Residents press for forensic audit as town's outside audit work lags

Randy Shepherd, a partner at Bonadio, told the board his firm had completed work through the 2022 audit but had not completed 2023 or 2024 audits because the town's books must be reconciled before auditors can proceed. "We're waiting for the town's books to be completely reconciled," he said, explaining auditors needed complete information before issuing an opinion.

In public comment Brad Jones, a former mayor, urged a forensic audit and criticized what he described as large outsourced accounting expenses and a $198,637 audit line in the budget. Jones said about $150,000 of accounting work had been outsourced to a Rochester-area firm and criticized perceived lack of board oversight. The board did not adopt a new audit directive at the meeting; residents' calls for further review and the hiring process for audit/accounting services were left to follow-up outside the meeting.