The annual audit of Jeanerette's finances found misuse of a city fuel card, a lack of adequate controls over financial statements and a failure to amend the budget.
Jeanerette has a history of financial management issues; in 2018 the state took financial control and appointed an administrator to run the city. After three years, control of the city's money was returned to city officials.
Before the state took over, auditors were unable to conduct audits for three years because the books were such a mess. Eventually, the former mayor was indicted on malfeasance charges.
This year, the auditor hired by the city noted in his report that officials discovered a Fire Department employee had used a city-issued fuel card for personal transactions. The unauthorized transactions totaled $4,640.42. The individual responsible for the misappropriation, who was charged and pleaded guilty, has arranged to pay full restitution to the city, the audit states.
In addition, the auditor found the city lacked adequate controls over its financial statements and did not comply with the Local Government Budget Act when it failed to amend its budget to reflect a variance of more than 5 percent in its General Fund revenues.
The city agreed with all these findings, and said they've hired a CPA to help with their financial statements.
You can read the audit for yourself by clicking here.
