Natick auditors flag ARPA procurement and pension-data problems; boards approve one-year audit extension

Auditors from CBIZ CPAs PC told the Town of Natick on March 11 that they identified multiple issues in the FY24 audit—three related to federal-award programs and two related to internal controls—and both the Audit Advisory Committee and the Select Board voted to extend CBIZ’s engagement for the FY25 audit for one year.

Todd Jurczyk, managing director and shareholder at CBIZ, said the town recorded roughly $6.9 million in federal expenditures for FY24, with about $1.5 million in the special-education program cluster and roughly $3.5 million in ARPA funds. Jurczyk reported three federal-program findings: an ARPA-related procurement that continued past an emergency period without required rebidding; discrepancies in reporting expenditures to the U.S. Treasury when interfund transfers left some funds held as reserve; and a recommendation to incorporate uniform guidance and procedures into the town’s written internal policies.

On internal controls, CBIZ identified a significant deficiency tied to the Natick contributory retirement system’s recent software migration, which limited access to census data actuaries need to calculate unfunded pension liabilities and delayed portions of the audit. The auditors also elevated a recurring cash-reconciliation problem for the retirement system to a material weakness because bank reconciliations for Dec. 31, 2023, were not produced despite the existence of bank statements.

Select Board member Ms. Coughlin asked whether findings should reference the retirement board rather than the town because of the bodies’ legal separation; Jurczyk said that for financial-statement purposes the retirement system is consolidated with the town, though he acknowledged the governance distinction. Finance Director Ari Sky told the meeting that reconciliations are now performed in-house and are visible monthly, with the principal remaining difficulty being retrieval of historical data that a third party still holds.

Jurczyk described first-year audit work as unusually time‑intensive—“a trust but verify process” for opening balances and predecessor-auditor records—and attributed some delays to a senior-manager departure and contract-execution timing tied to a merger involving CBIZ. He and Director Jessica Green said they were targeting completion of the FY25 audit by the end of June and planned to begin preliminary FY26 work thereafter.

Members of the Audit Advisory Committee said they were willing to continue with CBIZ while seeking stronger follow-up and more frequent progress updates. Committee member Mr. Gillenwater moved that the committee recommend a one‑year extension to CBIZ CPAs PC for the FY25 audit; the motion passed on a roll call vote 4‑0‑0. The Select Board then voted 5‑0‑0 to ask town administration to execute that one‑year, single‑fiscal‑year extension, with members requesting written documentation of any concerns during the FY25 audit to inform future contracting decisions.

The meeting record shows the joint session adjourned at 6:52 p.m. The town’s posted meeting materials are available on the Town of Natick website.