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Audit Objective

Determine whether the Board and Town officials properly managed finances by ensuring budget estimates were realistic, establishing multiyear financial and capital plans and planning for and using fund balance.

Key Findings

• Overall the Board could have improved its financial management. It did not appropriately budget for certain expenditures and did not properly monitor spending during the year.
• The highway fund had deficit fund balances during our audit period and incurred operating deficits in two of the past three years (2016 and 2017).
• The Board did not develop and adopt comprehensive written multiyear financial and capital plans to help guide the budget development process or establish reserve funds to help finance future capital needs.

Key Recommendations

• Review budget to actual reports and past trends to develop budgets based on prior actual results and expected future changes.
• Develop and adopt comprehensive written multiyear financial and capital plans.
• Consider establishing and funding needed reserves.

Town officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.