Wayland Finance Committee approves $114,000 reserve transfer to cover IRS penalties

WAYLAND — April 17, 2024 — Wayland Finance Committee approves $114,000 reserve transfer to backfill IRS penalty payment. The committee voted 4-0-1 Wednesday to replenish the town counsel legal services line after Finance Director Brian Keveney used it in November to pay $114,000 in IRS interest and penalties — the negotiated result of payroll-tax deposits a former treasurer failed to remit on time in 2021. Keveney said the original exposure approached $200,000 before outside firm CLA worked the case down with IRS agents in Woburn and Andover. The chair, Kelly, pressed Keveney on whether after-the-fact transfers comply with Chapter 40, Section 6, and one member abstained, calling the lapse "a blatant control and compliance issue" that the town's auditor had not flagged. Keveney also disclosed a separate $400,000 to $500,000 near-emergency repair need at the town center wastewater plant, not in any current budget.