Dear Press
If it wasn’t for the auditors at the SBOA, who requested a meeting with me in July, I wouldn’t have know the problems existing. I immediately emailed our Council President concerning the issues. The severity of the situation did NOT come from the Administration, but, from the auditor. This same auditor has performed our City’s audit for over 20 years. She has never, while I have been on the Council, contacted me concerning any issues during those audits. She told me what is amazing while in the Civic Center performing the 2010 audit, during April and May of 2011, the controller NEVER indicated to her the problem with reconciling the funds. She also indicated that Harding Shymanski CPA’s were engaged to attempt to reconcile and was unable to do so. They NEVER contacted any Council Member. In addition, the auditor indicated that the Utility was in the same condition. At that time in July, I met with the CFO of the utility together with Allen Mounts, the Director to determine the level of issues. Again, it was the stated “Software Conversion Failure.†I was informed, Umbaugh & Associates, CPA’s were also engaged during 2011. During the SBOA exit conference, the supervisor of SBOA stated “you (Administration) were not forthcoming as to the conditions of your records.†This was the SBOA response to the Administration’s request for additional time to reconcile and reconvene the audit. They (auditors) indicated “if you would have been forthcoming, we would have rescheduled to give you the time to correct.†This conference was conducted on August 23, 2012 at 4 p.m. All of the attendees were strictly instructed by the SBOA NOT to publicize the findings until the report is released under regulations. Finally, I refer you to the final paragraph of my correspondence to Dr Adams and copied to all Council Members.
City Councilman John Friend, CPA
Auditgate was a coverup, plain and simple.
The city’s inability to reconcile the books for over a year and a half and keeping the problem secret during two administrations is scandalous.
One can only wonder why the former and present city controllers have not dismissed immediately for this cover up.
Easy…they were doing what they were told to do, if you want to bury something you dig a hole, the bigger and deeper the hole the harder it is to find what your burying…
So what was happening in the city of Evansville during 2011 that needed hiding?…so much so that the person responsible received a newly created position and a fat raise.
Anyone?…Bueller Bueller….anyone? 🙂
JMHO
Does it begin with an A?
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Maybe….
As Shurlock Holmes sez..”When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”.
I think auditgate fits the above statement….I guess time will tell.
JMHO
Same auditor for over 20 years? Isn’t that a SOX violation, Mr. CPA?
It certainly would be in a publicly traded company. Whether it applies to a municipal government, I am less sure.
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Indiana, unfortunately, has a monopoly on the audit industry as least with regards to GASB. Unlike our neighboring states, were audits are performed by independent CPA’s and undergo Peer Review requirements and A-133 audits are” must pick” engagements for review, the SBOA is exempt from the rotation requirements. Professionally, since the Indiana General Assembly has severely under-funded the agency, I have been concerned about GASB audits performance under professional standards. The SBOA auditors, apparently, are under such time constraints. The state has only approx 200 auditors which must perform audits on every library fund, township trustee office, etc. It is only a matter of time that those individuals entrusted with public funds will see this leanness.
Councilman Friend:
As I have stated previously, I do not believe I can improve on this post by “IG”. This is exactly my thoughts on the matter:
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Posted by
IG on October 1, 2012 at 7:50 am
Members of the executive branch and it’s staff appear in front of the Council all the time. Members of the Council are free to meet with employees of the city any time they wish and those meetings are usually honored.
All it would have taken is a few probing questions to discover that the system was a disaster. Blaming it on an audit is silly. Go out and ask a few questions and the follow up on what you learn.
It’s not that hard.
BTW, I am still marveling at the Evansville Courier&Press’ ability to obtain a copy of the recent audit since it has yet to appear on the SBOA website in their “recently released audits” section.
Thus far it seems as if the C&P has taken a rather ho-hum approach to this matter. If they are waiting for it to blow over, they may be waiting for a good while.
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More likely, the either has been burning up with emails between Jack and John W.
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