Audit arrives early

By CHRIS FROST
Eagle Times News Editor
WINDSOR, VT — The Windsor Selectboard received its audit report early, during the Tuesday, Nov. 14, meeting where Town Manager Tom Marsh said the town had stable final numbers.

Marsh presented the Selectboard with a copy of the Town of Windsor’s final numbers from the fiscal year 2023.

“Our auditors were in last week, and this has been a real help,” said Marsh. “Usually, the audit’s not done until mid- to late December, but it got moved up this year.”

He said the $120,472 total listed on the audit represents the “on-the-books deficit” the town ran in 2022.

“That’s about 2 percent of the budget,” Marsh said. “The next number is $24,500, which is expenses that were related to grant work that we did. The revenue from the grant we spent the money, but the revenue from the grant is falling into this fiscal year. That wasn’t related to the numbers the public voted on, so if you’re comparing apples to apples, you’d take that out.”

He said there is $32,000 listed for the town hall’s heating unit, and the money is coming out of the Capital Fund for that.

“We have major equipment, so that transfer didn’t happen last fiscal year, it will happen this one,” Marsh said. “If you take those things out, it will be about $64,000 or 1 percent.”

He pointed out energy expense line items in the budget that were a significant expense.

“We were about 120 [items] short, so that was good because about half of that isn’t going to be reflected, and we’ll have cash back for that,” Marsh said. “All in all, the department heads have done a good job year after year managing the services and the budget.”

The board also unanimously reappointed Alex Kelly to the Planning Commission.

Marsh said Kelly has been on the Planning Commission and the terms are coming up for renewal in late April and early May.

“Back then, his term was up, but he wasn’t on the list,” he said. “I don’t know if that had to do with the turnover in the zoning administration office. He’s continued to attend meetings, and our new zoning administrator, it had come to his attention that Kelly’s term had lapsed.”

Marsh said Kelly is interested in being reappointed to a term that expires in 2026. He will immediately return to the Planning Commission.

Board Member Emma Caffrey called him “a good egg.”

“I’ve known him for a couple of years, and he is very involved with Windsor,” said Caffrey.

Marsh said Kelly works with Matt Dunn in Springfield.

“It’s some technology thing, and he has been involved in the Planning Commission, and I know he has been a volunteer in some other efforts,” he said.