By Tracy Ouellette
Staff Writer
After Waterford Sanitary District (WSD) commissioners voted unanimously July 24 to contract with KJ Tax & Accounting for administrative functions such as payroll, bookkeeping and customer billing, they also passed a motion signaling to staff they had better be on board with the change. Or face the consequences.
The motion was drafted by Board President Dan Dickinson and contains specific language pertaining to staff cooperation (which has been an issue in the past) during the transition stage as KJ Tax begins to take over the WSD office functions.
The motion states, “Staff is authorized and specifically directed to cooperate with and assist KJ Tax in any way deemed necessary by KJ Tax…” and then goes on to list, in detail, what KJ Tax should be given access to.
It ends with the statement, “Staff shall not impede progress or refuse requests of KJ Tax”.
Nor can staff be absent from the job without first obtaining proper authorization from a commissioner.
“Violations shall be treated as insubordination,” it states.
Reduced office hours
With the outsourcing to KJ Tax of most administrative tasks now handled by WSD staff, commissioners also voted to reduce the WSD office hours down to 16 hours a week, once the transition period is complete.
It has not yet been determined what those new office hours/days will be; the transition period is expected to last 60 to 90 days.
The board discussed two possible options: (1) Monday through Thursday open four hours a day or (2) two eight-hour office days a week.
Santaga favors the four-day option, but Dickinson expressed concern about finding someone willing to work those hours. He said it might be easier to fill the position if it is only two days a week.
For more coverage of the special meeting, see the Aug. 2 edition of the Waterford Post.
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