Key Points
- Town officials still cannot say whether Wilton will meet the June 30 deadline for its annual state-mandated audit.
- CFO Dawn Savo says auditors are actively working and making progress, but declined to predict a completion date.
- Contract accountant Joseph Centofanti’s role and the audit timeline continue to draw scrutiny from elected officials.
Why It Matters: The audit is a key measure of the town’s financial accountability. Missing the deadline could further fuel concerns about financial oversight, project management and the cost of resolving the backlog — along with other serious repercussions to Town finances, including Wilton’s Moody’s bond rating and fines from the state.
With less than a month remaining before the Jun. 30 deadline for the town to complete the annual state-mandated audit, Wilton officials still cannot say whether the town will finish on time.
At Monday night’s (Jun. 1) Board of Selectmen meeting, officials said little as Wilton’s Chief Financial Officer Dawn Savo reported that auditors are actively working on the Fiscal Year 2025 audit and that things were still moving along. However, she declined to make any prediction about a completion date.
“As far as an end date, I can’t speculate on that,” she said, “I don’t want to speculate on that right now, but I just want you to know there’s been a lot of activity. We’re spending a lot of time working with the auditors and we’re in high gear with the audit process right now.”
“We’re all focused on the state deadline,” Savo said. “We know what that is and we’re working toward it.”
The update comes just two weeks after BOS members expressed their frustration and openly questioned whether Wilton could meet the Jun. 30 deadline and criticized the town’s handling of the process. Several selectmen objected when First Selectman Toni Boucher and Savo downplayed the significance of missing the deadline, noting that other Connecticut municipalities have also failed to complete audits on time.
The audit has become a growing source of frustration for elected officials. For months, town leaders have been told the work was nearing completion, only to see projected deadlines pushed back. The effort centers on reconciling Fiscal Year 2025 accounts and resolving accounting issues related to the Town’s implementation of the Munis financial software system, according to town officials.
Contract accountant Joseph Centofanti, a consultant with PKF O’Connor Davies who previously served as interim CFO, was hired last August to handle the reconciliation work needed to complete the audit. He bills the town at a rate of $375 per hour, although some work has been performed by associates at a lower rate. The contracted work is expected to cost the town close to $300,000 by the time his work is finally finished.
His role has drawn scrutiny from both the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance because he has repeatedly declined requests to meet with elected officials and provide updates directly.
The BOF has expressed similar concerns about the audit timeline. During that board’s May meeting, Chair Tim Birch called the possibility of missing the Jun. 30 deadline “an embarrassment” that would reflect poorly on the town, while other members rejected suggestions that the deadline was unimportant simply because other municipalities have missed it.
Last month, Savo told the BOS that the auditing firm of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP had informed her that if all required materials could be submitted by the end of May, auditor Leslie Zoll and her team would be able to complete the audit by the Jun. 30 deadline.
At Monday’s meeting, however, while Savo once again maintained that progress was being made — and that the auditors were actively working on the audit — there remain some items that Centofanti has not yet completed. She stopped short of saying whether the target date remains achievable.
Savo said that while the auditors are now doing testing in various areas, Centofanti has been providing information and updates on the Board of Education and General Fund.
“They’re at a point where they feel comfortable with the fund numbers that they can test,” she said, noting that the auditors are growing more comfortable with the numbers they’re working with over the last couple of weeks.
“I feel like it’s moving forward,” Savo said.
Despite that progress, town officials have yet to say whether the Jun. 30 deadline remains achievable.
