FINCOM 20200604 Minutes

Source page 1

Canton Finance Committee Minutes Voted on: 7-30-20 
801 Washington Street Vote: 6-0-1 
to Canton, MA 02021 
Meeting Minutes 
Thursday, June 4, 2020 
Finance Committee Members Present: Christos Arsondiadis, Dan Cole, Emilio Mauro, Tim McKenna, Cindy 
Thomas, and Wai Wong. 
Finance Committee Members Absent: Rob Barker, David Cough, and Barbara Saint Andr6. 
Guests Present: 
Charlie Aspinwall, Town Administrator 
Dave Emhardt, Chair, Capital Planning Committee 
Paul Gargano, Roselli, Clark & Associates 
Stacy Gorman, Chair, Community Preservation Committee 
Ellen Jones, Finance Committee Secretary 
Lisa Lopez, Vice Chair, Community Preservation Committee 
Kristen Phelps, Administrator, Community Preservation Committee 
Tony Roselli, Roselli, Clark & Associates 
Randy Scollins, Finance Director 
Opening: Chair McKenna called the virtual meeting via Zoom to order at 7:04 p.m 
Approval of Agenda: Chair McKenna reviewed the agenda items, which included the most recently completed 
financial statements and a discussion of all aspects of the 2020 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) and Special Town 
Meeting (STM). 
New Business 
Auditor's Review of FY 2019 Financials — Mr. Scollins introduced the auditors, Tony Roselli and Paul Gargano 
Mr. Scollins shared on his computer the Audit Exit Conference PowerPoint presentation for the members and the 
viewing audience. 
Mr. Roselli stated that the audit was completed several months ago and the Single Audit was completed in 
February/March 2020. The audit exit was delayed because of the COVID-19 situation. Mr. Roselli reviewed 
economic trends, the bond rating, and COVID-19. Some of the highlights of the discussion included the following: 
Introduction — Mr. Roselli reviewed some of the basics of the audit for the new Finance Committee members. The 
audit is not a forensic audit. The audit is done because the Town issues securities in excess of $10 million, the 
Single Audit is conducted because the Town receives more than $700,000 in federal funds and the yellow -book audit 
is done because the Town is a government entity. The Single Audit terminology comes from the single process done 
for all grants grouped together. The findings of the Single Audit are reported to the federal government, which could 
put a grant in jeopardy if all is not in order. 
The audit included a review of the major transactions which included revenue cycle, disbursement cycle, and payroll 
cycle. Mr. Roselli stated that they had recently completed an audit remotely for a town in Western Massachusetts. 
The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) can be completed remotely if need be. Other portions of the 
audit may have to be conducted in person, such as interviews and the pulling of accounting documentation. 
Risk Assessment — Bank statements and reconciliations are reviewed as well as checking that records for the 
Treasurer's Office and Town Accountant are in agreement. 
At the end of an audit either a "clean opinion" or "qualified opinion" is issued. Qualified opinion is given if the auditors 
have found something wrong. Mr. Roselli stated he has never issued a qualified opinion to Canton. 
Statement of Auditing Standards (SAS) 115 requires the auditors to communicate material weaknesses and 
significant deficiencies. Mr. Roselli found none of these weaknesses or deficiencies with the Canton audit. 
Economic Trends — Mr. Roselli stated there has been a flattening of the reserves, which means the Town is meeting 
the metric of 15% reserves that the bond rating agencies are looking for while not being excessively conservative with 
its spending. The reserves flattened because the Town increased its contribution to Other Post Employment Benefits 
(OPEB), which is a positive action taken. Tier one metric is the bond ratings gold standard, which is a 15% reserve 
FINCOM 20200604 Minutes — EM.docx Page 1 of 6 7/30/2020