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Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Ind. Gov't. - "More details of state’s audit of Starke County treasurer released"
The ILB has five earlier entries on the summary removal from office of the Starke County Treasurer. Terry Turner reports today in the Gary Post Tribune:
KNOX — The final State Board of Accounts audit report of the Starke County Treasurer indicates treasurer Linda Belork may have lost thousands of dollars due to her own inexperience.The state audit “noted several reporting errors that were undocumented, unexplained and could not be traced to verify their validity.
This included an undocumented posting in January 2010 for $523,619.” According to Starke County Commissioner Dan Bridegroom, “(The state auditor) could not find a documented trail for corrections and adjustments made in the treasurer’s records.”
Monthly, the treasurer is required to file a report of the financial condition of her office with the state, based on outstanding warrants and balances from bank statements. In the final four months of 2010, the variances at the end of the month were approximately $4.5, $5.2, $3.9 and $2.1 million dollars.
Starke County Council President Mark Smith said that due to the inconsistencies, the county is in danger of losing, and perhaps having to repay or no longer be eligible for, grants and other federal programs.
“We rely on grant funding to survive,” Bridegroom added.
The state auditor opinion indicated a lack of segregation of duties, no effective internal control over financial reporting, and that “effective internal control over financial reporting requires the County Commissioners to monitor and assess the quality of the county’s system of internal control.
The Commissioners have not performed either an ongoing or separate evaluation of their system of internal controls.”
Smith said once he saw the report in writing, he immediately instructed bank officials to freeze the county’s accounts until they could ensure that the treasurer’s office was under full the control of the county, and that funds being distributed, other than payroll checks, could have better internal controls on them.
He indicated that it was possible they might be held responsible if they did not take action.
Smith said originally there was a deficit of over $869,050, but after he asked the auditor to go over the records, they were able to reduce that amount to $21,000, and that if the audit is continued, those funds may also be accounted for. * * *
The removal of Belork is now in Starke Circuit Court, and Belork’s attorney has requested a change in venue.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 14, 2011 10:54 AM
Posted to Indiana Government