Financial records for the Village of Oxford are out of whack right now, but the person responsible, Clerk/Treasurer Dan Luick, was given a chance to get things in order and up to date before council considers bringing in outside help.
‘I’m not saying I’m proud of the way that things look right now,? Luick told council. ‘I am very much devoted to my job and I always have been. And the financial reports of this village are very much a concern for me.?
At last week’s village meeting, council discussed at length, then set aside, a proposal to bring in outside accounting assistance for Luick, at an additional cost, to help balance the municipality’s books.
It was decided to give Luick some time to straighten out the records himself.
According to a memo from Manager Joe Young, when the village’s auditors, the Flint-based Lewis & Knopf, started work on Oct. 19, they discovered the bank reconciliations were not current and as a result, they spent most of their first three days determining the out-of-balance items for some funds.
They can’t continue the audit for the 2008-09 fiscal year until things are ‘reconciled and posted,? Young wrote.
Councilwoman Maureen Helmuth, the former village treasurer, first brought up the out-of-balance financial records when discussing the August reports at the Oct. 13 council meeting.
During last week’s meeting, Luick indicated the village’s general fund has been out of balance, according the municipality’s financial records, since March 2009.
‘It was basically recording errors,? he told this reporter. He explained that bank deposits were made, but weren’t ‘recorded properly? on his part.
‘Book to bank ? what’s in the bank versus what’s on paper ? doesn’t balance,? Luick said. ‘Once all the entries are made, once the entries are corrected for the receipts, then it will bring the book balance back up to meet the bank balance.?
Luick insisted there are sufficient monies in the bank to meet the village’s expenses, it just doesn’t look that way on paper.
‘The money’s in the bank,? Young noted. ‘It’s just on our books, it’s not necessarily in the right accounts.?
Former village Clerk Rose Bejma, who attended the meeting as an audience member, indicated there needs to be a regular system of checks and balances between the manager and clerk/treasurer so things like this don’t happen.
She said having the general fund out of balance for seven months is ‘a concern and should be for all the other taxpayers in this room.?
Luick attributed the recording errors to difficulties making the transition from having a separate treasurer to having a combined clerk/treasurer position.
‘The training is the big thing,? he said.
‘The training took longer than what was expected.?
Luick took over as treasurer in September 2008 after council had made the decision to eliminate that position as a separate office and consolidate it with the clerk’s job. Helmuth, who wasn’t on council back then, was permanently laid off as a result.
‘There was no overall supervision of the transition. That caused a problem,? he explained to this reporter. ‘Nobody kind of knew what they were doing at the time. I was just handed a notebook and said here’s the task and that’s it.?
Luick’s other duties as clerk along with helping people at the counter and answering phones compounded the financial recording problems during the transition and beyond.
‘I’ll be honest, some of the bank records weren’t done as timely as what they could have been because (I was) trying to get other things caught up; trying to get things taken care of; trying to get some of the messes cleaned up,? Luick told this reporter. ‘So no, they didn’t get done as quick as what they should have. Unfortunately, that’s the truth.?
Council President Teri Stiles stated she felt it is Luick’s responsibility, not an outside party’s, to get the financial records caught up so the auditors can do their job.
When Stiles asked how long it would take him to do that, Luick replied, ‘Three weeks solid.?
Luick told officials he’d like to be given the opportunity to ‘prove to council that it can be done and that I can do it.?
‘I am capable of doing it,? he said. ‘I do know how to do the work and it can be accomplished.?
Councilman Tony Albensi agreed with letting Luick handle the matter.
‘I think if we allow our clerk and treasurer to do his job with little interruption, I’m confident that it can get done,? he said.
Helmuth had a different view.
‘I don’t think this can wait three weeks ’cause that just puts our audit off even farther,? she said.
Helmuth noted having an office staff with only three people isn’t enough to handle the municipal workload or provide an adequate system of checks and balances.
Stiles said she doesn’t want to ‘micro-manage? the village office, but keeping the financial records up-to-date and balanced ‘needs to be a priority.?
It was noted by Councilman Tom Benner that this isn’t the first time extra help’s been requested or used ‘to help get the records straight.?
‘And each time, I believe, council was assured that (the records) would be able to be kept up to date,? he said.
Benner indicated he’s ‘not in favor of spending taxpayer dollars? for outside help to come in and fix things, although he agreed ‘something has to be done to get this taken care of.?
A proposal to hire some part-time help for the village office to handle things like phone calls, walk-in counter traffic, bill payments and filing was also set aside.
Young was directed by council to look into the option of having an intern or volunteer fill such a position.
‘We put an ad in the paper (see page 27),? he said. ‘I’ve already talked to the (high) school about a co-op student.?
In the meantime, the village’s enforcement ordinance officer will help out around the office for up to 20 hours a week.