Watertown’s New Treasurer Wrangles Better Rate From Banks

Print More

Watertown’s new Treasurer Collector Joseph Divito will be able to bring in more than $100,000 more in investment income for the Town of Watertown this year, after he had some tough talks with some banks.

Divito told the Town Council recently that he noticed that the town not getting the best rates for the money it must keep in reserve to pay for the town’s health insurance and retirement benefits – about $60 million.

Watertown was only getting a rate of about .2 percent on its savings for its health and other post employment benefits.

“I called and asked for a higher rate,” Divito said. “Those banks that wouldn’t budge, they are all gone.”

In one case, Divito said, he took $5 million out of one institution.

As a result, the expected investment income will rise from $65,000 in Fiscal 2016 (which ends June 30, 2016) to $175,000 in Fiscal 2017.

While Divito joined the town government as Treasurer/Collector in February, he is no stranger to Town Hall. From 1993-99 he served as the Chairman of the Board of Assessors in Watertown.

“I have to say, Watertown has and will always be a fun place work,” Divito said.

Divito said he believes he was the first hire by Town Manager Michael Driscoll when Driscoll was a new town manager.

After leaving Watertown he worked in his hometown of Hull, then Cohasset and Hull again before coming back to Watertown.

One of his projects as Treasurer/Collector, Divito told the Council, is to allow people to pay by credit card, both in the office and online.

He also is in charge of choosing a new parking meter system for the town, which will allow credit cards to pay. Big logs will have pay stations, but he hopes to avoid having ones where you have to print out a ticket and place it in you vehicle.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *