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Board members urge delay on signing 2024 auditor letter amid unresolved discrepancies
Summary
Several board and committee members pressed the select board to withhold signing the auditor management letter and to provide 2024 adjusted financial statements to advisory committees, citing material differences between the town's books and the draft audit.
At the March 2 meeting, advisory committee member Gail Libby and budget committee representative Steve (last name given in transcript as Mlan) urged the select board not to sign the management representation letter for the 2024 audit until the board has received and reviewed corrected financial statements and underlying adjusting entries.
"If the board signs the auditor's letter, you are confirming that the financials are correct and you know that," Gail Libby told the board, urging members to request in writing the 2024 financial reports (including adjusting entries) and to allow the Community Development Advisory Committee and the budget committee to review capital projects and grants before acceptance.
Members described discrepancies between the draft audit and the town's general ledger; one board member and the budget representative said they found differences amounting to several hundred thousand dollars in specific accounts. Steve said he did not feel comfortable signing the management letter while questions remained and that the town's general ledger and the draft audit need to be reconciled.
Libby cited statute in urging access to records: "Title 30A MRSA 5603" (as stated in the meeting) which she said requires the municipal treasurer to provide accounting of finances when requested by municipal officers or committees. She said withholding records could be viewed as a failure to perform statutory duties and noted the legal consequence in state law for withholding (as discussed in the meeting) as a potential fine for the treasurer.
Board members discussed options including postponing signing the management letter, requesting immediate corrected entries from the auditor, convening the budget committee to review outstanding questions, or delaying the town meeting vote if necessary. The treasurer was not present at the meeting to answer questions; members said the auditor had given a list of entries to post but (per the discussion) had not posted them until the management letter is signed.
What happens next: Board members asked staff and others to contact the auditor and the treasurer to clarify why adjusting entries had not been posted and to ask whether the auditor would apply the audit entries only after the management letter is signed. Multiple members indicated they are unwilling to sign the letter until those entries reconcile the books with the audit. Several speakers suggested an expedited review by the budget committee to resolve discrepancies before any signature or town vote.
The transcript records no formal motion to postpone the management letter signature at this meeting; the board agreed to follow up with the auditor and treasurer and to provide information to the budget committee for an expedited review.
