Sewer and audit highlight town council meeting
Councilman Steve Wilcoxson read a letter addressing the conflict between Saratoga resident Glee Johnson and town engineer Chuck Bartlett, during the Feb. 18 Saratoga Town Council meeting.
Previously, Johnson asked if any other projects had been considered for the wastewater removal project. When Bartlett issued a written response at Feb. 11 town meeting, Johnson said she felt “like this is being personally attacked because I brought up something different that was not on the agenda for the project.”
Wilcoxson’s letter said that the town was trying to respond to Johnson’s comments from the previous meeting and that he was concerned that Johnson “felt it necessary to publicly berate Mr. Bartlett for doing what he was told.”
“As far as I am concerned the only person who deserves an apology is Mr. Bartlett,” Wilcoxson said.
When Mayor John Zeiger asked Johnson if she would like to respond to Wilcoxson’s letter, Johnson said, “why would I?”
The town of Saratoga invited certified public accountant Dennis Tschacher to speak on behalf of the town of Saratoga audit.
“There have been some concerns and accusations that there have been a misappropriation of funds and that this council is covering up these misappropriation of funds,” Zeiger said. “So I have asked Mr. Tschacher to come in and explain the results.”
Tschacher said that even though there were some discrepancies, the town had not misused funds.
“The town is complying with the county according to their financial statement,” Tschacher said.
Of the four deficiencies on the audit report, Tschacher said that the town had taken steps in order to rectify those situations.
The discrepancies in the report were the following:
• Material weakness in
Internal Control
Condition: The town failed to detect an erroneous $143,503 outstanding deposit from November 2012 to June 2013.
In the audit report, Tschacher explained the town had completed monthly bank reconciliations and that it is the employees charged with the responsibility of reconciling the cash accounts should be trained to identify unusual reconciling items.
The town responded by stating “We had a new treasurer and while he was being trained by Caselle we knew that there may be some deficiencies and we were assured that we could work through any issues that might arise.”
It was recommended that the town should have the bank reconciliation reviewed by another member of management or a member of the town council.
The town did not have a treasurer on staff from October 2012 through mid-January, 2013.
• Significant Deficiency in Internal Control
Condition: The town of Saratoga does not have an individual with the expertise to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the cash basis of accounting. Thus, potential misstatements could exist with the town’s financial statements without being detected.
In the report audit, the town was encouraged to be actively involved in the fiscal activities and closely review the financial statements to verify there are not materially misstated.
The town responded by stating they will continue to be active in the preparation of materials for financial statements and will review the financial statements in order to verify they are not materially misstated.
• Significant Deficiency in Internal Control
Condition: Several paid invoices selected for testing did not contain and internal approval signature.
The audit recommended that before invoices are approved for payment that the council should ensure all internal control procedures have been followed.
The town responded by stating they will make every attempt to have the department heads review the invoices and initial each voucher.
• Significant Deficiency in Internal Control
Condition: During testing, it was noted that several timesheets from the Police Department could not be recalculated by the auditor or by the department head that approved the time sheets.
It was recommended in the audit that the importance of accuracy in recalculating timesheets should be emphasized to all department heads.
The town’s response was that these issues have been corrected by the clerk, mayor and department heads working together to reevaluate the areas of concer n and working out a manner in which these discrepancies can be discussed and corrected prior to processing the checks.
• Significant Deficiency in Internal Control
Condition: During audit procedures, it was noted that employees who are required to work 12 hour shifts and request a paid vacation day are paid for 12 hours, but their accrued vacation schedule is only reduced by eight hours.
It was recommended that the employee guidelines be revised.
The town responded stating they would review the policies and amend them where necessary.
When Zieger asked if there had been any indication that town clerk Suzie Cox or anyone else on the council had misappropriated funds, Tschacher said “No, there was not.”
The council announced that after a year as town treasurer, Joe Elder was leaving the position in order fill the vacant seat on as the director of the Platte Valley Community Center.
Saratoga police chief Tom Knickerbocker recommended that Sergeant Robert Bifano be promoted to the rank of Captain and officer Ken Leher to the rank of Sergeant. Both promotions were approved by the council.
The next town council meeting will take place 6 p.m. on Mar. 4 at Saratoga Town Hall. There will also be a public meeting concerning the wastewater removal project at 5:30 p.m. on Mar. 6 at Saratoga Town Hall.
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