Wilton Former Interim CFO

Joe Centofanti: Wilton's Former $375/hr Interim CFO

Joe Centofanti — formally Joseph Centofanti — of PKF O'Connor Davies served as Wilton's interim Chief Financial Officer following Dawn Norton's resignation. The role has since transitioned to Dawn Savo, while Centofanti continues to assist with reconciliation.

Compiled from public records by concerned residents

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Who is Joe Centofanti?

Joseph Centofanti — commonly called Joe Centofanti — is a partner at the regional accounting and advisory firm PKF O'Connor Davies. In late 2025, Wilton, Connecticut retained Joe Centofanti to step in as interim Chief Financial Officer after CFO Dawn Norton resigned. The arrangement was billed hourly, not as a salaried position. The CFO role was later transitioned to Dawn Savo, while Centofanti continues to assist with reconciliation.

The role at Wilton

After CFO Dawn Norton resigned, Wilton retained Joe Centofanti of PKF O'Connor Davies to serve as interim CFO. Good Morning Wilton has reported on the cost, attendance, and oversight of the Centofanti arrangement, and Selectmen have raised the issue repeatedly in public meetings. The scope was later updated: Dawn Savo became Wilton's new CFO, while Centofanti continues to assist with reconciliation.

Timeline of the engagement

Thirteen months, one hourly rate, and a job title that quietly changed shape along the way.

Aug. 6, 2025
CFO Dawn Norton resigns. Wilton needs a finance chief. Wilton does not have one.
Aug. 27, 2025
The town retains Joe Centofanti of PKF O'Connor Davies as interim CFO at $375 an hour — roughly a Wilton residential tax bill every twenty working hours.
Nov. 2025
Centofanti appears before the Board of Selectmen. This will later be described, generously, as "an appearance."
Dec. 8, 2025
Dawn Savo is named CFO. Centofanti stays on to "assist with reconciliation," a phrase that will do an enormous amount of work over the next nine months.
June 30, 2026
The state audit deadline passes. The FY25 reconciliation does not.
Aug. 31, 2026
A new Audit Remediation and Financial Reporting Subcommittee is formed — a committee about the thing that isn't done.
Sept. 8, 2026
At the BOF meeting, Chair Tim Birch says Centofanti "didn't produce anything" and says CFO Dawn Savo had to finish the FY25 work herself. Savo later disputes that characterization.

The invoice math

At $375 an hour, the arithmetic is unusually easy to follow — which is more than can be said for the reconciliation it was supposed to produce. Reported compensation approaching $275,000 works out to roughly 733 billable hours: about eighteen full-time weeks of someone, somewhere, doing something to the FY25 numbers.

$375

Per hour. Per hour of everything — meetings, emails, and the sentence "we're getting close."

~$275K

Reported total compensation for the engagement as of September 2026.

~733 hrs

What that buys, in hours. What it bought, in finished reconciliations: see the next section.

For scale: a resident who called Town Hall with a question got roughly six minutes of the same expertise for free, and arguably a clearer answer.

The handoff: "he didn't produce anything"

At the Sept. 8, 2026 Board of Finance meeting, Chair Tim Birch — not CFO Dawn Savo — said consultant Joseph Centofanti "didn't produce anything" and said Savo had to finish the FY25 work herself. On Sept. 15, Savo rejected that characterization. She wrote that Centofanti "completed the primary work he was engaged to perform and provided the final reconciled trial balances on April 15, 2026," and remained available for questions.

The two accounts are materially different. Birch described a failed deliverable and a takeover; Savo described completed primary work followed by continuing support. Selectmen later said the April 15 delivery date had never been communicated to them. Which account best describes the work has not been resolved on the public record.

Editorial Satire

The engagement had a deliverable. The deliverable had a deadline. The deadline had a successor deadline. The successor deadline had a subcommittee.

What's been reported about Joe Centofanti

Billing rate: $375 per hour for Joe Centofanti / PKF O'Connor Davies.
Total cost: reported above $200,000 through March 2026.
Public appearances: reportedly no Board of Selectmen appearance since Nov. 3, 2025, and none before the Board of Finance since Dec. 9.
FY24 audit: filed late and disclosed a material weakness in internal controls over financial reporting.
FY25 audit: missed the June 30, 2026 state deadline; now promised by Sept. 30, 2026.
The disputed account: BOF Chair Tim Birch said on Sept. 8 that Centofanti "didn't produce anything" and Savo had to finish the work. Savo says the primary work and final reconciled trial balances were delivered April 15.
Savo's Sept. 15 response: In a letter published by GMW, Savo defended Centofanti's work and said he remained available for questions. Selectmen responded that the claimed April 15 completion date had never been communicated to them. Read GMW's special report.
Reimbursement: questions raised publicly; a meeting with town counsel was set for Sept. 18, 2026.

The public appearance record

For a role that is, by definition, the town's chief financial spokesperson, the public footprint has been light. Reporting indicates roughly one Board of Selectmen appearance since November 2025. Selectmen Ross Tartell and David Tatkow have raised the cost and the absence in public meetings more than once.

There is a version of this where a consultant is heads-down doing unglamorous ledger work and simply has nothing to present. That version ends with the ledger work finished. This one didn't.

Why it matters

Wilton holds a Moody's Aaa bond rating. That rating depends on credible, timely financial reporting. A late audit, an open material weakness, a six-figure interim arrangement with Joe Centofanti, and limited public engagement from the interim CFO all sit in tension with the "excellent health" framing offered by First Selectwoman Toni Boucher.

There's a practical edge to it too. Until the audit is filed, the town's ability to issue new bonds is constrained — which means road work, school projects, and everything else that lives on a borrowing schedule now shares a calendar with a spreadsheet.

In fairness to Joe

It should be said plainly: he walked into a genuine mess. The FY24 audit was late and carried a material weakness in internal controls before he arrived. His predecessor left abruptly. Reconstructing a year of records someone else kept is slow, thankless work, and nobody hires a $375/hr consultant when things are going well.

The public record now contains competing descriptions of the outcome. Birch says the consultant produced nothing and Savo finished the work; Savo says Centofanti delivered his primary work April 15 and continued supporting the town. The invoices and missed public deadlines remain fair subjects for scrutiny, but they do not resolve that factual dispute.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Joe Centofanti?: Joe Centofanti (Joseph Centofanti) is a partner at PKF O'Connor Davies who served as Wilton, CT's interim Chief Financial Officer in late 2025 before the role transitioned to Dawn Savo. He continues to assist with reconciliation.
How much is Joe Centofanti paid?: Joe Centofanti's engagement is reported at $375 per hour, with total costs reported above $200,000 through March 2026 and compensation approaching $275,000 as of September 2026.
Did Joe Centofanti finish the FY25 reconciliation?: Disputed. On Sept. 8 the BOF chair said the consultant "didn't produce anything" and that the CFO had to finish the FY25 work herself. On Sept. 15 the CFO wrote that he completed the primary work and delivered final reconciled trial balances on April 15, and remained available for questions. PKF billed 86.75 hours of his time in May, June and July under "general ledger reconciliation services and audit prep," per invoices GMW published on Sept. 17. Which account is accurate has not been resolved on the public record.
Is Wilton seeking any money back?: Reimbursement questions have been raised publicly, and a meeting with town counsel was scheduled for Sept. 18, 2026. No outcome has been reported.
Is Joe Centofanti still Wilton's CFO?: No. Dawn Savo was named CFO on Dec. 8, 2025. Centofanti stayed on in a support role assisting with reconciliation.
What firm does Joe Centofanti work for?: PKF O'Connor Davies, a regional accounting and advisory firm.
Why did Wilton need an interim CFO?: Wilton retained Joe Centofanti after the August 2025 resignation of CFO Dawn Norton. The role was later transitioned to Dawn Savo as the new CFO, with Centofanti continuing to assist with reconciliation.