When the cities of East Carbon and Sunnyside merged two years ago, each brought a different set of books, policies and financial obligations to the marriage. It was a “yours, mine and ours” situation that proved to be so complex – “a nightmare” in the words of City Attorney Jeremy Humes – that it involved the accounting firm of Smuin, Rich and Marsing in lots of reconciliation work.
“They did so much that they found they were auditing their own work,” Humes explained at Tuesday’s city council meeting. That meant the firm could not submit an unqualified opinion to the state, leaving the city in a bind.
It put the city at odds with state requirements for annual auditing of its books, so the State Auditor put a freeze on releasing tax payments to the city’s account earlier this month. That freeze has been lifted, Mayor Doug Parsons reported.
The city submitted a corrective action plan that was accepted on May 10, a day after it was turned in, Parsons said. Now East Carbon has to report monthly on the steps it is taking to bring itself into full compliance.
One of the first steps is in today’s Public Notices section of the paper on page 9A. It’s a request for proposals for qualified auditing services.
Another step is adoption of a new purchasing and procurement policy, which is now in draft form and awaiting review and approval by the council.
Third, the city will be working with its accounting consultants – separate from its auditors – to square away its bookkeeping.
Parsons emphasized that there’s no money missing.
The freeze did not affect funds already in the city’s bank account, so it has been able to meet all its financial obligations.
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