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Danbury council accepts FY2023 audit as members press schools on roughly $7.8 million in unspent funds
Summary
The City Council unanimously accepted the fiscal year 2023 audit after finance staff said the bulk of a roughly $7.8 million Board of Education balance stemmed from reserved health-insurance and related accounting adjustments; board members and residents pressed for clearer monthly reporting before approving new budgets.
The Danbury City Council voted unanimously March 4 to accept the city—Y2023 financial statements, concluding a lengthy discussion about unspent Board of Education funds and audit adjustments.
Board of Education member Michelle Coelho urged caution before approving new spending, saying the audit raised "critical questions about what went wrong" and that the audit showed Danbury Public Schools left "7,800,000 in budget funds, unspent funds that could not have directly addressed overcrowding, resource shortages, and critical student services." Coelho told the council she wanted a public explanation of the unspent funds before the next budget vote.
Council members and residents pressed finance officials for detail. A resident, Warren Levy, told the council that delays completing audits had been caused "primarily by the Board of Education" and cited state law limiting mayoral interference over school finances.
Danbury Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Michael Weaver addressed the council and identified the main driver of the difference between preliminary and final audited figures: health-insurance accounting. "My name is Michael Weaver. I'm the chief financial officer for Danbury Public Schools," Weaver said, and later explained that a majority of the change related to health insurance entries and reserved amounts.
City finance staff and the contract auditors also described management adjustments and bank-reconciliation work that produced the audited outcome. At one point a council member noted the audit report shows the board surplus near $7.9 million in the detailed schedules; the finance office confirmed the figure is "just under $7,900,000" in the audit schedules.
Council members said they appreciated the progress on clearing a backlog of audits but asked for faster and clearer month-to-month reporting to prevent similar surprises during next year—udget deliberations. Councilman Fox urged that budget discussions "over the next 2 months" incorporate findings and recommendations from the audit.
The motion to receive the communication and accept the audit financial statements for the year ending June 30, 2023, including management letters and adjustments, was made by Councilman Rickert, seconded by Councilman Rotello, and carried by voice vote. The council thanked the finance team and outside auditors for intensive work to bring the audits up to date.
Next steps: council members requested more detailed breakdowns of the unspent amounts and said internal unaudited FY2024 numbers would be prepared earlier to reduce reporting lag. The audit acceptance does not itself change budgets; follow-up reporting and any policy responses are expected during the budget process this spring.
