2010-11 town audit remains incomplete

WINSTED — Finances and the long overdue town audit for 2010-2011 were major topics of discussion at the Board of Selectmen’s last meeting of the year on Monday, Dec. 17, at Town Hall.The completion of the fiscal year 2010-2011 audit, which is now a year overdue to the state, has been an issue discussed at length at various selectmen’s meetings throughout the year.In July, Town Auditor Vanessa Rossitto, who is a partner in the auditing firm BlumShapiro of West Hartford, told the selectmen a big issue that has delayed the audit’s completion is due to the extended period of illness of town Finance Director Henry Centrella.In November, Town Manager Dale Martin placed Centrella on paid administrative leave due to accounting irregularities and noted that Cenrella had not been cooperative with auditors.Martin wrote in a letter the state’s Office of Policy and Management (OPM) that the irregularities are from a lack of documentation of withdrawals of cash from the change requests operating cash fund. Martin added that Centrella contends that the withdrawals were not change requests, but monies taken out of the bank and placed in the town safe for a “rainy day fund.”Martin cited Centrella’s lack of cooperation as the primary reason for the delay for the audit.At the Dec. 17 meeting, Martin reported that there has been no progress toward the audit’s completion.“I speak with the town auditor several times a week, but there is no new information I can share with you,” Martin said. “As we continue to delve into the issues with the audit, the easiest summary I can give is that we are chasing rabbits and herding cats. As we find more issues with the audit, it sends the auditor in a different direction in search for information. Right now, the auditors are charging us a discount rate to finish this. It may be up to the board to determine whether or not they wish to go back and research additional years.”Selectman Ken Fracasso asked Martin how much it would cost to complete the audit.Martin said he did not know but that the audit work is being paid for from the town’s finance director salary line and town audit budget line item.At a previous meeting, Fracasso asked Martin if he could find out how much the town had in its fund balance.At the Dec. 17 meeting, Martin said he did not have the figure.“A fund balance is not a flowing term, it is a one time snapshot figure that is based upon revenues and expenses at the end of a fiscal year,” Martin said. “Since we don’t have an audit completed, the answer is no. It is determined at the end of the fiscal year.”Martin added that the town had $400,000 in cash on hand in the town’s accounts.“We do have enough money to cover payrolls for the rest of the year,” Martin said. “We should have enough cash flow to cover us for the next several months.”Fracasso then complained that he has not been kept apprised of the town’s financial situation on a regular basis and that everything Martin said at the meeting was news to him.“Over the past three years, at this time of the year, we have always been in a quandary over whether or not we will have enough money,” Fracasso said. “We talk about tax anticipation notes and short term borrowing. Usually one of the two happens. I can’t understand why we’re not better informed of the financial status of the town.”“There are a lot of issues that the town is trying to untangle due to the finance director,” Martin told Fracasso. “It has taken a lot of time. There are issues that staff is working diligently on to work out issues that have been neglected for the past several years throughout town government. It has taken time and at the appropriate time I expect that you will get the appropriate answers.”“Are you saying that town employees are bogged down in doing work for this audit?” Fracasso asked Martin. “I thought that’s what we were paying BlumShapiro for.”Fracasso told the board that, after being dissatisfied with Martin’s previous answers about the town’s financial status and audit completion, he communicated with Town Attorney Kevin Nelligan.“I’m having some serious problems that we are not getting the information that we so rightly deserve,” Fracasso said. “I don’t want to sit here and have someone from the audience ask questions of stuff that we can’t get answers to. Unless I’m aware of a charter change that puts the town manager in charge of town finances, maybe I’m wrong.”Mayor Maryann Welcome then expressed dismay with Fracasso and said that, when the current board first started a year ago, that members all agreed that all questions to the town attorney would be directed to Martin.