Board of Finance flags $32,000 discrepancy in Board of Education report, requests business director attend October meeting

The Torrington Board of Finance on Sept. 16 accepted the Board of Education’s budget performance report for the fiscal year through Aug. 31, 2025, while noting outstanding questions about bookkeeping and trial-balance adjustments.

During discussion a board member identified a $32,000 discrepancy under employee benefits — specifically health insurance — between July closing balances and August expense postings. The board asked that the BOE business director and facilities director attend the October Board of Finance meeting to review the trial balance and to show where capital-reserve reallocations would be applied.

Why it matters: The business director’s trial balance and related reconciliations feed into the city’s audit. The auditors flagged issues that required adjustments; the board said it wants direct responses from BOE staff to resolve the discrepancy and outstanding audit items before final closeout.

What was raised - A board member said: "I did find that there's a discrepancy under employee benefits of about exactly $32,000," and asked whether items were being booked after the financial statements were provided. - Finance staff said the BOE had submitted a trial balance that auditors returned for corrections; the BOE is working with auditors and making adjustments to reconcile last year’s issues. - Donna Labbe, referenced at the meeting as handling trial-balance issues, was identified by the board as the BOE official working with auditors; the board requested she attend the October meeting (the transcript identifies Donna Labbe as working on trial-balance items). - Board members also said they had previously asked BOE staff to provide a plan that would show precisely how reallocated capital-reserve funds would be spent; the BOE has not yet supplied that plan to the board.

Next steps The board agreed to invite the BOE business director and the facilities director to the October meeting to walk through the BOE’s performance report, explain adjustments identified by auditors, and present the planned use of capital-reserve reallocations. The board noted the BOE had issued an RFP for roof work at the intermediate school and expected a contract award report when bids are evaluated.

Formal outcome The Board of Finance voted to accept the BOE report as filed; the meeting record shows at least one board member signaled opposition on the vote. The acceptance was coupled with the instruction that BOE staff return with clarifications.