Audit shows Village of Waterproof the victim of embezzlement, poor accounting practices

The Village of Water-resistant is facing economic issues, in accordance to the condition Legislative Auditor’s Office environment.

An audit submitted by the accounting business Silas Simmons from Natchez, Mississippi, found numerous major problems with the village’s accounting tactics and at minimum 1 circumstance of alleged prison wrongdoing.

The unbiased auditor noted that officers found out the village clerk experienced used $10,000 in cash from gross sales taxes and occupational licenses to spend for individual expenditures.

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The clerk, Erica Crump, who is no for a longer period employed by the village, was arrested, and the case was ongoing as of the day of the report, according to the auditor.

The auditor also reported that the village did not have ample funds in its client deposit financial institution account to go over shopper deposits, the village’s normal fund expenses exceeded the budgeted volume by 29%, and the village failed to remit product sales taxes from 2018 through 2020.

The audit of the fiscal yr ending June 30, 2021 famous that the village has started generating payments on its back again profits taxes, but however was not caught up as of fiscal 12 months-close.

“We recommend that the Mayor and Board follow far more oversight over the day to day functions of the Village to assistance reduce the danger,” the audit browse.

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The report had various other results, together with:

• Failure to reconcile the general ledger with subsidiary ledgers for the utility fund accounts receivable and the customer meter deposits account.

• Inadequate segregation of obligations around the village’s finances.

• Late submission of the village’s audit report.

• Failure to comply with bond covenants.

The auditor advisable “that the Village and Board continue on to supply the important oversight in its latest inside command methods, especially in the spots of dollars receipts, collection receipt activities, recording of these receipts, depositing money gathered, and critique of checks published.”

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In accordance to the audit, the budgeted total of common fund expenditures was $298,650 and the real expenses were being $358,090. State legislation involves that expenditures not

exceed the spending budget by a lot more than 5%.

“The typical ledger and subsidiary ledger are both of those in want of notice and correcting,” the audit read. “The equilibrium of the quantities owed to the Village by the clients totals $207,630, in accordance to the buyer harmony report. The cash collections in the subsequent thirty day period have been $20,571. At the same time, the standard ledger indicated the accounts receivable ended up $283,278 before an adjustment advisable by the auditor was manufactured.”

The auditor pointed out that no corrective action had been taken as of June 30, 2021.

“Mainly because of the compact dimensions of the Village and the little number of workforce, lots of of

the vital features of good interior controls simply cannot usually be realized to assure

enough protection of the Village’s property,” the audit reported.

Scott Yoshonis is the editor of The News-Star. He can be reached at [email protected].

This post originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Village of Watertight the sufferer of embezzlement, lousy accounting