Oxford Board of Selectmen

Thursday, April 20, Town Office

Town Audit

What happened: The town received high marks during the annual audit of its financial books.

What it means: Chris Backman, principal of RHR Smith & Co. which conducted the audit, said the Town Office staff made “heroic efforts”to pull together the necessary information enabling a successful audit during a year when there was great turnover in employees. Backman said the audit found the town’s finances for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016, to be in excellent shape. There is $2.55 million in assigned revenues and about $1 million in unassigned, or surplus, revenues for a total budget of about $3.5 million. Collection of tax revenues was up and revenues exceeded the projected budget by $904,000

Building Code

What happened: The board voted to accept the proposed Building Code and Zoning Ordinance despite objection from Board of Appeals Chairman John Palmer, who is also chairman of the Building Code Committee recently formed to review and update the documents. Palmer said the board should not send the documents to town meeting until some revisions have been done to clarify the documents and make them consistent with state law. He also suggested the committee should meet in the evening instead of 4:30 p.m. so he and some other members can attend more regularly. 

What it means: The Building Code and Zoning Ordinance will go to annual town meeting voters for adoption.

What’s next: The Building Code Committee will continue to refine the documents over the next several months or longer.

Sewer loan program

What happened: Selectmen adopted the Town of Oxford Identify Theft Prevention Program and approved the Sewer Loan Agreement promissory note and mortgage deed.

What it means: Federal requirements for the sewer loan program under Red Flag Rule necessitate adoption of a theft prevention program. The program allows residents the opportunity to borrow low-interest loans to pay the cost of lateral connections to the town’s sewer system. The town must comply with the Federal Trade Commission’s Red Flag Rule to maintain the loan accounts. The program provides written guidelines to detect, prevent and mitigate identify theft of borrowers in the program.

What’s next: At least annually, the town must review and access the adequacy and effectiveness of the theft prevention program and update the program if necessary.

 ldixon@sunmediagroup.net