BRIER — A state audit found Brier’s bookkeeping was in disarray in 2005 and 2006 during a tumultuous time in the small town’s City Hall.
Numerous accounting mistakes — such as numbers being entered into the wrong fields and incorrect spreadsheet formulas being used — led to several ledger errors that artificially inflated or deflated several city funds, according to a report released this week by the Washington State Auditor’s Office.
Among the errors, the city’s general fund in 2006 was overstated by roughly $2.2 million because some revenues and expenditures were marked down in the wrong accounts, Mayor Bob Colinas said. On paper, the error roughly doubled the size of the city’s general fund, which had a balance of $2.1 million at the end of 2006.
No money was actually missing, and the errors did not interfere with city business at the time, Colinas said.
The state found no evidence that anything fraudulent happened, said Mindy Chambers, spokeswoman for the auditor’s office.
“The money is there,” Chambers said. “I compare these financial statements to checkbooks or financial statements. They are bookkeeping mistakes.”
Colinas attributes the errors to a difficult time at City Hall in which a dozen employees quit or resigned during an 18-month period before he took office. With several people handling the city’s accounting during that time, there was no consistency in keeping track of Brier’s finances, Colinas said.
The work force at City Hall has since stabilized, and the city has corrected most of the mistakes from two years ago, he said.
“The staff that are in place here today, I have total confidence in them,” Colinas said.
The errors resulted from the city’s failure to properly monitor its own accounting practices, the auditor’s report said.
In addition to the general fund gaffe, other incorrect account balances were also logged in the city’s books. In 2006, the street fund was overstated by $559,338 in the city’s ledger, and the balance in the payroll fund was listed at $8,572 over what it should have been. In 2005, the city’s street fund balance was listed at $74,598 below what it should have been.
Tax revenues and utility charges for service were also recorded incorrectly.
State auditors pointed out more errors than usual this audit cycle because of a new law that requires more types of inaccuracies to be reported, Chambers said. The cities of Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace both cite the new reporting guidelines as the reason for errors being reported in their audits.
State officials acknowledge Brier endured some difficult times and they are pleased with the city’s response to the audit.
“They’re going to fix it and move forward, and that’s great,” Chambers said.
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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