Hillsborough Delays Vote On Audit Corrective Action Plan

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — The Hillsborough Township Committee tabled a resolution to accept and approve the corrective action plan for the 2025 township audit after concerns were raised about giving the public enough time to review it.

The resolution presented at the Aug. 25 meeting says the township chief financial officer prepared the corrective action plan for submission to the Division of Local Government Services in accordance with Local Finance Notice 92-15.

During the meeting, the township's chief financial officer, Christiaan Bushell, outlined the status of the audit comments.

He said the 2024 audit had about seven comments and the 2025 audit has no new comments, with the total reduced to three remaining items.

He said one issue involves reserves across several funds and will likely remain on the audit longer because it takes time to determine how the money got there and whether it can be removed.

Bushell also said a second item involves deferred charges of funding tied to older ordinances, including one from 2009.

He said the amount is about $639,000 for one ordinance, plus a little more than $1,000 tied to two other ordinances.

In this year's budget, he said, the township raised $200,000 from capital fund surplus to reduce those deferred charges, and he expects that item to be cleared within the next two years.

A third item involves an updated fixed asset inventory.

Bushell said one was not done in 2024 and was not done again in 2025.

He said the township had reached out to a vendor used in the past and hopes to address the inventory in the fall. He said the cost would be between $5,000 and $10,000 if the invoice comes through this year.

During committee discussion, Committeewoman Samantha Hand said the vote should be delayed so residents have time to review the audit and ask questions before elected officials approve the corrective action plan.

Bushell said the audit itself would not change and that the annual financial statement has been available since February or mid-March with almost the exact same numbers.

When asked about timing, Bushell said penalties could apply if the township goes beyond the 60-day window for accepting the audit.

Committee members said a Sept. 8 vote would still fall within that period. The motion to table the resolution until Sept. 8 passed by roll call vote.

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