An update by the consulting firm hired to analyze city accounting practices has disclosed that there was good reason for concern about financial management at city hall.
Jacob Waguespack, a managing partner with the accounting firm Faulk and Winkler, and accounting analyst Amy Burleigh delivered the report at a special meeting on May 15. Numerous problems were uncovered that led to overpaid invoices, bounced checks and unanticipated costs to St. Martinville taxpayers.
Serious deficiencies resulted from the appointment of Planning and Zoning supervisor Shedrick Berard to the position of chief administrative officer. Berard, who holds a bachelor’s degree in education, had no training or experience in accounting, and city auditor Burton Kolder had explicitly recommend that a different choice be made.
Complicating the task for Berard was the continuing medical absence of the experienced employee tasked with handling the payroll accounts. Problems with those accounts provided the first clear signs that all was not well, when a number of police payroll checks were declined because deposits into the payroll account had not been made.
It was then learned that contract invoices had gone unpaid for months. Waguespack told the council that boxes of unprocessed invoices are still turning up. Some have gone unpaid while others were paid two or three times.
Bank deposits had been made without being posted into the computer. Accounts had not been reconciled during Berard’s tenure and the city’s financial position could not be accurately determined after his resignation in early April.
Remittances from payroll withholdings to state and federal tax entities, unemployment insurance and the retirement system were not made. Some of these deficiencies may result in fines.
Burleigh reported that city books are fully updated only through December at this point.
Asked by Councilman Mike Fuselier if subsequent months’ updates are likely to proceed at a quicker pace, Burleigh
responded that they probably would. Waguespack added that, as the work proceeds, city employees should be able to shorten the firm’s billable hours by aiding Burleigh with data entries.
The consultants advised Mayor Melinda Mitchell and the council that, until new CAO Avis Gutekunst takes over in July, separate people should be placed in charge of payroll, deposits and payables. This, they said, will add accountability and reduce confusion about who is doing what.
Also discussed was the city’s policy concerning charges for copies made for public record requests. Several council members chafed at the news that 3,000 pages of financial records and cancelled checks had been printed and given to Mitchell’s transition manager Janine Coleman without charge.
“I’m confounded that we don’t know what records Coleman was given,” said Fuselier. Prosper commented, “We are supposed to be the gatekeepers of public funds. We have to do better than this.”
