Officials buried the lede in presenting Norwich’s unaudited financial results for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. Missing headline: The Town has nearly $1 million more in surplus money than expected. The Town Manager’s August report overlooked this significant good news, and the Selectboard failed to highlight it in their review.
By the numbers.
The numbers are clear. Our town ended the fiscal year with approximately $972,000 more on hand than projected when the property tax rate was set last year. This represents a pleasant development worth talking about in public.
It’s interesting how the Town Manager presented this information – or rather, didn’t present it. The Finance Office reported revenue at 113.11% of budget and expenditures at 97.7% of budget, with a net surplus of $272,759 – all good. But accounting technicalities buried the bigger story. Officials never highlighted the infusion of $700,000 of surplus funds that voters approved at Town Meeting, even after Selectboard member Vincent brought it up.
The amount was simply left out of the totals. The Town Manager checked with the auditors who agreed the Finance Office did the accounts correctly.
Here, however, accounting obscured the bigger picture. The infusion of $700,000 was NOT spent. Lost in the translation: the Town has nearly $1 million more on hand than anticipated ($272,759 + $700,000), to close out the fiscal year. As a taxpayer, that’s a fun fact worth mentioning.
While I understand municipal finance involves complex accounting classifications, the bottom line matters most to the Selectboard and taxpayers. The net result is that the Town has a bigger financial cushion than advertised. Selectboard member Calloway criticized member Vincent for micromanaging the Town Manager’s bookkeeping. However, Town Treasurer Lindberg and the Vice Chair of the Finance Committee both indicated at the August 27 meeting that the ‘surplus’ was indeed over $900,000. To me, that’s important information that needs pointing out to the Board and the public.
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The question now is what happens with this nearly $1 million windfall. Will it reduce next year’s tax burden? Fund capital projects? Top off the rainy day/emergency fund?
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Thanks for reading! Contact me at norwichobserver[at]gmail.com
Wow, that’s a lot of $$ that the SB did not account for.
This is important information for the taxpayers of Norwich. Thank you, Chris, for helping to keep us informed.
Thank you once again for being on top and helping us all get it straight!!
Charlotte Metcalf