This law seems to cover some of the questions which have arisen over the 1.9 MILLION dollar situation. To read the two-pages, please go: mass.gov. then, put MGL chapter 32B, Section 3A in the search box.

1. it allows a third party administrator to handle the nuts & bolts of claims payments from the "claims trust fund". Alternatively, these functions can be handled in house. there are several references to the "adequacy" of the claims trust fund. Is this the fund that the ita, fincom and BoS liason were discussing in the March fincom meeting, which the meeting minutes describe as the "trust fund savings"?

2. It also specifies that the Town TREASURER transfer the funds from the Town to claims trust fund. And further that "the treasurer shall be the custodian of said funds...."

3. Any town "shall cause an audit of that fund to be made annually" I went thru the Town audit (fy2007 - 61 fun-filled pages) posted on the town website, done by Claude Boudwin (more on him later), and found only an oblique reference to these funds. Certainly, there was no useable detail. Have separate audits been made of the claims trust fund? if so, has anybody actually seen them?

4. (if) an annual...accounting...."discloses that payment from the fund has resulted in the contrbutions of (Town) and its employees...toward a previously established total monthly premium ....has been shared on a ratio inconsistent with the share of the contributions as provided, the (Town) shall adjust future contributions toward the monthly premium....to compenste for the inconsistency." (I eliminated stuff not germane to this point.)

This last section seems quite clear that any excess contributions do NOT merely flow to the Town side, but require adjustments to future contributions, benefitting both contributors according to their pro rata shares. But, what if the imbalance is so large as to require more than one year to correct? Didn't see that question addressed in the verbiage. and, rebates? didn't see any reference to that as an option.

Audit(s): are there enuf audits going on in Wareham that the sports teams should change their nicknames to the Auditors? 

1. The school people had an audit done by Mr. Boudwin. the ita diasagrees with the audit. no news there.

2. Is this audit a public record? Has anybody seen it, besides the School people & the ita/BoS?

3. Mr Boudwin has been the Town's outside auditor for some time. Uh-oh. The ita/BoS don't like this audit. Is it curtains for Mr. Boudwin?

Bottom line: there are several people who should have been in the loop as far as the payments into the claims trust fund were concerned. the ita for sure. the treasurer, as custodian of the funds. the Town's auditor. Are we to accept that NONE of these people saw the imbalance in the payments?
At this point, I am not calling out the BoS or the FinCom in the specific sense of hands-on responsibility; but certainly in the general sense of proper oversite of the fund, and they were at the FinCom meeting in March, as the minutes clearly indicate. After all, did they not discern the positive impact that the payment imbalance had on the overall budget? To quote the former Gov. of Alaska: You Betcha!

Fasten your seat belts, this could be some ride!

Aside to Larry M. will do.