Finance Director Lori Bolasevich announced last week that she is retiring and moving with her family to Littleton, New Hampshire, where she will begin work as that town’s finance director at the end of this year.
The effective date of her retirement is Dec. 18, Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the Press, saying he was extremely saddened to hear of her decision. “She has done such a fabulous job.”
But, he said, as a municipal employee with nearly 20 years of service in Massachusetts, Bolasevich is eligible to retire and has decided it is time for a move. “Just so you know,” Bragan said ruefully, “I tried to get her to stay.”
The town has already advertised the vacancy on the Massachusetts Municipal Association website, joining three other towns, Grafton, Dracut, and Millbury, seeking a finance director. Bragan said he hoped to begin interviewing candidates Nov. 20. The job requires a bachelor’s degree in finance, business administration, public administration, or related field, and offers a salary of $107,000 to $110,000. Because Harvard’s school district employs a full-time business manager on its staff, the town no longer requires that the finance director be certified in school finance.
Town officials have been effusive in their praise for Bolasevich’s work. “We have all learned from her,” said Finance Committee co-chair Jennifer Finch. “She has set us up to be more organized, use simpler forms, get regular updates, and has set a high bar,” For the last two years, noted Bragan, Bolasevich has closed the town’s books in August and certified the town’s free cash by mid-September. Next week, the town’s assessors will appear before the Board of Selectmen to report the tax rate for fiscal 2021—a month earlier than usual. “When did that ever happen?” he asked in a brief phone interview.
In an email to the Press, Select Board Chair Alice von Loesecke, a previous member of FinCom, said she was sorry to hear that Bolasevich and her family had decided to move out of the area, but was happy for them personally. “Lori is among the most accomplished finance directors I have had the pleasure to work with, and she will be greatly missed.”
In an email to the Press, Bolasevich said she had enjoyed her time working in Harvard and was thankful for the opportunity. “The employees of the Finance Department … are the hardest working group I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with,” she wrote. “Together we have [established] monthly reconciliations of cash and outstanding receivables, monthly detailed expenditure reports for all departments for all funds, and monthly finance team meetings, … [which has] helped to enhance a terrific support system and increase communications.”
Noting the belt-tightening that lies ahead for fiscal 2022, Bolasevich wrote, “Being a nonunion employee in municipal government is very difficult during tough budget seasons, but I hope the town of Harvard will recognize and come to value their finance department employees as much as I have, because they so deserve it.”
Alice Farro, a former Westford finance director, will assist the town until a replacement for Bolasevich can be found. Bolasevich’s last act before leaving will be to assemble fiscal 2022 budget books for Select Board and FinCom members, whose work on next year’s plans for spending gets underway in January.
