Williamsport Council accepts audit report

October 17, 2006|by ERIN JULIUS

WILLIAMSPORT - At a special meeting Monday night, the Williamsport Town Council heard an audit report from Michele Mills of Draper & McGinley, PA.

The audit is due to the state Department of Legislative Services by Nov. 1.

In August 2005, The Herald-Mail reported that Williamsport has filed its reports late every year since fiscal year 1992. Mills stressed that the current audit will be filed by the deadline.

In July, the town hired Draper & McGinley to audit its finances for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2006. That firm replaced Teti & Carswell, which had been responsible for the town's auditing process.

The Williamsport Town Council voted Monday to accept the audit report.

"We've come a long way in a short time, but we have a long way to go," Mayor James McCleaf said.

The town saw a $118,631 increase in net assets this fiscal year, according to the report. Last year, the audit revealed that net assets decreased by $457,016.

Mills reported that one problem persisted in the town's accounting of meter deposits into the Electric Fund. People who rent property in Williamsport pay a $120 deposit if they have electric heat and $60 otherwise, Town Clerk James Castle said.

Mills said she could not determine the town's liability because records of the deposits and refunds were not well-kept.

Castle said that information about the deposits and refunds could be retrieved, but not before the Nov. 1 filing date because town staff will have to sort through 1,000 accounts. The information could be included in next year's audit, Mills said.

Williamsport also has two loans totaling $37,000 out from a $183,000 U.S. Housing and Urban Development community grant fund. The people who took out the loans have been contacted, McCleaf said.

The Water and Sewer fund shows a $60,655 deficit, but that is due to the shift from a monthly billing cycle to a quarterly billing cycle and is only temporary, Mills said.

According to McCleaf, the town missed a contribution to its employees' 401(k) fund in the last fiscal year, but has budgeted for the $25,000 to come out of the 2006-07 fiscal year's general fund.

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