Bradley Beach council adopts 2026 municipal budget after years of audit concerns

Bradley Beach — The Bradley Beach Borough Council voted to adopt Resolution 2026-184, formally approving the borough’s 2026 municipal budget after a public hearing that drew no speakers. The motion passed on a roll-call vote recorded in the meeting transcript with 'yes' votes from Mr. Noble, Mr. Green, Mr. Carr and Mayor Guboszi; one member was recorded as excused.

Council members used the discussion that followed the public hearing to praise the borough's newly onboarded full-time chief financial officer, Mitch Sim, for accelerating corrective work on the borough’s finances. One council member said the CFO was “transparent, ... inclusive, ... collaborative” and “a breath of fresh air” after years of intermittent shared-service financial support.

The council and borough officials also discussed lingering problems identified in audits for fiscal years 2022 and 2023. A borough official told residents the audits for those years cited weak internal financial controls that made it difficult for auditors to opine on the completeness of financial statements; the borough has since filed a corrective action plan and is working to close the identified weaknesses with the help of the new CFO. The official said auditors are preparing the 2025 audit while the council approved the 2026 budget and cautioned that further adjustments could appear once the 2025 audit is finalized, likely around August.

A member of the public asked whether the borough is "out of the woods" with past audit difficulties. The official replied that the borough considers itself out of the woods through 2024 but acknowledged significant problems in 2022–23 and said progress is ongoing.

Council members also noted that unexpected 2025 expenditures — including a union settlement and litigation costs — complicated closing the 2025 year and influenced how the 2026 budget was set. Borough staff said they have filed required corrective documentation and will continue to report progress to the council and public.

The council opened the public hearing on the budget, heard no public comments, closed the hearing and then adopted the budget by formal motion and roll-call vote. The borough said it will provide a consolidated tax rate and related details to taxpayers after it receives and aggregates county and school payment schedules.