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.