At their meeting on Wednesday August 9th, starting at 2:55 minutes into the livestream the board heard for the first time, the dire state of the District’s financial reports and the immediate need for resources in order to deliver the required materials for the annual financial audit and the production of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). The Interim Director of Finance stated the District has not reconciled any of its bank accounts in 14 months, has not been able to close their books, has not performed any asset tracking to date and is unable to reconcile accounts. Therefore, he recommended the board approve a contract with Baker Tilly in the amount not to exceed $125,000 to provide the resources needed to complete this work and get the annual audit “back on track”. He stated staff shares the desire to “get things right”, but they have not had the staff to complete their accounting processes for more than a year. The board unanimously agreed to augmenting staff with resources from Baker Tilly.
The board had no prior knowledge or information on the issues and challenges faced by the Accounting Department. In reading General Manager (Winquest) Report to the board at the June 14th meeting, there was no mention of audit challenges as identified by Interim Director of Finance. Click here to view the financial report section of the GM report contained in the Jun 14th, 2023 board material.
The Interim Director of Finance made the additional following recommendations to the Board of Trustees:
- Hire an Assistance Director of Finance to focus on “fixing the issues we know are issues” and assist in getting the Tyler Munis (the District’s new financial system) implementation back on track. He referenced a list of 20 projects that have been requested for which he doesn’t have the resources to complete. The board requested he provide the project list for review and prioritization and consider the potential use of consultants to work on the projects as an option to hiring an Assistance Director of Finance. This will be discussed further at an upcoming meeting.
- Create an Internal Auditor position to be filled in the future, after the issues are resolved with the assistance of Baker Tilly. At a future date, he suggested the board consider a budget augmentation to hire an Internal Auditor to review the policies, processes, and internal controls for compliance. The board expressed support for the position, but requested the role be broadened to include operational as well as financial internal auditing responsibilities.
- Increase the Controller position salary grade from 33 to a 36 resulting in a $22,095 increase at the highest level and allow for a part-time telecommuting. This position has been vacant for roughly 6 months. The board approved this change unanimously.
- Increase the pay grade for the Director of Finance from Grade 42 to 44 with a salary adjustment of $22,300 at its highest level.
The board took action to extend three union contracts for a period of one year. The extension will end until June 30, 2024. The three unions represent various positions within the Public Works division of IVGID.
The board deferred the golf committee interviews and appointment to their next meeting due to several applicants availability.
The board appointed Bill Feast, James Novack, Cliff Dobler and Sarah Hussong Johnson to the Capital Improvement/Investment committee to be chaired by Trustee Tulloch.