POLAND – A good idea but a bad way to do business was the message from the Board of Selectmen when asked to award a payroll service contract.

Town staff asked selectmen to commit to Advanced Payroll Plus out of Bangor but had not seen a copy of the contract until Tuesday. Each board member supported the idea of contracting the payroll duties as more efficient and economical, but tabled their decision so that they could get more information.

“It seems another bum’s rush, and it’s just assumed that we will rubber stamp whatever is in front of us,” said Selectman Glenn Peterson. “It just tastes terrible.”

The new financial quarter starts April 1, and staff thought starting the new service by then would be a good idea, said Sue Goss, who takes care of the payroll in addition to her regular duties as assessing clerk.

The town is down a finance director since George Gendron quit and served out his notice last week. Town Manger Richard Chick informed the board that he was currently interviewing applicants for the position but was not ready to make a recommendation yet.

The idea for contracting the job arose about a month ago when School Union 29 officials met with staff from Poland, Minot and Mechanic Falls, said School Superintendent Nina Schlikin.

“It was just an exploratory meeting to see if there was a plausible way to help each other out,” said Schlikin. “We’re trying to have a culture where we have more cooperation between the schools and the town.”

Schlikin said she was unaware of any rush by school officials to change the payroll system in Poland.

The schools and towns share an identification number and are tied together if a payroll service is used, said Goss. The town of Mechanic Falls already uses the Bangor company, and Minot pays its employees in house.

“We would have to do whatever the town chooses,” said Schlikin.

The sticking point came when no information was provided to Poland selectmen about other payroll service companies or options and conditions of the recommended contract.

“We didn’t even know the name of the company,” said Peterson. “I’m in favor of the idea, but we don’t know what’s out there. We don’t know what the school has already agreed to.”

The board agreed that the advantages to hiring a payroll service would be to increase efficiency and to improve record-keeping. Selectman Lionel Ferland noted a possible advantage to timing the payroll switch with hiring the new finance director.

Chairman David Corcoran directed staff to invite representatives from Advanced Payroll Plus and Union 29 Superintendent’s Office to the next meeting of March 16. They also wanted more information about other companies who provide the same service.

“My feeling is that any time I don’t get information until the day of the meeting, I vote against it,” said Peterson after the meeting. “If it’s that important, then we should be able to get some information.”