Amador County – The Ione City Council on Tuesday received an audit report, saying it had dropped $2.7 million behind in cash in fiscal year 2008-2009. Auditor Larry Bain said the city’s “total cash and investments decreased $2.7 million (or 43 percent) to $3.5 million,” and just over $2 million was “restricted for specific activities.” Revenue in June 2009 was $4.5 million, while expenses for the year were $7.2 million, according to the report. City Manager Kim Kerr said “yes, we were spending more than we were taking in,” but 3 big projects from last year are completed. Those are the new fire station, the “wastewater master plan,” and the General Plan update. She said the city does not have as much cash flow, but it also does not have to worry about a major bond. The report noted that the city did not budget a $279,000 loan from the “fire impact fee fund” to pay for the completion of the new firehouse. Kerr in a response in the report said that loan was part of the current budget. The audit also found a $143,000 overstatement of sewer billing revenue when the same payment amount was logged 3 times “into the general ledger accounts receivable account” and city staff did not review and find the error. Kerr agreed, and said “staff will spend more time reviewing” all accounts and “reconciling monthly to resolve this issue.” She said the sewer billing problems may be due to the city’s old “DOS” based software, which required having to move data manually into the “general ledger,” and “any time that is done, there is a potential for error.” Kerr said the audit had 15 findings, with “13 deemed to be significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.” Councilman Lee Ard said the council “made a conscious decision that cost every man, woman and child about $1.35 a month” to build the new firehouse, and now all the cities around Amador County are “trying to duplicate that.” Vice Mayor David Plank said there were a lot of “unknowns” for next fiscal year. Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said “every year, our number of findings goes down,” and she thanked staff and said it was a good example of transparency. Councilman Jim Ulm said the budget was “soft soaked” by limited discussion. He said “some really long-term debt” could be in the city’s future and should be discussed, such as the new sewer plant, estimated at $15 million. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. -
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Amador County – The Ione City Council on Tuesday received an audit report, saying it had dropped $2.7 million behind in cash in fiscal year 2008-2009. Auditor Larry Bain said the city’s “total cash and investments decreased $2.7 million (or 43 percent) to $3.5 million,” and just over $2 million was “restricted for specific activities.” Revenue in June 2009 was $4.5 million, while expenses for the year were $7.2 million, according to the report. City Manager Kim Kerr said “yes, we were spending more than we were taking in,” but 3 big projects from last year are completed. Those are the new fire station, the “wastewater master plan,” and the General Plan update. She said the city does not have as much cash flow, but it also does not have to worry about a major bond. The report noted that the city did not budget a $279,000 loan from the “fire impact fee fund” to pay for the completion of the new firehouse. Kerr in a response in the report said that loan was part of the current budget. The audit also found a $143,000 overstatement of sewer billing revenue when the same payment amount was logged 3 times “into the general ledger accounts receivable account” and city staff did not review and find the error. Kerr agreed, and said “staff will spend more time reviewing” all accounts and “reconciling monthly to resolve this issue.” She said the sewer billing problems may be due to the city’s old “DOS” based software, which required having to move data manually into the “general ledger,” and “any time that is done, there is a potential for error.” Kerr said the audit had 15 findings, with “13 deemed to be significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.” Councilman Lee Ard said the council “made a conscious decision that cost every man, woman and child about $1.35 a month” to build the new firehouse, and now all the cities around Amador County are “trying to duplicate that.” Vice Mayor David Plank said there were a lot of “unknowns” for next fiscal year. Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said “every year, our number of findings goes down,” and she thanked staff and said it was a good example of transparency. Councilman Jim Ulm said the budget was “soft soaked” by limited discussion. He said “some really long-term debt” could be in the city’s future and should be discussed, such as the new sewer plant, estimated at $15 million. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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