April 7 Commission meeting was emotional and intense. Citizens said, they had lost trust in our local government. There was a call for the Clerk to resign. There was a request to draft a letter to Governor DeSantis to remove the Clerk from office. There were questions and challenges. I’ll share what I heard and what I believe.
The Clerk handed over a $25,000 check required for the forensic audit. He followed this by reading a written statement and saying he remained in opposition.
There were questions about audits and auditors. A couple of people in the community have asked me similar questions, so here is what I think the differences are between them.
The annual audit scope examines the county financial statements and not the accounting function’s performance or effectiveness. The auditor made that clear in his opening comments.
A common misconception is that the Commissioners have oversight and control of all money. They are not accountable for the functional side of the Constitutional Officers’ budgets and revenues. For example; the Court side of the Clerk’s responsibilities is not part of the County’s remit and similarly for the other four Constitutionals. The annual audit addresses county provided funds to the Constitutionals, County Coordinator and his departments, and BOCC.
The forensic audit scope covers the Board, Clerk, Coordinator and other appropriate areas. Why is the county contracting for it and not using Florida’s Auditor General to run it? It seems, they would contract out the work and likely present a more expensive bill and potential delays. The annual auditor is not appropriate for the forensic audit either, as they already do business and have a relationship with the county. Remember, two key attributes of an auditor are they must be independent and objective.
FDLE investigation is looking at transactions and related processes to determine if there has been any criminal wrong doing. Their scope is limited and they are not performing a functional review.
Our Commissioners represent us and come from among us. They do not have the background of board directors from an Amazon or Exxon. They are listening and are concerned. They have recognized critical problems in fulfilling their responsibilities. I am grateful for their unanimous votes on motions to swing financial control back to the Board.
So far, they have voted for a Budget Manager, Forensic Audit and return of the Signature Stamp and P-Card. These are big steps, but I feel they are addressing critical symptoms and not root causes.
A simpler accounting system and creating a culture of procedural discipline are needed to effect long term change. The benefits would be transparency of the accounts, more available and less expensive qualified accounting staff, responsive and useful information reporting, and clear signature and paper trails from approval to payment. If the Commissioners make this happen, then citizens’ faith and trust can be restored.
Phil Calandra