Auditors found several problems with the town of Cheneyville's finances.
Among the issues cited in the independent audit released Monday were a lack of adequate records that prevented auditors from issuing an opinion on finances; failure to forward payroll taxes to the IRS and the state; failure to keep track of utility meter deposits and utility cutoffs; and inability to produce minutes of town meetings.
The audit itself was late, because the town hadn't paid its auditors, the document notes. You can read it yourself by scrolling down.
Here's the summary from the Legislative Auditor:
The independent auditor was unable to issue an opinion on the Town’s financial statements because of the lack of sufficient, appropriate audit evidence. The audit report had eight findings – four of which were repeated from the previous year. The auditor found the Town lacked adequate records to reconcile its meter deposit liability with individual accounts, failed to enforce its utility cutoff policy for delinquent accounts, and failed to pay all required payroll taxes to the IRS and the Louisiana Department of Revenue. In addition, the Town failed to remit certain fines, fees, and court costs related to ticket collections to the appropriate agencies as required by law, failed to comply with its debt covenants, and was unable to provide copies of the minutes for most of the open meetings held at Town Hall during the year. The Town also lacked adequate policies and procedures for its accounting functions and failed to file its financial report with the Legislative Auditor’s office within the required time frame.
Auditors noted several issues with accounting and bookkeeping practices, some of which were attributed to "the previous town clerk."
Among those were the finding that the town didn't keep sufficient records on utility meter deposits - which is necessary so the town can apply deposits to outstanding amounts in customers' accounts. A lack of records there also means the town had no idea how much money they might have to pay back to customers who closed their accounts.
Another finding was that the town failed to submit payroll taxes on the state and federal level, and failed to forward portions of fines, fees and court costs to the state. These findings mean the town could be in violation of state and federal laws, auditors wrote.
The town also failed to make payments and transfers related to its debts - something current personnel weren't aware they had to do - resulting in the town being out of compliance with its debt agreements when the fiscal year ended.
The town didn't have minutes for several public meetings - another issue attributed to the previous clerk, and couldn't even produce the proper paperwork for the auditor to evaluate on spending, the audit states.
"The Town was unable to provide sufficient documentation to substantiate some expenditures and revenues, leading auditors to be unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to opine on the financial statements and, accordingly, issuing a disclaimer of opinion in the audit report," the audit states. "The Town’s personnel require additional training, and Town’s management must commit to establishing a proper control environment."
The audit itself was late because the auditing firm hadn't been paid by the town for previous audits they had done.
In the management response, the Town pledged to correct these issues.
"The current administration inherited a deficient accounting system, with records unavailable for an extensive period of time. We have instituted new systems that will enable us to retain all required documentation going forward," the response states.
Here's the audit:
