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Windham Regional Commission accepts audit, staff outline 2025 budget after $80,000 state allocation
Summary
The executive committee accepted a clean audit, reviewed fund balances and indirect-rate changes, and learned of an unexpected $80,000 allocation from the Agency of Commerce and Community Development that staff said will require reviewing grant terms before altering the draft 2025 budget.
The Windham Regional Commission executive committee voted unanimously to accept the commission’s most recent audit and spent the remainder of the meeting reviewing budget lines and program funding ahead of the August full commission meeting.
The chair opened the discussion by asking staff to present audit findings and a budget preview. Anessa, who led the budget review, summarized key audit takeaways: a modest decrease in the commission’s overall fund balance driven by higher expenditures and fewer grant receipts; combined cash on hand across general and revolving funds; and no material weaknesses identified by the auditors. Anessa said auditors offered routine recommendations — for example, creating project-specific general ledger accounts and clarifying bank-reconciliation signoffs — that staff expect to implement.
The audit acceptance was moved and seconded and carried without opposition. Treasurer Tim moved the motion to accept the audit; Jack seconded. The board thanked staff for preparing the materials.
During the budget preview, a board member announced the commission had been allocated an additional $80,000 from the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. The chair said staff would need to confirm the agreement’s terms and whether the funds are intended for specific activities, including support tied to reforms to Act 250, before amending the draft budget. “We were okay before,” the chair said, noting the allocation “changes a lot,” and asked staff to return with clarification.
Staff detailed several line items commissioners probed: a $166,000 deferred revenue figure tied to state fiscal-year timing, a revolving fund showing roughly $251,000, and an operating cash balance cited at about $297,000. The budget also carries a $50,000 contingency for possible temporary research or graduate-assistant support; staff said they had considered allocating a portion of that line to staff salary increases to keep pace with cost-of-living pressures. Commissioners asked for more precision on a $20,000 ‘soft revenue’ allowance; Anessa described that entry as a conservative cushion against uncertain project revenue.
Staff also described a planned modest rise in the commission’s indirect (overhead) rate — used to recover basic operating costs across grants — from roughly the low 70s percent this year toward about 74 percent next year to reflect increasing costs and membership/software expenses.
What’s next: staff said they will confirm the $80,000 grant terms with the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, rework budget allocations if needed, and present a finalized draft to the executive board and the full commission in August.
