BCAT News

Burlington is poised to have a new Town Accountant once a contract is finalized with a candidate chosen by the Select Board last night.

The board voted 5-0 to approve Juiling de los Reyes to the position after interviewing her and fellow finalist Richard Howarth, Jr. in a special meeting on Monday evening.

The position of Town Accountant is currently held by John Danizio, who is also the town’s Assistant Town Administrator and Finance Director. Town Administrator Paul Sagarino explained to BNEWS that it was decided to go back to having the positions be held by separate people due to a recommendation by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue which did a report on the structure of the town’s financial department.

“They gave us a plan where they told us areas we needed to improve upon,” Sagarino. “They thought we were spreading things thin. Most communities have three separate jobs for these positions so we felt it was time to address that.”

De le Reyes is currently the Assistant Finance Director for the Town of Natick, a position she has held since 2020. Prior to that she was an Accounting Specialist in Newton from 2017 to 2020.

She has a M.S. in Administration from Boston College, an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from UMass Boston and a B.A. in French and Finance from National Central University in Taiwan. She is also certified by the Massachusetts Municipal Auditors’ & Accountants’ Association as a Certified General Accountant.

Members of the Select Board said that both candidates they interviewed were highly qualified as were other applicants who did not make it to the final round.

“We had a very strong field of candidates to choose from,” member Mike Espejo said. “It’s a tough decision and it’s tough to pick one of the two but I think Juiling stands a little above.”

Sagarino also said he is excited to welcome her aboard and hopes that after the board vote they will be able to come to a final contract agreement with ease.

“I’m really excited to have her join the team,” he said. “She has unique experiences in the field working for two different cities and towns and it’s always great to bring in folks who have worked in other places. We feel like she will be a great addition to our finance team and we’ll hopefully come to an agreement with her.”

Finally, Sagarino said that while this position is a new addition it was in part balanced out by not filling another position following a retirement.