SBA audit looks good for Clark County

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September 11, 2012

SBA audit looks good for Clark County

By MATT KOESTERS matt.koesters@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Tue Sep 11, 2012, 06:48 AM EDT

JEFFERSONVILLE — When it comes to audit reports from the Indiana State Board of Accounts, silence is golden.

In the final audit of Clark County, covering Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2011 that was released Aug. 31 this year, the SBA did not comment on any problems in the county’s books.

“To be honest with you, I’ve been through 20 [audits] before, and they almost always find one or two little things,” Clark County Commissioner John Perkins said. “... If there were no comments, that is really good.”

The SBA audits the financial statements of all governmental units within the state. The agency, as part of the audit process, renders opinions on the fairness of presentation of the various units’ financial statements in accordance with the same professional auditing standards required of all independent audit organizations, according to the agency’s website.

“In our opinion, the financial statement ... presents fairly, in all material respects, the financial position and results of operations of the county for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011 ... ,” wrote the SBA independent auditor’s report.

The contents of the audit were discussed with County Auditor R. Monty Snelling, Commissioner Ed Meyer and Brian Lenfert, vice president of the Clark County Council in a meeting Aug. 14. Snelling indicated that there were minor things the SBA questioned, but the county was able to answer the SBA’s concerns.

“We were very, very happy,” Snelling said. “When you figure in the year before, the report from that year was around, I’m thinking, 16 pages long and we got it turned around that fast? I give the credit to my employees.”

Meyer gave credit to Jill Oca, an accountant hired by the county commissioners.

“There’s different departments that they [audit], but especially the commissioners, she’s worked with us,” Meyer said. “There’s always — not problems, but with a lot of grants, you really have to separate the federal money from the state money, and we’ve worked hard on that. It’s been a work in progress, and we were real excited when we saw that one come out.”

County Council President Barbara Hollis said, “Everybody concerned has been making a real effort to get to this point.”