Photo: Assistant Town Administrator/Financial Director Jennifer Hewitt
Jennifer Hewitt, who as Belmont’s financial director was a lead architect of modernizing town budget process and who unified the town’s financial framework, announced last week she would be leaving her post as assistant town administrator.
Hewitt next career stop will be as CFO of the Group Insurance Commission (GIC), the Massachusetts-run health insurance agency responsible for delivering coverage to state and local government employees.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to work here,” said Hewitt. “I definitely came wanting to make a difference, and I feel like I have accomplished that.”
“I can’t express what [Hewitt] brought to the town in terms of her abilities, her skills and work ethic. It’s just amazing,” said Town Administrator Patrice Garvin as she announced the news to the Select Board and the public at its Aug. 25 meeting.
With the hiring of Hewitt in 2022 as the town’s financial director – a crucial recommendation by the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass Boston’s review of the town’s financial structure – and chair of the town’s new Financial Management Team, “we finally had a position that was dedicated for [the] purpose [of updating town finances], which we didn’t have before. I think [Hewitt’s hiring] was a game changer to get us on the right track now,” said Garvin.
Despite her short tenure, Hewitt’s legacy will be long lasting in the forming of future town budgets, now based on an agreed-to revenue expenditure forecast that directs the town-wide budget process.
“In her three years, [Hewitt] was able to formulate and coordinate an idea of how the budget should go. She worked with staff and everybody, to bring those ideas along, which in the past, for whatever reason, we couldn’t bring it all together,” said Garvin after the end of the meeting.
“In a lot of ways that may not be obvious for people who don’t follow the budget process, it helps us take a giant step forward in both the following and caliber of the discussions,” said Board Chair Matt Taylor. “There’s been a lot of cleanup and modernizing efficiencies that have been found” through Hewitt’s efforts.
A major accompishment was a significant overhaul of the town’s financial structure, creating with successive select boards and Town Meetings a body that currently works in concert with town budget and fiscal objectives.
“I’m particularly proud of being part of building that team and helping with the transition from elected Treasurer, Collector and the Board of Assessors to the now appointed group. And I think that is will live long and have a positive benefit for Belmont for years,” Hewitt said.
“I wholeheartedly agree that you’re leaving us in a better place than you found us, and that sets up our whole community for better, for looking to the future,” said Board member Elizabeth Dionne.
Garvin said the town will begin a job search for Hewitt’s replacement after the town’s Special Town Meeting in mid-October.