Boxborough Finance Committee Demands Answers on Three Years of Repeated Audit Failures

BOXBOROUGH -- March 31, 2026, Boxborough Finance Committee and Select Board pressed town officials Tuesday on eight recurring audit findings, including a $176,638 police detail receivable deficit and a $200,000 cash reconciliation error, in a joint session that ran more than an hour. Finance Committee Chair Tony Newton walked through a prepared question matrix showing that issues including payroll imbalances, excess idle cash, and OPEB accounting errors had appeared across three consecutive fiscal years. Town Administrator Mike John said a forensic accountant, Julie Costello, has recovered $116,475 of the police detail shortfall and reduced the cash variance to approximately $10,000, but committed to confirming in writing whether either error affected the town's certified free cash before the May 19 Annual Town Meeting. The committee separately voted 6-0 to recommend a $15,000 free cash article for a housing production plan matching grant, with member Joe Stulpin directed to add language specifying funds would be spent only if a state grant is approved. Newton's audit summary estimated the town lost roughly $1 million in investment income over three years when millions in cash sat uninvested, a problem John and Treasurer Emily Roux said has since been resolved under a 70/30 investment portfolio with advisor Bartholomew.