Newton Audit Shows $32 Million Drop in City Pension Liability

NEWTON — October 8, 2025 — Newton auditors report $32 million drop in city pension liability for fiscal 2025. External auditors presented a preliminary audit update to the Newton Finance Committee on October 8, describing a net pension liability of $276 million as of December 31, 2024 — down from $308 million the prior year — driven by a $48 million investment gain in the retirement system. The city's federal program expenses fell to an estimated $21 million from $25.2 million the prior year, with ARPA, school lunch, and Medicaid identified as the three major programs under single-audit review. Auditors also announced plans to test circuit breaker special education reimbursement expenditures and the school building revolving fund for state compliance — the first such review of circuit breaker in several years, with DESE itself not having recently conducted its own programmatic audit. The committee scheduled its next meeting for December 10 to review draft financial statements, with full audit issuance targeted for January.