WINDFALL – Two years after it was admonished for the overpayment of salaries and faulty bookkeeping, the town of Windfall is back under the microscope of the Indiana State Board of Accounts.
In a report filed in late February, the board laid out wide-reaching bookkeeping missteps and discrepancies that occurred in 2012 and 2013.
The report says several water utility board-related documents were not included in the town’s journals, and water utility checks were not issued in numerical order. Voided receipts and checks were not retained. Receipts and claims were not properly completed. And, the simplified cash journal and coinciding ledgers did not always indicate the source of receipts or who checks were being paid to.
The board found the town was not enforcing the ordinance to shut off water to residences when timely payments were not made.
It also found payroll transfers were not being properly made. During the period in question, Jan. 1, 2012 to Dec. 31, 2013, failure to properly transfer funds from the general fund, water and wastewater utilities for payroll purposes resulted in the payroll fund balance being understated in the unit’s record.
Several accounts were found to have overdrawn cash balances. The payroll fund had an overdrawn cash balance of over $200,000 on two separate occasions, while the trash utility operating fund was overdrawn by at least $43,000 on two separate occasions.
The report also says capital asset records were not presented for examination, and paid penalties because it did not make payments in a timely manner.
“Officials and employees have the duty to pay claims and remit taxes in a timely fashion,” the report said. “Failure to pay claims or remit taxes in a timely manner could be an indicator of serious financial problems which should be investigated by the governmental unit.”
The board said Windfall did not provide public record board minutes prior to July 9, 2013. Almost all board minutes provided after that date were not signed by the town council.
Also, several items were missing from the town’s annual financial reports, including the transactions for the water board and interest fund.
Further, several payroll procedures were found to be deficient. Leave and overtime policies were not presented for examination, and some employee timecards were not presented. Some tax forms were not sent to the Indiana Department of Revenue, and transfers made to the payroll fund from the water and wastewater funds were not correct.
The board also found that approximately 80 percent of money due to the city from its citizens for water, wastewater and trash removal services were paid at least 90 days past due.
No fines were levied against the town, which has had to deal with a high level of turnover within its offices since the death of former clerk-treasurer Janis Dever in 2007.
“I didn’t think it was that bad of a report. It could’ve been worse,” current clerk-treasurer Beth Lange said. “Nobody was really trained. After Janis got sick, a lot people came in and helped. That’s when all of this started to transpire because people didn’t know what to do.”
Lange said State Board of Accounts field examiner Stephanie Heath has provided assistance on how to get the issues in the report rectified. The town will now use a binder system to separate records and statements from its various dealings in an attempt to get more organized.