MARLIN, Texas — A forensic auditor tasked with straightening out the city's budget will have take another year after his review found there were "no internal controls in place," according to a report from the city council.
Mayor Carolyn Lofton posted a summary of the report to her Facebook page. It listed six key findings of the audit:
1. There were 6 duplicate invoices and reimbursements totaling $3,539 that were paid twice.
2. Accounts payable expenditures for 2017-2018 were less than $1,700 and were determined to be business related.
3. All requested bank statements have not been received for audit. Based on statements they did receive, they were able to identify multiple bank accounts that we were unaware of.
4. They have not completed the reconciliation of water services. Water office personnel will be forwarding the requested information for review. Once this information is submitted, they will be able to finalize the water dept audit.
5. There was no consistent tracking for grants and bonds.
6. There was an internal transfer of federal grant funds over $2 million in January, 2018. We have not received any statements for this account and was informed that it was for "pledges."
Lofton said the auditor said the records were in such bad condition it was difficult for him to conduct a thorough audit.
Based on the record-keeping system at the time the auditor said, "it would be extremely difficult to determine if money was missing or not."
Lofton said the auditor agreed to spend the next year working with the city's financial director, while continuing us audit review, at no cost to the city.
"He stated that our finances were in such bad shape that he is willing to donate his time to help the city create better systems that can be audited easily," Lofton said.
For additional information regarding these audit results, please refer to the City of Marlin website for a copy of the results.