County finally finds firm to tackle outstanding audits
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By DAVID CAMPHOUSE
At its regular July meeting, the Pike County Board approved moving forward with a proposal from Naperville’s Lauterback & Amen LLP to perform the county’s overdue audits from 2021 and 2022, as well as the county’s 2023 audit, which is due to the state in August.
According to the proposal, all of the audits would be completed by the firm in January, and the findings of the audits would be presented to the Pike County Board in February.
The price tag from Lauterback & Amen LLP to perform the three audits, according to the proposal, will come to $299,800.
Per year, according to County Finance Committee Chair Jim Sheppard, the cost to perform the outstanding audits is significantly more than the county had been paying for annual audits prior to 2021.
“On average, the county was paying approximately $60-70,000 per year,” Sheppard said.
County Board President Andy Borrowman attributes the increase in price to the volume of work to be done, as well as high demand for accounting services locally.
“It’s higher because there are three years of audits,” Borrowman said. “Another factor is that most locally based companies that do audits are low on personnel, because young people aren’t going to school to do that type of work.”
“The larger companies that are able to take on the work are a little more expensive.”
By not having audits for the last three years, the county has been placed on the state’s so-called “Do Not Pay” list, which prevents the county from receiving state grant funds.
According to Borrowman, the inability of the county to receive state grants has disproportionately affected the Pike County Health Department and the Pike County Sheriff’s Department.
“It’s hit those two departments the most,” Borrowman said.
Borrowman said that the county government has not kept a tally of exactly how much funding the county has lost out on by being ineligible to receive grant funding.
“I don’t know that we have a finger on where exactly we stand as far as what grant funding we could have had,” Borrowman said.
In addition to missing out on state funding, the County Highway Department was unable to access a zero percent interest USDA loan for the purchase of the department’s new building located at the Pittsfield Industrial Plaza. As a result, the purchase of the building was done using local financing at market rates.
According to County Treasurer Scott Syrcle, the $299,800 being charged by Lauterback & Amen LLP to perform the three audits does not account for the total amount that the county has already spent on trying to get the audits completed.
The county has previously paid Wipfli LLP, who declined to complete the 2021 and 2022 audits, $30,660.
Sheppard said in 2022 that the county’s unpreparedness to conduct an audit allowed the firm to back out of its contract.
“There’s a clause that says if we’re not ready with the information that they need when they’re ready, then they can back out,” Sheppard said.
The county has also already paid Sikich LLP $33,277.50 to perform work preparing the county’s books, so that they were in fair enough shape to be audited. The county still owes Sikich an additional payment of $8,730 for their accounting work.
Finally, the county has previously paid local accountant Jacki Borrowman $5,475 to look over and clean up payroll items in an effort to prepare for a full audit.
