Lenox Finance Committee Accepts Clean FY2025 Audit With No Material Weaknesses

LENOX — April 6, 2026 — Lenox Finance Committee unanimously accepts clean FY2025 audit and reviews four new warrant articles. Dave Irwin and Joe Collins of Adelson & Company presented the fiscal year 2025 audit to the Finance Committee on April 6, reporting an unmodified opinion with no material weaknesses and no significant deficiencies found in any area tested. Total cash and investments stood at $15.7 million at June 30, 2025, outstanding debt fell from $10.5 million to $9.7 million, and the net pension liability for the Berkshire County Retirement System dropped from $12.5 million to roughly $14,000 after plan assets grew by $31 million. Debt service as a percentage of budget was 7.9 percent for fiscal 2025, down sharply from 16.5 percent the prior year; auditors cited 15 percent as a widely used ceiling. The committee also reviewed four warrant additions approved by the Select Board — a $14,406 regional animal shelter assessment from the town of Lee, a $12,904 opioid settlement fund appropriation, and two $25,000 articles for Southern Berkshire Ambulance covering Furnace District 911 service and ambulance replacement costs — with members questioning the basis of the ambulance figures before concluding the $50,000 total amounts to roughly $510 per call for 49 annual Furnace District responses.