Oakham Faces $80,000 Budget Gap Ahead of Annual Town Meeting

OAKHAM -- April 23, 2025, Oakham's joint Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee session surfaces an $80,000 gap in the proposed FY2026 budget and a range of structural financial concerns. Town Accountant Lori Bacchus told the two boards that with all $158,107 in available free cash applied, total revenue comes to $4,968,886 against expenditures that remain unfinaliz ed but are at least $80,000 higher, a figure that does not yet include finalized cost-of-living increases or the newly confirmed health insurance cost of $97,984.56. Bacchus disclosed that Oakham is the only town in her portfolio that budgets free cash for operations, that the town has not pursued tax title proceedings on delinquent real estate accounts for two years, reducing free cash certification annually, and that the books left by the departed treasurer-collector were "messy but clean." The boards heard a recommendation to solicit competitive bids for a new auditor to replace Rosselli and Clark and to shift to a biennial audit cycle. Bacchus also proposed drafting a set of 19 standalone financial policies for the town, which currently has none. The Finance Committee will schedule a follow-up meeting once final expenditure figures are compiled.