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Templeton Select Board reviews FY2024 audit, flags $112,000 discrepancy and inventory gaps
Summary
At June 25 and July 9 Select Board meetings, auditors identified a $112,000 discrepancy in the FY2024 finances and recommended inventory and budgeting changes; the board discussed limits on free cash and stabilization-fund allocations and noted an incomplete municipal asset inventory.
The Templeton Select Board discussed findings from a fiscal year 2024 audit at meetings on June 25 and July 9, including a $112,000 discrepancy and recommendations to improve inventory controls and budgeting procedures.
Auditor Tony Roselli of Roselli Clark and Associates presented the FY2024 audit on June 25; Select Board members then discussed the audit findings at the July 9 meeting. The audit identified an unexplained $112,000 difference between amounts voted at town meeting and the figures appearing on the tax recap sheet, according to board discussion during the July 9 session.
Board members and meeting coverage participants said the discrepancy appears to stem from a failure to reconcile voted expenditures with the tax recap. Board discussion focused on following auditors’ recommendations and improving reconciliation to avoid repeat errors.
The audit also noted incomplete municipal asset records. Town staff purchased inventory software that contains vehicle records for the highway department, the Council on Aging and the police department, but auditors and meeting participants reported the fire department’s equipment is not included in the inventory database. Board members said that without a full inventory, the town cannot be certain it is not paying insurance on items it no longer has.
At the July 9 discussion, Select Board members also reviewed the town’s use of “free cash” — the unrestricted fund balance that municipalities may apply to budgets — and directed that limits on free cash use be considered at an upcoming Select Board meeting. Participants described a proposal to increase the percentage of free cash allocated to stabilization accounts, including the general stabilization fund and capital stabilization, and to lower the percentage used for other, unnamed purposes. Speakers noted capital stabilization is typically used to fund purchases such as fire trucks and police vehicles.
Board members framed the proposed change as contingent on completing the asset inventory so the town can identify actual capital needs and avoid duplicate purchases. No ordinance or bylaw change was adopted at the July 9 meeting; Select Board members scheduled further consideration of free-cash limits at a future meeting.
The board’s discussion included several practical steps rather than formal votes: pursuing the inventory completion, reviewing auditors’ recommendations, and considering policy changes for stabilization-fund allocations. Specific percentage changes and any formal policy language were not specified at the July 9 meeting.
Background: Town auditors commonly recommend routine reconciliations and complete asset inventories to support accurate financial reporting and insurance coverage. The Select Board said it will take up the audit recommendations and free-cash policy proposals at a future meeting.
