At the Annual Town Meeting, Mr. Leo Blair reported that Harvard has an unfunded liability of $29.8 million and that, according the town auditor’s Management Letter, it will become “an unmanageable liability in ten years.” As stated by the auditors, “While this is a future liability, its impact to current operations cannot be ignored.” Remarkably this is the single largest unfunded liability in the town’s history. Up until now, it appears to have been ignored and all of us who serve Harvard in elected, appointed or professional positions share some culpability.
There have been many attempts to dismiss this matter and to justify ignoring it. I have heard, “We have known about this for a long time;” or, “It was brought up to the Finance Committee in 2008;” or, “The state has not yet promulgated regulations to deal with this;” or even, “Every other town has a similar problem.” While we can all wish these are true, none of them addresses the problem.
There is really only one clear course of action. A simple first step is to post the auditor’s report on the town website along with the actuarial table used to determine the extent of the liability. It continues by asking the auditor to come to a public meeting to explain his report. This meeting should include our Finance Committee and provision should be made for public participation. Previously the auditor has attended a regular Board of Selectmen meeting. I have requested both that the report be posted and that there be an agenda item on the next regular Board of Selectmen to have the auditor attend. The town administrator and finance director have been working on my request.
Once the issue has been openly presented to the public, we can begin to address it. Let the public see the effect on the town’s expenditures. Factor the cost of funding the liability into budget projections so the public can assess spending priorities. I wish there will be no effect and I wish my concerns were unfounded but again, wishing is not a viable course of action.
Ron Ricci
East Bare Hill Road
