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Treasurer requests CPA to help balance books [Herald-Times, Bloomington, Ind. :: ]
[September 10, 2014]

Treasurer requests CPA to help balance books [Herald-Times, Bloomington, Ind. :: ]


(Herald-Times (Bloomington, IN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 10--For two years, books kept by the two financial offices in Monroe County failed to balance, and no one can figure out why.

Almost a week after requesting a permanent position to try to fix ongoing delays and problems, Monroe County Treasurer Cathy Smith was back before the council to ask for more help -- this time for a certified professional accountant to balance the books between her office and the auditor's office.



Smith and Auditor Steve Saulter both believe the problems center around the public employee retirement fund, or PERF.

Saulter told the council that he can pinpoint the problem to May 2013, but that doesn't mean it began there. The state changed the way the fund was paid in 2012, which could be start of the problems; or the problems could go back even further to 2011 when the auditor's office failed to properly reconcile payments by the county into PERF.


There's also lots of confusion about what exactly the problem is. Is the county overpaying? Is it a problem with the state? Is it a simple error? Is it a systematic problem? Govtracker updates on blog and app "Is there a problem with PERF? I think there is. What went wrong? I don't know," Saulter said.

Smith believes that the problems come from the inter-department communications, and the settling of the accounts between the two departments. But she advocated for professional help to find out what exactly is going on.

"We have searched for hours, every single entry," Smith said.

"Honestly, I believe it's going to take a professional to do it." The CPA would not only try to get to the heart of any issues with the county finances, and work with employees to correct systematic errors and provide training, said county attorney Jeff Cockerill.

Though council members seemed concerned with the financial mess, what seemed to concern members most is the time frame: If this has been going on since at least May 2013, why did it take this long to seek professional help? Council members Marty Hawk and Shelli Yoder both stated they were under the impression the county's finances were balanced at the end of last year, after turnover in the treasurer's office caused financial reports to be six months behind.

Smith said her office "forced balanced" the financials in May in order to move them forward to the auditor's office. Saulter said he wasn't aware of the problem until July.

The county is considering purchasing new financial software, something that could be delayed as it tries to sort out what exactly is happening with its finances.

Though he would like to see the problem fixed as soon as possible, Saulter also noted the county could wait until the Indiana State Board of Accounts releases its audit, which should be around the next time the council meets. The audit could give the county more insight into where and when the problems began.

Council members voted to delay a decision until their next regular meeting, with Hawk requesting that they wait until the board of commissioners meeting, which makes policy and contractual decisions for the county.

The next regular meeting of the council is at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 14 in the Nat U. Hill Meeting Room of the Monroe County Courthouse.

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