Oakham Select Board Signs Special Town Meeting Warrant, Eyes Contracted Treasurer Firm

OAKHAM — January 13, 2025 — Oakham Select Board signs Special Town Meeting warrant and moves toward hiring a contracted treasurer firm. The board unanimously approved a two-article warrant for a January 27 Special Town Meeting at the Oakham fire station, seeking a $15,000 transfer from the assessors' stabilization account for revaluation expenses and $21,500 from free cash to restore cuts to the Fire Department, Police Department, town clerk, Select Board, and town counsel accounts. In a wide-ranging discussion, board members expressed a clear lean toward contracting with Mass Munifin, a Hardwick-based municipal financial services firm, to fill the vacant treasurer-collector position rather than hiring a single individual; the firm's proposal offers up to eight hours of off-site support plus one on-site evening per week at $1,400 per week, with several financial details still to be clarified. One member said the town's contracted accounting arrangement proved the model works: "We have avoided some tough spots because of them." The board voted to have Administrative Assistant Maribel gather detailed cost comparisons from Mass Munifin before the next regular meeting, rescheduled to Tuesday, January 21 due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, while also proceeding with a Friday interview of a second treasurer-collector candidate.