Newton Audit Panel Recommends Athletics Fees, Tree Fund as Special Audit Projects

NEWTON -- April 29, 2026, Newton's Financial Audit Advisory Committee recommended auditing the city's tree preservation fund and Newton Public Schools' athletics revolving account as special projects for this year's external audit. The committee, chaired by a member identified as Martha, reached consensus through straw votes at its April 29 meeting, with the tree fund named the top city-side priority after member Julia reported the fund ended fiscal year 2025 with a balance of just over $3.1 million, money that has never been independently reviewed. On the schools side, North and South high school athletics spent $2.7 million last year, took in $1.1 million in participation fees, and drew a $1.5 million subsidy from the school general fund. City comptroller Steve confirmed that the audit firm CLI has 20 to 25 total hours budgeted across all special projects, a constraint that led members to keep the scope to two topics rather than three, with the fields user-fee allocation held as a candidate for next year.