Comptroller's Office

Description of Services

The Assistant Town Manager for Finance oversees property assessment, revenue collection, the Town's retirement plan, purchasing and billing for property taxes, as well as the following functions contained within the Comptroller's Office:

Accounting: The Town's accounting function is centralized within the Comptroller's office, where staff maintain the fiscal records and internal controls for the Town. .  Accounting ensures  that all financial reporting requirements are in accordance with state, federal and town bylaws. Work products include financial reports for all departments, the Town's annual financial statements, oversight of the annual audit, and maintenance of the Town's authorized and unissued debt.

Accounts Payable/Payroll: The Town of Lexington maintains a departmental-based, decentralized accounts payable/payroll system. Final oversight and sign-off occurs through the Comptroller's office. This function services and maintains payroll for all Town departments. 

Budget: (Link to the Budget Web) The budget office is responsible for coordinating, developing and monitoring the annual budget process. This involves both coordination of internal and external budget processes and development of procedures and systems. This office is responsible for the review and analysis of budget requests and the monitoring of budgets throughout the fiscal year. 

Purchasing: Supervises administrative and technical work in purchasing goods and services such as materials, equipment, tools, parts, supplies, and services as authorized by the laws of the Commonwealth under Chapter 30B. The Town's procurement officer manages all competitive and public bids for goods and services and administers inter-local cooperative purchasing agreements with other agencies.

Retirement: Town manages an independent retirement system for its employees. The Town’s Retirement Office provides staff support and policy guidance to the Retirement System’s five member Retirement Board ensuring that the provisions of Chapter 32 of the Massachusetts General Laws are enacted properly and that the public employee retirement regulations are carried out. Employees of the Retirement Office work for the Retirement System and are not paid for by the Town of Lexington. 

Materials: The following are a collection of important financial updates and information for the Town of Lexington.