Getting a Hold of Finances in Milan

From our perspective The Number 1 issue facing the new board was to get a handle on Town Finances. Since 2003 the intervening Supervisor's and their support personnel altered the format of the long established monthly financial report. The problem with their changes was that it made their documents difficult, if not impossible, for non-accountants to find information easily.

The old format, once again being used, had been established long ago by previous town boards on the basis that monthly financial reports should be simple to read, straight forward documents that provide the reader was easily identifiable categories that accurately reflect the current state of town finance.

Here is a snapshot of the opening page. If you want to download all six pages of the January report, click on Milan Financial Reports in the Resources section to the left of this article.

We urge all of you to spend just a few minutes reviewing the financial report and see if you, like us, appreciate their return to a format that is simple, readable and accurate.

As the new board, under the leadership of Supervisor William Gallagher gets started, it is nice to see that they are getting back to the fundamentals of strong fiscal management.