CMLP’s $6.6M billing mistake an ‘embarrassment for all involved’
This is an enormous indictment of management and the light plant board.
I am very concerned after reading the recent Bridge article about the billing issue at the Acton Municipal Light Plant. Apparently, management missed a big financial issue that persisted for many years and hired auditors that were equally oblivious. This is an enormous indictment of management and the light plant board.
The reaction from the Select Board seemed muted given the significance of the problem. This is an embarrassment for all involved. Furthermore, CMLP is a non-profit company that collected revenue, paid its bills, and maintained its reserves over the past five years so the missed revenue was not needed in the first place. Mr. Bulger’s assertion that he doesn’t “think” that CMLP’s auditors would let him write off the loss is equally embarrassing. We are talking about $6.6 million. Perhaps we should “know” and not think when dealing with this much taxpayer money. Besides that, auditors don’t tell you what you can and cannot do. That’s a management decision.
This situation calls for an independent review of the issue and its proposed resolution as well as a serious look at the overall governance model of the light plant. Something is seriously wrong here.
Elizabeth Mauer
Laws Brook Road
