Letter to the editor: City money concerns

To the editor:

The story regarding 200 adjustments of more than $60 million to the city’s 2018 financial statements is very concerning.

l What were these adjustments? How should these adjustments have affected the decisions made during the budgeting process?

l How can Commissioner Stuart Boley make the assumption that because the city knows about these weaknesses now, they’ve been dealt with and won’t be a problem in the future; when the 2017 audit noted the deficiency in internal controls, but the issues were not properly addressed and became worse? Why is the commission going to wait six months for a follow-up report?

l The city contracted with McBride, Lock & Associates in March 2019 to reconcile cash accounts. What were the terms of this contract? Why did the city have to go to a Kansas City, Mo., firm to find someone that could reconcile cash accounts? Does the city now have staff with the ability to perform a monthly cash reconciliation, and is it completed?

It does not appear these deficiencies have been a priority for the commissioners in the past, even though they had knowledge for over a year. Hopefully, they will have better information before raising utility rates, fees, taxes and their salaries in the future.

Shirley K. Bowen,

Lawrence

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