HADLEY — The Select Board is examining whether to merge the collector and treasurer’s offices at Town Hall, as officials look to hire a person to provide support for both departments.
While no decisions are imminent for the future of the two offices, the Select Board at a late August meeting agreed to advertise for a full-time assistant treasurer and collector.
The discussion of the possible changes is prompted by the recent retirement of Linda Sanderson, who was treasurer for more than 10 years and finance director for 2½ years, the anticipated retirement of Susan Glowatsky, who plans to step down in January after 20 years in the collector role, and the departure of longtime assistant collector Kim Pieffer for a similar position in Wilbraham.
The only staff remaining in the two offices are Glowatsky and Dede Dibrindisi, who was named treasurer in July, stepping up from the assistant treasurer position.
Town Administrator Nate Malloy told the Select Board that Belchertown, Deerfield and South Hadley all have one person doing both roles, as do other similar communities, with some having assistants, as well.
Malloy said advertising for the assistant collector treasurer would allow the town to see who might step forward.
Assistant Town Administrator Jennifer Sanders James said of communities with 5,000 to 10,000 residents, seven towns have a combined collector and treasurer.
The leadership team of Malloy and Sanders James will be primarily responsible for developing the budget next year, a responsibility that Sanderson had as finance director in recent years.
Still, those who have held the leadership positions aren’t sure a merger will work.
Glowatsky said that was suggested in a 2013 report, though was not pursued. “It didn’t work in a lot of small towns, and now the trend you’re seeing is they’re splitting back out into two departments,” she said.
Glowatsky said there has been a threefold increase in the amount of paperwork since she was first elected in 2006.
Sanderson was also worried about combining the positions and having one person help out in both offices. “Doing a combined assistant for both is not a good idea,” Sanderson said.
Select Board member Molly Keegan questioned whether it makes sense to have two department heads. That was necessary when both positions were elected by voters, but each has since become appointed by the Select Board.
Keegan said it makes sense to focus on the support side as way to cut costs, and she worries about not being able to streamline if budgets again get tight, as they were before voters authorized a Proposition 2½ tax-cap override earlier this year.
“I don’t want to put us in the same situation as before, which is our only avenue down the road is to lay people off,” Keegan said.
Still, Glowatsky said her office needs at least part time help. From mid-September to October will be mostly housekeeping items, with every other month her office issuing a bill or collecting a bill.
The collector’s office is also still doing water and sewer billing, which previously was handled by the Department of Public Works.
Dibrindisi said so far she has been able to handle all the treasurer work, even though she is often called upon to provide assistance to the building commissioner’s office, due to her previous role as the permits coordinator.
