’25 audit shows nearly $5M in unspent funds
Officials are working to put that money to use — but they might have to advertise some unclaimed funds.
Acton could have almost $5 million buried in the couch cushions. Officials are working to put that money to use — but as part of the process, they might have to advertise some unclaimed funds.
“We found some money for you,” new town auditor Tony Roselli recently told the Financial Audit Advisory Committee.
Acton has made gains since a long-delayed 2024 fiscal year audit revealed red flags.
A 2025 review spotlighted money that’s been in the town coffers but gone unused.
Among the findings:
- Acton has over $4 million from capital projects as old as 2014 that it could repurpose, auditors said.
- There’s more than $500,000 across hundreds of mostly minor gift accounts that department heads might not know about.
- Auditors found over $400,000 in checks that the town could void after giving recipients one last chance to cash in.
The overall 2025 audit looks “much, much better” than 2024, Finance Committee member Eric Dahlberg said after watching Roselli’s presentation.
But the sum of old checks, capital project money, and possible unspent gifts “doesn’t look good,” Dahlberg said. He emphasized the need to avoid letting revenue sit stagnant as residents shoulder tax hikes.
“I know people who were forced to sell their homes” due to taxes, Dahlberg said. “As a town, we owe it to them — and to the taxpayers like us who have stuck around — to not do that.”
2025 takeaways
Municipalities undergo annual audits that can influence everything from bond ratings to public confidence in town management.
Auditors reviewing Acton’s fiscal ’24 records found four accounting problems that could have let errors go unnoticed.
The 2024 audit arrived after fiscal ’25 ended. Leaders announced reforms to fix accounting issues, but couldn’t implement them in time to avoid another “material weakness” finding for 2025.
Officials have emphasized that auditors didn’t find fraud or misconduct.
Acton switched auditors to Roselli, Clark & Associates after the fiscal ’24 delay.
Resurfaced money from the latest report didn’t constitute material weaknesses, but it did raise eyebrows.
“Stale checks” could include payroll for employees without direct deposit, town Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Barrett told the FAAC last month.
Some payments are 20 years old, Roselli said last month.
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If Acton advertises unclaimed payments and intended recipients don’t come forward, the town can void those checks and book them as revenue, Roselli said.
Capital projects can include anything from building overhauls to smaller repairs.
Barrett said $4 million could have stacked up from initiatives that closed under budget or remain unfinished.
Officials had this on their radar and already adjusted recent Town Meeting requests, as a result, Barrett said.
Town Manager Kerry Lafleur told The Acton Bridge that “there was some hesitancy” to close out initiatives during a recent financial software conversion.
These days, she said “we definitely are refocusing our effort” to formally close the book on projects, repurpose leftover money, and rescind authorizations to borrow funds that the town didn’t need.
Making adjustments
As for $500,000 in possibly stale “special revenue balances,” Barrett said staff are working to simplify their accounting so department heads know what they have at their disposal.
Although officials are reviewing these funds, Lafleur cautioned that, “for the most part,” monetary gifts come restricted for specific purposes and can’t pay for general operating expenses.
FinCom’s Pat Geyer told colleagues she felt “a lot more confident” after seeing the full 2025 audit.
Select Board member and FAAC chair Cameron McKennitt said Acton’s financial big picture is sound, even as staff clean up records, repair guardrails, and reappropriate money.
“There’s still things we have to do,” he said, but officials are addressing “these issues.”
