The Board of Selectmen Tuesday voted to place Finance Director James Hliva on six months probation by a for improperly transferring funds for school capital projects and failing to publicly notice a Board of Finance meeting.
The vote was 2 – 1, with Selectman August Palmer saying the consequences were too severe.
Following an executive session with town attorney Fran Teodosio, First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers said that Hliva made an improper transfer of capital project funds on two line items for Oxford Center School and Quaker Farms School and altered a public document June 3.
Drayton-Rogers said that in the current budget approved by referendum, Oxford Center School received $57,500 and Quaker Farms School received $135,050 for capital projects.
According to Drayton-Rogers, Board of Education member Rose McKinnon noticed that, upon inspection of Board of Finance minutes, the dollar amounts for each school were transposed.
Drayton-Rogers said when the discrepancy was brought to Hliva’s attention, he transferred $78,050 from the Quaker Farms School line item to the Oxford Center School line item.
Drayton-Rogers said Hliva made the correction without the authority of either the Board of Finance or the Board of Selectmen.
“The authority is with those boards to make a transfer of funds,” she said. “He could not change those numbers on his own volition.”
It was also discovered during an administrative investigation that Hliva failed to publicly notice a Board of Finance meeting held on May 18.
During that meeting, the board took action utilizing the capital funds.
Drayton-Rogers said the Board of Finance had to conduct a special meeting to take action on those items a second time. She added that both boards conducted additional special meetings to legally transfer the capital funds to the proper line items.
“We’ve handled the situation properly and are top of what is happening fiscally in town,” she said.
Palmer voted against the probation and praised Hliva’s work performance. He said that during Hliva’s four years as finance director he has been fiscally responsible, made good investments and saved the town money.
“It is severe and I think what we have here is a clerical error,” he said.
Rogers said if she thought it was anything more than a clerical error or malicious action, the consequences would have been much more severe.
‘I think this is extremely fair,” she said.
Hliva’s probation began July 7 and runs through January 2010, at which time the Board of Selectmen will conduct a review.
In addition, a letter of reprimand has been placed in Hliva’s personnel file.
Hliva decline to comment on the board’s action because he had not seen the meeting minutes.
