Princeton council adopts audit; auditor flags higher water-sewer receivables and $61,579 drop in fund balance

The Princeton Town Council voted to adopt the town’s annual audit and heard auditors describe several financial items the council should monitor, including a roughly 37% rise in water-sewer accounts categorized as doubtful, a $61,579 decline in the town’s general fund balance and new state requirements for the finance officer bond.

Auditor Austin, who presented the audit, told the council that the town’s water-sewer accounts receivable now appear as about $68,000 in the audit package compared with $49,521 the prior year — an increase Austin described during the meeting as “about 37%.” He said the allowance for doubtful accounts is a routine, annually calculated figure tied to the age of receivables and that an increase can reflect more unpaid customer balances or a change in how the allowance was calculated.

"The allowance for doubtful accounts is a calculation. So we look at your age trial balance," Austin said. "If more people owe the town for their water bills, then the allowance would have also increased." He advised the council to examine…