Tiverton will spend up to $100,000 to hire an outside accounting firm to scrutinize the school district’s finances and spending practices over the last two fiscal years.

Members of the Tiverton Town Council approved the spending at their most recent meeting, five months after councilors initially approved a special forensic audit — a detailed, line-by-line review of revenue accounts and school district expenditures to see if they conform with established accounting policies and procedures.

Town officials said they intend to use the council’s contingency fund, which had a surplus at the end of the 2023 fiscal year, to cover the anticipated cost.

In a draft Request for Proposals (RFP), Town Administrator Chris Cotta wrote that neither the town council nor the budget committee has received “sufficient answers to difficult financial questions” and are in need of a “clear understanding regarding the school operations, including but not limited to all revenue sources, grants and local appropriations.”

Budget discussions between school and town officials in recent months have often been tense. Council President Denise deMedeiros and Vice President Mike Burk have suggested during joint meetings that the school district has been lax in following established purchasing rules and guidelines. Councilors have also questioned the contention by school officials that the district’s financial challenges are largely due to a structural deficit that began several years ago.

In the draft RFP, Cotta wrote, “Over the last two years, the Tiverton School Administration has continued with a narrative that they are running a structural deficit, yet financially the school system has ended each of the past five years with a fund balance generating a surplus according to the annual financial audits.”

In countering these criticisms during public meetings, school committee chairman Jerry Larkin noted that flat (level) funding, which began in the 2021-22 fiscal year, combined with contractual increases, built the structural deficit. He said the district has also been impacted by significant increases in special education expenses and higher costs for transportation and energy. 

Larkin has previously called the school committee’s budget review process “rigorous” and said discussions on how to solve the structural deficit problem are ongoing.