East Brookfield Select Board Adopts New Audit Rules After $98,000 Cash Discrepancy Found

Select Board · Meeting of July 20, 2026

East Brookfield Select Board adopts monthly reconciliation mandate after audit finds $24,387 unreconciled cash variance. The board voted unanimously Monday to require the town treasurer and accountant to reconcile the town's books by the 20th of each month and report the results to both the Select Board and the Finance Committee — the first formal policy response to a pattern of reconciliation failures flagged in management letters going back to at least 2020. The fiscal year 2025 audit by RCAC Roselli, Clark and Associates identified a nearly $98,000 initial discrepancy between the two offices, attributed in part to a missing $73,530 warrant; after accounting for the warrant, an unreconciled variance of $24,387 remained.

One member told officials: "I have a huge problem when an auditor comes in and the original variance is $98,000. That is mind-boggling to me." The board also voted unanimously to authorize Tighe and Bond to submit a Small Bridge Program grant application for a culvert on Codunk Road at no cost, rejecting a $4,500 proposal from Howard Stein Hudson, and approved Change Order No. 5 to the West Street water treatment plant project for $60,491.85, bringing the contract total to $8,317,565.23.

In the full story:

• Substantive content: The management letter identified several findings
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,360 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of July 20, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.