thank you for watching till next time [Music]