CLIFFORD — A six-year audit of the town of Clifford government records has found mistakes and irregularities, but no instances of missing money or misappropriations for the community of 235 residents.
Two Clifford town board members, Ed Stone and board president Danny James, said they were confident that the audit by the Indiana State Board of Accounts would show no missing public funds. Mark Floyd is also a member of the three-person town board.
Stone, who was appointed the town’s interim clerk-treasurer in November after the resignation of Marcia Mitchell, met with state financial experts in Indianapolis on Thursday. The talks, meant as a starting point to begin addressing clerical irregularities over the past seven years, went well, Stone said.
An examination of records from the beginning of 2011 to the end of 2016 turned up numerous posting errors, mathematical errors in calculating cash balances and duplicate distributions posted, the review stated.
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Other specific problems cited in the records audit include:
Failure to report federal assistance provided in 2011 and 2015 that totaled $180,000.
All receipts, disbursements and balances were not filed as required by law with the state examiner.
Certified personnel information was filed 10 months late in 2016.
Town receipts of transactions were not issued during the audit period.
No evidence that the town had adopted or learned required minimum standards for operational effectiveness and efficiency.
The State Board of Accounts was also critical that minutes of town council meetings did not always include standard information such as selection of officers, approval of prior minutes, the approval of accounts payable vouchers and transfers between funds.
Since the findings of the audit were filed on Jan. 31, another problem has emerged, Stone said. The deadline to submit the town’s annual budget was in January, but the document is only 80 to 90 percent finished, Stone said shortly after last week’s meeting. In the past, other local units of government have received up to a year of penalties for turning in their budgets late.
But when he met with the State Board of Accounts on Thursday, there was no mention made of possible fines or forfeits after Stone explained he lacked the necessary hardware and software to comply with state requirements, he said.
The town board recently appointed a new clerk-treasurer, but she is expressing some apprehension about accepting the position under current circumstances, as well as still learning her duties and responsibilities, Stone said.
Stone and James outlined a number of reasons why they believe state regulators should be more sympathetic than critical of their community.
Instead of missing funds, the audit showed the town had more money than originally thought. Over the six-year period, only one example of a fund coming up short of cash by $344 was found. In contrast, examiners found another fund that had $5,702 more than what town records showed.
“They were just math mistakes,” James said. “The errors they found worked in our favor, not against us.”
Both James and Stone say they hope mistakes attributed to Mitchell, an elected official who served from 2011 until last November, will be viewed with understanding.
Over the past several years, Mitchell has dealt with health issues that affected her abilities to perform her clerical duties, the town council president said.
Never formally trained in bookkeeping or government, Mitchell agreed to serve as clerk-treasurer after no one else would accept the job, James said.
Elected officials must live in the municipalities they serve.
“Those criticizing are often the same ones who won’t step forward when their town needs them,” James said.
While Stone was attempting to prepare a 2018 budget last winter, he called the State Board of Accounts for assistance 10 different times — and never got a call back, James said.
Citing his own lack of clerical training, Stone said he also does not have experience with online software that state regulators are increasingly demanding from counties and local units of government.
“In Clifford, we try to keep it simple, but the state keeps making changes to the game,” Stone said.
In recent months, town leaders in Clifford have also had their hands full with tense negotiations with their firefighters, James said.
Members of the Clifford Volunteer Fire Department have been seeking a 53 percent increase in funding from the town, which currently provides $2,500 a year, James said.
Earlier this month, town leaders found themselves dealing with the resignation of longtime Clifford Town Marshal Charlie Deweese, James said.
After stating that Deweese left the part-time position by mutual consent, James said the town is considering raising the marshal’s salary to attract qualified applicants.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is assigning deputies to perform extra patrols in Clifford while efforts are underway to find a new marshal, James said.
Other ongoing projects in Clifford that have taken up the time of town leaders, include drainage issues and attempting to obtain a severe weather siren warning system, James said.
But what both Stone and James emphasized is that municipal leaders in small town serve a different capacity than those in larger communities, who have full-time, professionally trained staff to handle the paperwork.
With an annual budget of less than $40,000, town council members in Clifford can’t afford to hire others to repair fencing and install sidewalks at the town’s park, James said. They do the labor themselves, he said.
“Board members earn no more than a dollar a day,” Stone said. “But we’re willing to do it, because we care about our town.”
Town council incumbents Stone and James are unopposed in the May 8 Democratic primary, with newcomer Carroll Thompson running for the third at-large council position as a Democrat. The third council incumbent, Floyd, is not seeking re-election.
Two Republicans are also running in their party’s primary — Bonnie “B.J.” Everroad and Charlie Bob Moore. Candidates from the two political parties will face off in the November general election.
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Audits and reviews by the Indiana State Board of Accounts of local government operations have resulted in the discovery of thousands of dollars in missing funds, as well as five township officials in Bartholomew County being investigated for financial improprieties.
They include former Rockcreek Township Trustee David E. Buzzard last year; former Clay Township Trustee Rebecca A. “Becky” Smith, 2017; former Wayne Township Trustee Clint Madden, 2016; and former Clay Township Trustee Christa K. Acton and Deputy Trustee, Laurie L. Baker, 2014.
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