Town accountant no longer working for Saugus

SAUGUS – Town Manager Scott Crabtree said Tuesday that Town Accountant Joan Regan is no longer employed by the town.Crabtree did not comment on the details about her leaving.?She?s no longer employed here,” said Crabtree. “I?d rather not comment any further than that.”A recent audit of the town?s water and sewer accounts found $1.4 million in general fund-related payroll and expenses that were charged to water and sewer. These charges are a violation of municipal finance laws, according to the audit.Jim Powers, of audit firm Powers and Sullivan, mentioned Regan at a joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee last month. He said at the time that Regan knew certain transactions were wrong and had the ability to stop them at any time.?When I asked the town accountant directly if she knew this was wrong, she said, ?Yes,?” said Powers at the meeting. “I asked why she processed it and she said she was told to do this by the former Town Manager. As we went through this with other employees, they said they did it because the Town Manager told them to, but this does not relieve anyone of their responsibilities.”Calls to Regan were not returned Tuesday.According to the town?s 2012 budget, Regan was paid $70,000 this year.Crabtree said the town is going to hire a consultant to take over for now.Selectmen Chairman Michael Serino said he was sorry to see Regan go.?It?s not a happy situation when you have to lay people off,” said Serino. “I was laid off once before when I was working for GE.”Selectman Stephen Horlick declined to comment.Crabtree said he also made “some reductions” in part-time employees and reductions in hours for some Town Hall employees.?Overall it?s part of trying to effectively minimize the operating deficit we?re facing here in FY12,” said Crabtree. “We?re going to continue to look at ways of cutting expenditures and unfortunately sometimes it results in affecting people?s employment.”Crabtree declined to say if there will be more layoffs or reductions in the future.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].