‘Deteriorating Financial Conditions’ – Century To Discuss Audit Findings In Workshop Meeting

January 6, 2018

The Century Town Council has scheduled a workshop to discuss findings of their fiscal year 2015-2016 audit. The workshop will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 9.

The audit uncovered numerous financial problems in Century during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016. Those findings included  deteriorating financial conditions that could result in a future “financial emergency”, $3.83 million in transferred special revenue funds that must be repaid to another fund, over $1.4 million in expenditures in violation of state statutes, over $5,000 in a bank account that did not appear on the books and other deficiencies.

According to the audit obtained by NorthEscambia.com:

  • The town’s overall financial condition demonstrates signs of deterioration which, if not corrected, could result in a future financial emergency. The town’s general fund borrowed $285,248 from its special revenue fund to cover general operations of the town during the year under audit. As of September 30, 2016, the general fund owes the special revenue fund approximately $3.83 million. The revenues in the special revenue fund are restricted for specific purposes, and therefore, these funds will have to be repaid or it will be considered an inappropriate use of the restricted revenues.
  • The town reported 2016 fiscal year expenditures in excess of budgeted amounts of $1,424,694 for the general fund, which is in violation of Section 166.241(3), Florida Statutes. Budget-to-actual comparison schedules were not provided to town council on a regular basis during the fiscal year under audit.
  • A bank account for utility payment receipts was not recorded or reconciled in the town’s accounting software and was not recorded in the general ledger. However, the account held a year-end balance of $5,078.
  • Capital outlay was not properly recorded and the capitalization threshold policy of $500 was not properly followed during the year under audit. Audit adjustments were necessary to correct capital asset account balances in all funds. In addition, capital assets purchases are not consistently identified and therefore these items are not properly tagged and inventoried. This inconsistent recording and tracking of capital assets causes asset balances to be misstated and allows for possible misappropriation of assets.
  • Several general ledger accounts were not reconciled to detail supporting ledgers in a timely manner, and audit adjustments from the 2015 fiscal year audit were not posted until June 2017. Town management adjusted several general ledger accounts, resulting in $163,386 recorded in miscellaneous expenditures in the general fund.
  • Bank reconciliations were prepared each month, however these reconciliations did not properly reconcile to the general ledger, and lacked adequate and timely review. The review of the September 30, 2016 bank reconciliations, and posting of necessary adjustments for proper reconciliation to the general ledger records was not completed until August 2017.
  • The town does not have a formal written travel policy. The mayor is receiving a travel stipend of $590 per month. The auditors recommend town management establish a formal travel policy that is compliant with Florida Statute 112.061.
  • The town did not follow Florida statutes regarding the required submission of financial reports for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016.

According to the 58-page audit, the town is in agreement with the findings and will put a corrective action in place to address the issues.

NorthEscambia.com file photo.

Comments

9 Responses to “‘Deteriorating Financial Conditions’ – Century To Discuss Audit Findings In Workshop Meeting”

  1. Dig Deeper on January 9th, 2018 11:10 am

    I am certainly not blaming just the current administration, I am blaming the current administration as well as the last two or three administrations. The CPA (not the audit firm) but the CPA that has been hired by the Town of Century and gets paid VERY well to do nothing. He has been very negligent in his duties as a CPA, some might even say grossly negligent, but that is a legal term that would need to be determined by attorneys and judges. Come on people, an entire bank account was not recorded on the books of the Town?!?!

  2. Mike Amerson on January 8th, 2018 5:26 am

    I’m going to make a prediction that hopefully I’m wrong about. With that many errors in just this one year audit, I’ll bet if that budget year as well as a review of other years, one would find where someone or more than one person has been padding their pockets for quiet some time. All one had to do is follow the paper trail. Now with that said, it’s not something that can be done overnight. An investigation into something that complicated would take some time. Once it got started, you’d see the worms crawling out of the wood trying to cover themselves before being dug out. It will be interesting to see where this goes from here.

  3. Chelleepea on January 7th, 2018 10:02 am

    First, I think some of the posters here are blaming the current administration but the audit was for 2015 – 2016 under Mr. McCall.

    Second, unfortunately the current budget will need to be rewritten to adjust for the debt the town has to repay. We need to tighten our belts.

    Third, there needs to be a process put in place with the help of a good accountant. Office workers need a daily, weekly, monthly procedures to follow as far as book keeping goes. Software by itself doesn’t work without proper input.

  4. Mr. Metoo on January 7th, 2018 10:01 am

    Before attacking the current leaders ask yourself who was in charge in 2015 and 2016? If you don’t like what’s going on attend the meetings, stay informed and vote for the best candidates not the best friends and family. Be careful what you wish for. The county commissioners can’t get their act together and the North end will have less input.

  5. Dig Deeper on January 6th, 2018 8:27 pm

    It’s worse than just have a CPA as a council person, they pay a CPA over $2,000 per month to review ALL financial records!! Why on earth is this man allowed to fleece the good citizens of Century?!?! In fact, why don’t someone look and see, he may have just recently increased his fees to the Town of Century.

  6. Carolyn Bramblett on January 6th, 2018 8:01 am

    Maybe time to quit calling it a town with pretend overseers and just call it a hamlet and every man for himself. What a disgrace.

  7. JE on January 6th, 2018 7:51 am

    I see a little Prichard coming into view. It seems like they need to hire another accountant. Since the Town Planner quit, there should be some funds cleared up!

  8. Oversight on January 6th, 2018 7:32 am

    All this and the town council has a CPA as a member who doesn’t wave a warning flag?! Wow, the corruption must run deep in Century. Also with a town that is only a few square miles in size, how can it justify nearly $600/month for the mayor to globe trot around?

    About time to pull the plug on the town charter and let the county take over. But then thinking about it, the county doesn’t want responsibility for Century either.

  9. Sam on January 6th, 2018 7:11 am

    In other words the town is being run with gross incompetence. No one is balancing the books.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News