 The audit was performed by Estes Bridgewater and Ogden of
Springfield, with Lori Milosevich being the lead auditor. This is
the second year of a three-year contract the city has with that
firm.
In conversations last week, Martinek said the audit was
officially completed on Oct. 25, 2010, and that everything had gone
well during the audit process.
She said one of the most significant parts of the audit was the
fact that there were no findings this year, and that findings from
the previous year were noted as being corrected.
Simply put, auditors use a standard referred to as the generally
accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, whereby they determine
whether or not financial records are being maintained in a proper
fashion.
For the fiscal year that ended April 30, 2009, there were
findings, or violations of GAAP, including the fact that the bank
account reconciliations were being performed by the same person who
signed the checks. The auditors said that to ensure accuracy and
accountability, these functions needed to be performed by two
different people.
Another significant finding stated that a number of handwritten
checks were not being properly entered into the city's computer
accounting system.
When these findings were published, the auditors acknowledged
that the problems had come from practices of the previous clerk and
that the current administration was in the process of correcting
these wrongs even before the audit was finished.
In the audit report for the year ending April 30, 2010, they
acknowledge that the findings have been corrected, making the
accounting system for the city much more secure.
In addition, for the 2009-10 year they had no additional findings
to report, an indication that the city has a much more secure and
accurate accounting system than it has in past years.
Martinek said that Estes Bridgewater and Ogden did issue a
management letter with the audit and it too will be posted on the
city website.
The letter expressed one concern for the city in that the
accounting department does not have a written manual of policies and
procedures.
Martinek said that in conversations related to the auditing,
Milosevich had said that a policy and procedures manual should
outline the duties of each person in the office regarding accounting
transactions and should show clearly the checks and balances used to
assure every transaction is viewed by multiple people to assure
accuracy.
The financial portion of the audit really offers no surprises for
city officials. Cash flow is not good, the cost of operating the
city is going up, while revenues are not increasing accordingly;
thus, the reserve cash on hand in the general operating account is
dwindling.
The audit year that began May 1, 2009, showed that the city had
$3,180,386 in reserve and ended the year on April 30, 2010, with
only $2,997,493, a loss of over $183,000 in the city's reserve cash.
A portion of this loss can be blamed on the fact that the state
of Illinois is not paying its obligations in a timely fashion, and
should the day come when the state is able to catch up, this figure
will improve.
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As far as city departments running within their budgets for the
year, they all did very well coming in at or below what their
budgeted expenditures were, with the exception of the city fire
department, which exceeded its budget by $53,296. Of that amount,
$52,644 was in expenditures on the personnel line.
When the city council was working to build the budget for the new
year in March of 2010, they were well aware of this over-expenditure
and it was a matter of great concern, especially for Alderman Buzz
Busby.
However, then-Chief Kent Hulett defended the expenditure, saying
that the city needed more firefighters per shift and that if
additional manpower was added to the regular payroll, it would help
lower the dollars spent on overtime.
Hulett said that running six men per shift was the bare minimum
that the city should have on duty. He noted that when major events
occurred in the city, additional manpower had to be called in,
adding to the overtime expenditure.
For the current year, the firefighters did agree to take furlough
days to help relieve some of the strain on the city's tight budget,
but even as that was happening, Hulett warned that the unpaid days
off could result in even more overtime expenditure if serious
emergencies arose.
In a conversation last week, the interim fire chief, Mark Miller,
said the fire department was holding to the budget as well as they
could but that overtime is always going to be an issue.
While other departments maintained their budgets and stayed
within their personnel figures, there are still reports of a lack of
manpower. The city street and alley department is working with a
skeletal crew, and in a news release last week city police Chief Ken
Greenslate said his department as well is suffering due to a lack of
manpower.
"The reduced staffing levels have eliminated all specialty
positions, such as the community police officer, the juvenile
officer and the drug enforcement officer. We are also working with
one less detective. Most of these reduced positions have
traditionally been proactive in trying to reduce crime," Greenslate
said. "In 1999, the Lincoln police had a total of 29 officers. Our
current staffing is 24 officers."
Alderwoman Melody Anderson, who chairs the finance committee, has
said that the budget-building process for the 2011-12 fiscal year
will begin with special committee meetings in March.
With city coffers dwindling, the state still lagging behind in
payments and this year's property tax increase going straight to
retirement funds for fire and police, aldermen have another tough
year ahead of them.
[By NILA SMITH]
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