BUCKFIELD — Town officials will meet with representatives from RHR Smith and Associates auditing firm this month to resolve the issue of missing documents that have left audits from 2020-21 and 2021-22 unfinished.
Town Manager Cameron Hinkley said there are no missing funds since the town has the canceled checks and bank statements, which allow the town to account for everything. What is missing is the actual documentation that would tell the town which accounts the spent funds should be taken from.
“How much time do we spend trying to create documents?” Hinkley said at Tuesday’s Select Board meeting. “I think it is a waste of everyone’s time. We know how much we’ve spent.”
“We’re trying to find things that don’t exist,” he added. “I don’t think it is fair to have people who weren’t here forced to recreate something that they weren’t part of.”
During the years when documentation was spotty, the town had six town managers in less than two years.
Once town officials and the auditors can sit together and develop a workable solution, Hinkley said the town can get back on track and start anew with its financial records.
IN OTHER BUSINESS
Hinkley reported town roads withstood the Dec. 18 wind and rainstorm well. There was some damage to dirt roads and shoulder washouts, but the recent road maintenance and culvert replacements helped mitigate damage.
The recreation fields were not as lucky. Two dugouts sustained extensive damage and the batting cage was also damaged.
Hinkley said he has started work on the 2024-25 fiscal year budget. The board voted to hold a budget workshop before the next Select Board meeting on Jan. 16 beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Due to a change in her work schedule, Selectman Heather Henley has resigned her seat on the Community Events Committee.
The board accepted two grants totaling $550 for the Zadoc Long Free Library.
A proposal to draft a new policy on writing and applying for grants by town employees, volunteers and representatives of local agencies was tabled to allow Hinckley to work on the language.
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