Town feels sting of bank fees

KENT — The town owes a substantial amount of money in bank fees, according to Town Treasurer Barbara Herbst.

Herbst, who made a report to the Board of Selectmen during the regular meeting March 2, told the board that The Bank of America is charging the town $4,402 in transaction fees for its general banking and operating account.

Herbst explained to the board that, when the town opened up its account with the bank sometime in the 1980s, the bank had a stipulation that a minimum amount would have to remain in the account to offset any fees.

“However, at the end of last year, we got a bill from the bank for $4,402 because the amount of money we kept in the account wasn’t sufficient to offset those fees,� Herbst said. “I have been working with the bank’s government client manager and they reduced the fee to $2,478.�

Herbst said that, for the town to have avoided fees, they would have had to keep at least $5 million in the account.

“When I was [hired] in February of last year and I saw that we were in a deficit, I tried to keep the balance up in the account,� she said. “But I was not about to keep $5 million in a bank account and have it sit there just to avoid fees. I was keeping it at around $1,500,000.�

Because the treasurer’s office did not have a line item in the town budget from which to pay the bank fees, the selectmen unanimously voted to create one.

The selectmen also recommended to the Board of Finance that the town pay the bank through the town’s contingency fund.

“I need to pay this bill, especially if we end up moving the account to another bank,� Herbst said. “I’m meeting with several other banks soon to compare their products and develop a solution where we can have an account that incurs the least amount of fees to make the most of what we have. In my research, I’ve talked to every town treasurer in the Northwest Corner and a lot of them have moved away from the Bank of America because of their fee structure.�