City Council

~ COMMITTEE REPORT~ Audit Committee (2024) – Meeting #2 November 20, 2025 Chair Frank Salvatore called the meeting to order at 5p.m. on Thursday, November 20, 2025. Present were Committee Members Ben Chianese, and Irving Fox; absent were Members Andrea Gartner and Elmer Palma. From the City were; Dan Garrick, Director of Finance; Joanne Sterk, Assistant Finance Director (Operations); Kara Prunty, Assistant Finance Director (Budgets and Grants); Taylor O’Brien, Chief of Staff, Mayor’s Office; Farley Santos, Community and Economic Advisor, Mayor’s Office. Also in attendance were Michael Weaver, CFO, Danbury Public Schools; Angela Walsh, Assistant Finance Director, Danbury Public Schools; Scott Bassett, Partner, RSM; and Lauren Teran, Senior Director, RSM. Ex Officio member present was Peter Buzaid. Mr. Garrick provided an update on the status of the 2024 Audit; he stated that members received the annual financial report, that the state audit was filed the day before, and that the federal portion will be filed next week. Mr. Bassett highlighted that the fund balance remains healthy at 18/19%. Ms. Teran addressed required information including RSM’s responsibilities. She discussed the need to keep an eye on financial estimates such as pension and OPEB assumptions, workman’s comp, investments, and capital benefits. Mr. Bassett noted slight delays in receiving some information, however, he expects the next Audit (2025) to go quicker. Mr. Garrick presented audit highlights; fund balance is within the city’s policy; unassigned increased to $58M, total fund balance is $75M for the General Fund. The Water Fund ended at $72.4M, Sewer Fund ended at $99.4M and the Ambulance Fund ended at $1.4M. General Fund expenditures was $279M. He confirmed that after calculating the deficit there is a surplus of $8.8M from the schools ($7M from health & dental, Staff surplus was $1.6M, and Special-ed surplus was $1.2M, utilities surplus $1M). The city’s surplus of $1.7M came mostly from vacant positions. Revenue was $2.3M higher. Mr. Bassett noted the continuing effects from the schools’ hacking issues from July 2023, and that this audit should be the last one that is affected by that. He also identified deficiencies with: revenue from grants being recorded as unearned revenue, revenue should be recognized upon receipt; $2M in Sewer fund costs were improperly expensed, it should have been identified as a Capital Asset; Reclassification of some liabilities; $1.8M short-term classification into long-term debt schedule; Bonds were rolled into long-term debt instead of short-term; errors in Defined Contribution Plan for public schools resulted in $2.1M in lost earnings. He explained that many deficiencies could be identified as technical or human error and a corrective action plan should be implemented. Member Chianese asked about the Defined Contribution Plan error and asked if this was a penalty, Mr. Weaver explained that the funds were being withheld but were not sent anywhere, therefore, there was no city match or investments, resulting in lost earnings. Ms. Sterk confirmed the situation is continuing to be reviewed and addressed. Member Chianese asked about the concerns with pension estimates, Mr. Bassett spoke on the need to discuss and review estimates by the pension board and actuaries; he asked about delays, Mr. Bassett confirmed there was no stop-work as a result of waiting on information; he asked about excess revenue and expenditures, Mr. Bassett noted that those are management decisions. Member Chianese asked if Danbury schools get to keep any of the excess funds, Mr. Weaver confirmed they keep 2%, and he spoke on the reasons including unfilled positions and actual usage. Member Fox asked for the number of adjusting entries for the DOE (Department of Education), Mr. Bassett did not have that information available. Member Fox asked about numbers from January 2024 (received in September 2025), Mr. Weaver confirmed that salary overfunding should be regularly debited back to the City, and they currently do it monthly. Ms. Sterk discussed yearly reconciling that would not have identified this issue, she reiterated that the schools’ are now reconciling monthly for greater accuracy. Chair Salvatore asked what the schools’ goal is to address surplus funds, Mr. Weaver confirmed that his goal is to be within 2%. The Chair asked if the statements present the city’s financial position fairly, Ms. O’Brien, Mr. Garrick and Mr. Bassett all said yes. Chair Salvatore spoke on the importance of providing the committee with all information before the meeting. Chair Salvatore thanked all for their hard work. Ms. O’Brien also thanked everyone and spoke on making future audits more efficient. A motion was made by Member Chianese, and seconded by Member Fox, to recommend to the City Council the adoption of the audited financial statements of the City of Danbury as prepared by RSM for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. The motion carried unanimously. A motion was made by Member Chianese, and seconded by Member Fox, to close the 2024 Audit Committee. The motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 5:46pm Respectfully submitted Frank Salvatore, Chair Ben Chianese Irving Fox