City closes in on 2 years of unfinished audits

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January 31, 2009

By GINA KINSLOW The Glasgow Daily Times Sat Jan 31, 2009, 03:29 PM CST

HORSE CAVE — The city of Horse Cave could face criminal penalties regarding its 2006-07 and 2007-08 financial audits.

The Horse Cave City Council has not received the city’s 2006-07 financial audit from the certified public accounting firm who conducted it, nor is the audit on the city council’s Feb. 9 meeting agenda for review and approval.

Councilman David Lindsey said he has not heard anything regarding either audit “other than what was said at the last council meeting when the mayor said he would like to get it behind him after he already said he would sign it, but at that time he had not.”

Lindsey said the matter “is bad for the city of Horse Cave and the citizens.

“It’s going to bring on problems. It’s going to be a problem to get someone to even do the next one.”

According to state law, the 2006-07 audit was to be presented to the council by Feb. 1, 2008.

That didn’t happen because Mayor Odell Martin refused to sign the audit’s management representation letter, even though the auditor told the council work on the audit was complete by January.

Martin told the council at its Jan. 12 meeting that he has spoken with David Gilbert with the certified public accounting firm of Gilbert and Gilbert of Glasgow about the audit, and that he is waiting for Gilbert to get the management representation letter finished so he could sign it.

In the meantime another year passed and the city council has yet to be presented an audit of the city’s financial records for the 2007-08 fiscal year in addition to the 2006-07 fiscal year audit. The 2007-08 audit, according to state law, is to be presented to the council by Feb. 1, 2009.

“Cities do have to present their audits for the previous fiscal year by Feb. 1,” said Laura Ross, legal services counsel with the Kentucky League of Cities. “It has to be presented to the legislative body.”

A phone call to Martin to inquire about the 2007-08 audit left several questions unanswered.

“I don’t have any comments on anything,” he said.

Martin told council members at the Jan. 12 meeting that Gilbert has told the city clerk he is not interested in conducting an audit of the city’s 2007-08 financial records. Phone calls to Gilbert were not immediately returned at press time.

Other accounting firms have been invited to conduct an audit of the city’s 2007-08 financial records, but no proposals have been received.

The repercussions the city may face could come in the form of monetary criminal fines.

“Basically, there could be a $50 to $500 criminal fine,” Ross said.

If a city resident decides to bring civil action against the city regarding the matter, she said, then there also could be a civil forfeiture fine.

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