2021-10-26 Auditor Treasurer UpdateAuditor / Treasurer Meeting
October 26, 2021
3:32 p.m.
Present: Commissioner Pollock, Commissioner Swope, Becky Butler, Grace Jimenez, Larry Grove, Arny
Davis, Rodney Reynolds,
Guest(s): None
Recorder: Tammy Martin
Rodney Reynolds presented details for the general fund. Rodney said that investment totals are just
starting to account for property tax collections. He said Lewis County’s general fund is larger than in
previous years. Revenues collected year to date are at 72.9% and are in line with values that should be
collected year to date.
Rodney is interested in a revision to the investment policy. He is interested in pooling investments from
Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) to Bonds. The rate of return earned from pooling would be
approximately a $31,000 increase in revenue based on this month’s numbers.
Arny said his concern with shifting to an investment pool is the amount of time needed to manage the
portfolio. Arny figures it would take additional staffing. Grace Jimenez said it will require more
assistance with reporting to the State Auditor’s Office. There are issues implementing accounting with
MUNIS, but they are taking steps to fix it. Arny does not feel comfortable moving forward with a change
in finances until steps are fixed with bank reconciliation. Larry Grove would like the Finance Committee
to approve increasing investment maturities from 5 years to 5 ½ years immediately and delay a change
to the investment pooling policy.
Grace Jimenez said the State Examiner Fees will be applied to each departments for audit costs and
once the final costs are received, allocations by department will be broken up.
Grace said the Distressed Counties fund did go over budget, but will back in line due to a budget
amendment.
Grace said there is potential for a management letter from the SAO. Grace said a management letter is
an issue that becomes a formal recommendation to fix errors found during the audit process. Bad audits
will require longer audits in the future, costing Lewis County additional dollars as well as potentially
affecting the County’s bond rating. We were in high risk status this year and Lewis County will receive at
least one finding. This will mean Lewis County will remain in high risk for another year. The exit
conference from the SAO will be in November.
Becky said financial positions in the salary study were not adjusted to be competitive. Recruitments
have been really tough to fill. Commissioner Swope asked if the financial positions were not graded
properly. Grace said she feels the position has remained unfilled because so many people are working
from home. At this time, that position requires in-person availability.
Grace had no updates regarding MUNIS. Becky said she was making a decision to not use work orders.
The other big push would be to use the HR workflow functions.
Larry Grove said Secretary of State Kim Wyman will be moving to the federal level. He said that will be a
great gain for the Department of Homeland Security, but Larry feels this will be a huge loss that will be
felt at a local level.
Larry said ballot return numbers are similar to 2017 levels. He said the Auditor’s Office had larger than
normal requests for licensing due to the closure of another local area licensing agent due to Covid.
Meeting adjourned at 4:35 p.m.