SUNDERLAND — When preparing the fiscal year 2026 revenue sheets, town officials discovered an omission on residents’ tax bills.

Town Administrator Becky Torres, who joined the town in November, said she discovered the community didn’t raise the capital stabilization override amount of $409,875 for the fiscal year.

“In the process of doing [the revenue sheets], I started questioning some things that didn’t look right and that’s how we made the discovery,” Torres. “It was an accounting error, basically, by missing one entry and they had done it successfully in ’24, so I’m not sure why it wasn’t successfully done in ’25.”

Residents approved a $275,000 Proposition 2½ override for the Capital Stabilization Fund at the 2023 annual town election to support future projects. Voters in 2014 also approved a $100,000 override for capital projects.

The omission now has town officials determining how to address the issue, as the town has already spent the funds for its capital projects.

While it’s “quite a setback” for Sunderland’s future capital planning, Torres explained the coming FY26 budget will not be affected and the town has been seeking guidance from the state Department of Revenue. The error essentially amounted to a one-year tax break that residents will need to address.

“It’s quite a setback, but at the end of the day, the public did not have to pay the override this year,” Torres said.

At the March 10 Select Board meeting, board members and the Finance Committee discussed how to approach the error, with the most likely strategy being a special Town Meeting.

“We are now expending the amount, the $409,000. Those projects were almost completed when we discovered we didn’t have the money to pay for them, so we will be going to a special Town Meeting … for FY25 ahead of the annual Town Meeting,” Torres said.