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Municipal finance is a complex topic. Fortunately, the fundamentals are well explained by State and local experts in a wide variety of materials online. The only catch is that you have to know where to look for the information you want to find.
Below is a comprehensive list of helpful resources for any resident that wants to learn more about Sudbury’s finances.
SOURCE: Town of Sudbury
Budgets
- Recent Town budgets are on the Town website here.
- For older budgets or budget summaries, one easy place to check is the old Town Meeting warrants here.
- The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) is here. It’s a great resource with actuals from FY2024. You’ll find this and many other useful documents on the Documents section of the Finance Department page.
Policies
- Sudbury’s Financial Policies are here.
- Sudbury’s Town Investment Policy is here.
- Sudbury’s Trust Fund Investment Policy is here.
- Finance Committee Reserve Fund Transfer Guidelines are here.
Miscellaneous
- Division of Local Services review of Sudbury’s Capital Improvement Program is here. This was a key input for the Town’s Financial Policies.
SOURCE: Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Division of Local Services (DLS)
- The DLS Databank features a wide variety of reports allowing you to compare Sudbury to other towns in Massachusetts. You can access it here
- The “Community Comparison Report” is one of the most useful.
- The “City and Town Data Visualizations” are handy for those who prefer pictures over data-heavy tables.
- This report shows all override and underride results dating back to 1990.
- The Free Cash Usage Trends and Average Single Family Tax Bill visualizations are also handy.
- The Capital Exclusions report goes all the way back to 1989 here.
- The Community Snapshot is a great dashboard view of a Town here.
- The Operating Position report is another valuable at-a-glance resource here.
- Free cash as a percentage of budget is here.
- Stabilization fund as a percentage of budget is here.
- Their YouTube account has a TON of useful videos here.
SOURCE: Massachusetts Municipal Association
General Resources
- Start on their homepage and you’ll quickly find a ton of news and analysis that’s timely.
- Their Resource Library is sortable by topic here.
- Their Local Aid and Finance Resources are accessible for a general audience.
SOURCE: Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)
- Their Best Practices and Resources section is a valuable resource. You can access that here.
- The Massachusetts chapter is here, but they don’t offer the robust resources shared by the national organization.
SOURCE: Local Experts
Sudbury Finance Department
- Contact information is on their website page here.
Assessor’s Office
- Contact information is on their website page here.
Finance Committee
- Contact information is on their website page here.
Sudbury Town Forum on Municipal Finance
- Slides and glossary of terms available here.
Forum recording available on SudburyTV here, and embedded below.