Town of Wheatfield receives favorable audit results

By Benjamin Joe

Matt Montalbo and Aimee Haensly, of Drescher & Malecki LLP, presented the Town of Wheatfield with its 2024 audit at the regular business meeting on Sept. 8.

Haensly said that, in 2023, there was a “huge increase” in expenditures in the town’s general fund, but that then dropped in 2024. The drop was largely due to a decrease in American Rescue Plan Act funds.

“The COVID money that you guys received, a lot of that was recognized and spent in 2023. So, a lot of that big decrease that you’re seeing (in funds this years is due to that),” she said.

“You guys saw the $1.1 million drop in revenue, that was ARPA funding, as was the $600,000 decrease in expenditures. Total revenues and expenditures were about $5.6 million, so your change in fund balance was pretty minimal compared to prior years.”

As of Dec. 31, 2024, the town’s unassigned fund balance for the general fund was $2.3 million. The assigned portion was a total of $900,000, which has been budgeted for 2025.

Montalbo continued the presentation by telling officials about the state of the town’s budget.

He noted that, coming out of 2020, the revenues shot up as the economy recovered. Those included sales tax, interest earning and ARPA funds.

“That gave a really great increase for local governments,” he said. “At the expense side, (though), it was lagging as it took time to get into operations. But the last three years, we saw a pretty consistent inflation when it came to the expense side. The trend we’re seeing now is that revenues are flattening out while expenses are continuing to ascend.”

Montalbo noted budgeting would be “very challenging” for the Town Board in the next few years. He did have some good news, though.

“Because of the last couple of fiscal years, you’ve been able to have increases in fund balance,” he said. “It’s put you in a favorable positions to handle those challenges.”

Ultimately, the town received a clean audit, and the municipality cooperated in every way, Montalbo said.

“Overall, the town’s in a stable condition,” he said. “I think you’ve done a really good job in the last couple of years from the budget side. Planning for this time period coming up, I don’t see any concerning funds. I think you’re in a stable position.”