As has been the case in recent years, the Melville town's audit has a list of problems cited by accountants.
The audit, which was formally released on Monday, was singled out for notice by the state Legislative auditor.
One issue noted was that the town's auditor issued a qualified opinion for business activities and utilities "because of the lack of adequate records and documentation and a utility software program that did not allow accounts receivable balances in the utility fund to be reconciled to the general ledger," the LLA noted.
Seven findings were listed, all repeats from last year's audit.
"The auditor found that the Town did not pay all of its required payroll taxes and did not maintain sufficient records to reconcile its meter deposit liability to individual account balances. In addition, the Town did not enforce a uniform cutoff policy for non-payment of utilities and had many past due accounts, including some belonging to elected officials," the Legislative Auditor noted.
The town failed to comply with debt covenants, and paid salaries to elected officials, but was unable to produce the ordinance establishing the officials’ compensation.
Melville also again failed to remit certain fines, fees, and court costs to various entities each month as required. And once again the auditor found the Town was unable to produce accounts receivable subsidiary ledgers that accurately reflected amounts owed to the Town or that agreed to the general ledger.
If you'd like to read the audit for yourself, scroll down. If you would like to read our stories in previous years about the town's financial issues, click here, here and here.
Some of the findings from last year's audit have been resolved. For instance, the town was able to produce minutes for all meetings, as is required by state law. The town also was able to file it's audit on time, had a capital asset inventory and had instituted a centralized accounting system.
For the unresolved findings, town officials told auditors that they've resolved their outstanding tax bill with Louisiana and are working on an installment agreement with the IRS.
On the issue of utility cutoffs for nonpayments, town officials said they have obtained a grant to address the issue and hope to have it resolved during this fiscal year. They also said they have set up a system to ensure they're transferring money as required on their debts, and have adopted ordinances to set pay for their elected officials.
Here's the audit:
