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Audit Objective

Determine whether the Town Board (Board) effectively managed the Town of Boylston’s (Town’s) financial condition.

Key Findings

The Board did not effectively manage the Town’s financial condition. As a result, it levied more taxes than necessary to sustain operations. The Board:

• Did not adopt realistic budgets and failed to monitor budgetary results during the year.
• Allowed excessive levels of surplus funds to increase. As of December 31, 2020, the general fund’s surplus funds were $134,448, or 89 percent of actual expenditures. In addition, the highway fund’s surplus funds were $386,162, or 84 percent of actual expenditures.
• Diminished financial transparency by annually appropriating fund balance that was not needed to fund operations.
• Did not adopt budgeting or fund balance policies or multiyear financial plans.

Key Recommendations

• Adopt realistic budgets.
• Reduce surplus fund balance.
• Establish budgeting and fund balance policies and develop multiyear financial plans.

Except as specified in Appendix A, Town officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they will initiate some corrective action. Appendix B includes our comments on certain issues Town officials raised in their response.