PLYMPTON — September 29, 2026 — Plympton’s free cash has been certified, but Town Accountant Lisa Hart told the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday that the first $9,200 invoice for the town’s new VADAR accounting system was not budgeted, and that an overspent water infrastructure grant account and an old police detail account will have to be written off, with no funding source yet identified.
The Full Story
Hart handed the board the free cash certification at the start of the meeting, and Chair Nathaniel Sides said it had arrived the day before. The accountant said the town has gotten better at getting free cash certified, but that the amount is lower than it used to be because the town is spending more.
Sides asked about one line on the certification:
I noticed it says we have roughly $250,000 outstanding real estate taxes that are still receivable. Is that typical?
— Nathaniel Sides, Select Board Chair 1:20
Hart said that figure is fairly average.
A water infrastructure account tied to a grant that was overspent has carried a deficit for a couple of years and will not be recouped, and Hart said the town will need to find a place to get funds to write it off. The old police detail account, carrying invoices more than two years old, will also have to be written off. Keeping both on the books affects the town’s cash, she said.
An $11,000 school grant deficit, she said, is not a true deficit but reimbursement money the schools have not yet drawn down. Hart met with school officials, asked for copies of their grants and better communication, and told them to finish draw-downs by the end of July because late draw-downs affect free cash. A police grant for the SEMLEC project has also been in deficit for some time, and Hart said it is not yet known whether more grant money will arrive or the funds will have to come from elsewhere.
Hart also raised a revolving vehicle account that now receives administrative fees, saying it is not clear town meeting ever voted to send those fees there and that they once went into free cash. Sides, drawing on his time on the Finance Committee, said the administrative fees offset three additional hours a week for an employee rather than running through a salary line. He said it would be cleaner to add the cost to the salary line and suggested taking it up with the Finance Committee. Hart agreed.
The $9,200 bill is the first invoice for VADAR, the accounting software the town began using a couple of months ago. Hart said the cost was not budgeted and the town needs to figure out where the money will come from. Sides said the question came up when the budget was set, and when Hart suggested the technology line, Sides said he thought that was the determination but that the funding source should be confirmed with the town administrator. Town Administrator Robert Fennessy did not attend the meeting; Sides said he was not feeling well.
