Finance Panel Hears Light Plant Undercharged Ratepayers

Finance Committee · Meeting of October 1, 2026

Concord's Finance Committee learned a town audit found the municipal light plant had undercharged ratepayers by up to $9.2 million since 2021. Committee member Eric Dahlberg, relaying a Financial Audit Advisory Committee report, said the Concord Municipal Light Plant's board has already approved recovering the shortfall through roughly $8 in added monthly charges per average customer over the next five years, after auditors found a flawed rate formula. "I was watching the meeting on Zoom with my earpiece in, and my wife said it looked like I had seen a ghost," Dahlberg said.

Separately, committee member Paul Rodriguez presented a preliminary fiscal 2028 budget guideline proposing a 2.75 percent base spending increase, projecting an overall town spending rise near 4.07 percent and a tax levy increase near 3.9 percent; no vote was taken. The committee also heard that town auditors flagged a $428,000 overstatement in federal grant reporting, to be corrected with no funds owed back, and approved its September 10 meeting minutes unanimously.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,826 words

Source: the Finance Committee meeting of October 1, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.