Audit finds $112,000 variance in Town of Templeton tax recap; recommends account reviews and asset list cleanup

An auditor told the Town of Templeton on Oct. 10 that the town’s tax recap—the certification of property taxes used to set the tax rate—did not reconcile with the approved budget, showing a $112,000 variance.

The discrepancy prevented the auditor from certifying that the tax recap matched the town’s budget items, the staff member (auditor) said. “Look at your tax your tax recap, which is the certification of your taxes. The information on there should equal your budget items,” the staff member said. “We were unable to reconcile that.”

That mismatch matters because the tax recap drives the certified tax rate used for billing. The auditor said the difference could be explainable but staff did not provide the reconciliation for fiscal 2024; the auditor summarized the finding as: “It was off a $112,000.”

In addition to the tax-recap variance, the staff member flagged the town’s allowance for abatements as unusually high compared with the number of outstanding cases before the Appellate Tax Board. The auditor noted abatements that occurred in April and May and recommended that finance coordinate with assessors to determine whether the allowance can be reduced and some funds moved into stabilization accounts.

The auditor also suggested the town consider creating a pension stabilization fund. During the audit presentation, the staff member said the current inventory of capital assets includes many items that are likely no longer in service. “For example, if you've got a vehicle on there from 02/2004, there's a good chance that it doesn't exist or it was traded in,” the auditor said, and recommended that the accountant periodically review the capital asset list with department heads and remove assets no longer in use.

The remarks were presented as audit recommendations; the transcript contains no recorded motions, votes, or formal decisions on the items. The staff member said turnover in town staff contributed to the absence of a reconciliation for fiscal 2024, and characterized some recommended next steps as actions for town finance and assessors to take: review the tax recap against the budget, reassess the allowance for abatements, consider establishing a pension stabilization fund, and update the capital asset inventory.

The auditor said the audit work began about six to seven years ago and the inventory list originated with a prior CPA firm, with annual additions since then. No timeline or formal assignment for implementing the recommendations was recorded in the meeting minutes.