GOLD BAR — The state Auditor’s Office is pointing out persistent problems with the way the city handles business.
Mayor Linda Loen said she’s working to comply with the rules but small cities simply don’t have enough resources to please auditors all the time. Prolific requests for public records and related legal disputes add to Gold Bar’s challenges.
“I don’t know how to balance what the auditors want with what the city can realistically do,” Loen said.
Gold Bar’s financial and accountability audits for 2014 were released Monday. Auditors found the city had plans to resolve some issues it was warned about previously but had yet to make most of the changes.
The state detailed the ongoing troubles in a Dec. 15 management letter, a reprimand that is not as serious as a so-called finding. Gold Bar racked up seven findings, problems the state considers to be significant, in audits of 2011, 2012 and 2013.
The state cited concern in 2014 and the past four audits about Gold Bar’s finances. The city has been operating in the black since 2013 but its expenses exceeded revenue in years past.
“Our biggest issue is beyond our control,” Loen said. Gold Bar has been inundated with hundreds of requests for public records since 2008. The cost of filling requests, storing records and settling related lawsuits drains city resources and adds to its financial woes, Loen said.
The city budgets about $20,000 a year for litigation but it sometimes spends more defending itself in court.
Loen said Gold Bar expects to save money on records disputes now that its insurance carrier includes legal services as part of the premium.
The state also pointed out weaknesses in the way Gold Bar manages spending in 2014 and in three past audits. Auditors found city staff did not get the required approval for some purchases in 2014.
Loen said the problem stemmed from a policy that required staff to ask for authorization twice for some expenses. It has since been changed.
Auditors also cited Gold Bar for not reconciling actual costs with estimated expenses paid from various city accounts.
Loen said all expenses are reconciled except those that come from estimates of how much time the city’s five employees spend working for different departments. Because the department benefiting from the work is supposed to pay wages, the city asks employees to estimate how they split their time.
In 2016, Loen said, city staff will spend one day during each quarter recording every time they switch between departments. That way the city can provide more accurate estimates. Loen said she doesn’t know if that will please auditors, but it’s the best the city can do without wasting too much staff time.
The state also noted problems with Gold Bar’s safeguarding of public resources such as petty cash and gas cards.
The four city employees who have access to the cash and cards are managers who need the resources when they handle emergencies outside of business hours, Loen said. She recognizes the value of having checks in the system but said Gold Bar doesn’t have enough people to separate every power.
“It’s reality versus the ideal, and trying to balance the two,” she said.
Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
