Woulda – Coulda - Shoulda
A REDUX
THE REDO HAS BEEN REDONE AND
IS NOW DONE – BUT IS IT?
Inside Buffalo received an opinionated email from the Town of Buffalo’s auditor. In it he requested to provide us with the REDO of the audit, the
“Supplemental Independent Accountant’s Report
on Agreed Upon Procedures”
which had been provided to the Town of Buffalo at their "special meeting" held today.
The supplemental report first addresses the discovery of :
… issues that were beyond the scope of the original engagement but that affect the calculation of the statutory pay.”
Next there is the suggestion: “…the original report should be modified…”
Inside Buffalo agrees wholeheartedly with both quotes.
He then goes on to say:
“…when performing our final review of our workpapers and comparing our conclusions to the workpapers… we noticed that the $100.00 month raise for all employees… was included in full as part of the officials (sic) extra duty pay”.
Yup that’s what it says.
Isn’t that what we have been reporting about? We commented that the audit had to address the non statutory raises that the Town Clerk and Town Treasurer took in the past and - for darn sure they did take them!
The auditor, in recognizing the points Inside Buffalo raised, commented:
“…using our calculations would have the effect of giving the same raise twice…”
And , that too, is what we said in our woulda, coulda, shoulda article. CLICK HERE
Then he adds: “…which was clearly not the intent of the board at that time.”
Once more, we said the same in our woulda, coulda, shoulda article. FOUND HERE
The Town’s auditor goes on to make this statement: ”These are offsetting errors…” and complements that with this: “…the correct amount in the “spirit” of Ordinance 329 and subsequent board actions.”
The auditor, in our opinion, vindicates that portion of our article. The “spirit” of Ordinance 329 is what we said it was and there were errors made.
It must be said that the auditor didn’t appreciate all of our opinions and made this observation: “I believe that you present your own opinions… without showing the opposing point of view”.
His beliefs are his to hold dear and Inside Buffalo is not in the habit of always showing the opposing view. Inside Buffalo has stated publicly and in print that we don’t always agree with what we write and many times the editor personally doesn’t take the side for which we are writing. But the facts remain the facts, whether Inside Buffalo, the Town's auditor, or an opposing opinion raising person agrees with them or not.
He mentioned he doesn’t go along with the “conclusions that you sometimes make in making your points”.
We see eye to eye with you Mr. Auditor. Neither do we always. But the point is made and the results are, for the most part, for the betterment of the community of Buffalo and more importantly, better for the taxpaying citizens of Buffalo.
Continuing...
As pointed out by Inside Buffalo, we thought the Oklahoma Statutes needed to be looked at before determining what was due the Town Clerk and Town Treasurer for their errors and omissions.
The auditor said this: “…we believe that the Oklahoma Statutes related to encumbrances should also be considered.”
YES SIR! Us too!
So it looks like the Clerk and Treasurer are due, NOT $16,000.00+ but – rather - $779.36. A far cry, a very far cry, from over $16,000.00
Thank you Mr. Auditor. You have earned your near $1,500.00 pay for this audit and subsequent “Supplemental Independent Accountant’s Report on Agreed Upon Procedures”
Inside Buffalo takes back this comment: “Geesh, almost $1500.00 for that? My 11 year old son could have done it in about an hour for FREE!” In all sincerity, it was in jest.
The Town of Buffalo spends $1,500.00 to save nearly $16,000.00?
We think of that as a wise investment.
It’s well worth it!
Click here for the Auditor's "Supplemental Report"
We asked in the Title of this article: "...Is Now Done - But Is It?"
Is it really over? Is it really done? Sorry folks, It is not.
We'll address that in an upcoming commentary.
