Town seeks to ‘correct course’ amid audit fallout

Town officials emphasize that a new audit report found no “fraud, misconduct, or noncompliance” in Acton’s government.

But accounting delays probably made it harder for department heads to track their budgets through the 2024 fiscal year, according to Town Manager Kerry Lafleur. Late financial filings also rankled the town’s rating agency, whose judgments influence the interest rates for Acton’s many current and future large municipal projects.

After a review threat from the agency, Acton managed to keep its sterling rating, avoiding a potential downgrade that could have quickly hit taxpayers.

Officials say they’re fixing problems with day-to-day accounting that could have led to errors on the town’s books. They’ve also brought in new auditors and hope to catch up on an audit backlog in the coming months.

The Finance Committee’s John Garofalo wanted to know how they’re sure there was no fraud.

“There’s a lot of trust that has been lost,” he said during FinCom’s January 29 meeting.

Some bookkeeping guardrails gave way in fiscal ’24, but others held up, town Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Barrett said. Auditors weren’t asked to ferret out fraud, she said, but could have uncovered it if it was there.

“Acton deserves strong financial stewardship, reliable systems, and timely audits,” Lafleur told the Select Board. Where the town has fallen short, she said, “it is my responsibility to correct course and ensure we do better.” 

FinCom’s Eric Dahlberg slammed a “failure of oversight” by the panel tasked with monitoring the audit processes. 

The town takes blame for some delays, but officials are also airing frustrations with their former auditing company. 

‘Outlier’ year

Auditors signed off on Acton’s FY2024 financials but warned that accounting problems left the town vulnerable to a “material misstatement” of its finances. 

Leaders say fiscal ’24 was an “outlier” year with leadership turnover and a major software conversion. 

Similar problems could show up in next year’s audit, Lafleur and Barrett warn, because town officials didn’t get this report until months after fiscal ’25 ended. 

The warnings weren’t as urgent, but Barrett acknowledged to FinCom that auditors had already flagged some issues in prior years. 

“We didn’t correct them,” said Select Board member Cameron McKennitt. 

Switching auditors

Acton has historically received audits within a few months of each fiscal year ending. The 2024 process has taken more than 18 months. Select Board member Wendy Rovelli, who chairs the Financial Audit Advisory Committee, said the fiscal ’23 report was also “quite late.” Other communities have also seen late reports.

CBIZ acquired Acton’s previous auditor and has been “struggling as they’ve been growing,” Rovelli told The Bridge. 

Leaders switched to Roselli, Clark & Associates for the 2025 report and hope to be back on their normal audit schedule when fiscal ’26 ends on June 30. 

Asked about audit delays, a CBIZ spokesperson responded, “we do not comment publicly on client matters.”

Committee criticism

The audit committee is expected to meet at least three times each year at certain milestones.

Rovelli told FinCom that her panel schedules its sessions “according to the availability of the audits.” Over the past year, there was no audit to review.

“Oversight is critical,” Dahlberg said, and the town “may want to consider an additional layer, or layers, of oversight until we’re confident this is back on track.”

FinCom Clerk Karlen Reed announced that the audit advisory group is scheduled to meet February 11 to review the town’s fiscal ’24 report.

The panel will reconvene February 26 to examine the ’24 regional high school audit and a similarly delayed 2024 audit for the Acton Municipal Light Plant. 

While the town moves to Roselli, Clark & Associates, CMLP is working with a separate firm — Goulet, Salvidio & Associates — for its 2025 audit. That company, Barrett said, already works with “many other” Massachusetts municipal light plants.

Acton-Carlisle High School remains under contract with CBIZ for another year, Barrett said. 

The town’s new auditors were reviewing its books and interviewing staff starting late last month. Barrett said leaders “made them aware” of 2024 problems.

“They know that these were material weaknesses,” she said. “They’re looking for those solutions.”