Town audit receives clean opinion; auditor flags first-year compliance finding and accounting-standard change

Chris Garner, the accountant who performed the town’s audit, told the council the audit produced an "unmodified (clean) opinion," meaning the financial statements were fairly presented under auditing standards. He said the audit process went smoothly and that the auditors received timely support for transactions. "We issued what we call an unmodified, and I put in brackets there, a clean opinion," Garner said.

Garner explained one first-year finding was required by the state's audit requirements: in a sample of travel/per-diem transactions the town's policy required supervisor approvals and two sampled transactions lacked the documented supervisor approval. He told the council the state's more stringent threshold produces more findings than federal practice and emphasized the importance of management's corrective steps.

The auditor also described the impact of a new accounting standard on full-accrual pages of the report: "Your compensated absences went from 76,000 up to 260,000," he said, explaining that the standards now require agencies to accrue liabilities for sick-time more broadly. Garner cautioned that those full‑accrual figures do not change the town's budgetary cash-basis reporting and suggested councilors focus on operational budget numbers rather than the full-accrual presentation.

After questions from councilors, a motion to accept the audit passed on roll call. The council and staff were directed to note the compliance finding and to continue working with management to ensure the required supervisory approvals and to monitor any corrective actions identified in the auditors' report. The council accepted the report and authorized its filing as presented.