City of Forsyth Audit results

On June 19^th at 5:30 PM, the City of Forsyth hosted a Public Forum whereby Deputy Missouri State Auditor Harry Otto presented the findings of the first ever audit of the City of Forsyth Missouri. The audit which was ordered as a result of a petition by over 200 citizens of the City was asked for in response to a concern that monies collected as part of a half cent ‘recreation tax’ may not have been entirely used in the manner they were supposed to be used, that is, for the maintenance of local area parks.

Proceeding began promptly in a room that was packed with concerned citizens, city officials and members of the media. Each person received a twenty page ‘State Auditor Report’ that contained both a Citizens Summary and a detailed report that covered eight specific areas that the audit found to be in need of correction. Addressed at the forum were the following areas:

1)      Financial Condition

2)      Real Estate Purchases

3)      Restricted Revenues

4)      Utility Controls and Procedures

5)      Accounting Controls and Procedures

6)      Expenditures

7)      Payroll Controls and Procedures

8)      Budgets and Ordinances

Overall, the Audit found the City’s performance to be only ‘fair’ and in each section there were recommendations made by the auditing body along with a written response from the Board of Aldermen. Mr. Otto made it clear to all present that there would be no follow-up to this audit and advised everyone present that it is the citizens responsibility to ‘hold the Boards feet to the fire’ through attendance and involvement at the frequent board meetings that are held at City Hall and which are open to the public.

My take on this whole schmear was that, while there was no criminal activity in the way the Board administered city funds, some procedures have been executed poorly and need to be tightened up (perhaps the April elections could help here). I also had the impression that this audit, which was spearheaded by citizens like former Alderwoman Missi Hesketh, was fully justified as it exposed glaring inefficiencies in the manner in which monies were being used and accounted for.

Hopefully, everyone will walk away from this effort with a desire to improve the City operationally and with the certain knowledge that the audit process itself, which was initiated by concerned citizens, is proof that the built-in political checks and balances are fully operational.

The complete audit report can be found here: http://auditor.mo.gov/Press/2012-50.pdf

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