Only two items of noncompliance in Alexander Legislative Audit Report

The City of Alexander has received what is considered the best Legislative Audit Report in years. Only two noncompliance issues are noted in the report.

We, “Had a good one,” said Mayor Paul Mitchell during the March 16 council meeting.

The audit of 2018, conducted in 2019, shows two issues, which fall under the control of the city treasurer. In 2018 the city had two treasurers; Ken Miller, who resigned April 16, 2018 and the current treasurer JoAn Churchill, who was appointed April 16, 2018.

“Treasurer Bank accounts were not properly reconciled,” the report states of the first noncompliance issue. “A similar finding was noted in the previous report (2017).”

Since 2018 Alexander has moved bank accounts to a different bank. It’s been reported the city is receiving bank statements that more accurately meet state requirements.

“Fixed asset records were established, but did not include additions, deletions, control totals, and amounts,” the report states for the second noncompliance issue. “A similar finding has been noted in the previous eight reports dating back to 2007.”

Mitchell noted the second issue is not new to Alexander, as the report states. A review of at least two decades of audits shows this issue a constant and goes back through at least three administrations.

The State’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee conducts annual audits of both municipal and county governmental bodies to determine if those entities are following state law and good accounting practices. It is not an audit of the governmental body’s financial statements. Currently an audit of 2019 is underway.

The council voted to accept the Legislative Audit’s report.

Other business conducted during the March 16 meeting includes;

The council approved hiring Arkansas GovPay to provide credit card processing services to the city. The company will provide the credit card scanners at no additional cost. Credit cards will be accepted for the payment of city related fees and permits.

Council members approved an ordinance establishing a, “Flood Damage Prevention Program,” for the city as required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As stated the purpose of the ordinance is, “[T]o prevent adverse impacts from any floodplain development activities, and to minimize public and private losses due to flooding events in identified Special Flood Hazard Areas.”

During the “Announcements” portion of the meeting Mayor Mitchell reported a CoVid-19 policy has been developed by he and department heads to remain sanitized and reduce physical contact with the general public where possible. He said police and fire department employees are, “[T]aking precautions” where possible.

“No one will lose pay,” if an employee must remain off-duty for an extended period of time,” Mitchell said. “It took too long to get good employees.”

Council members voted to continue paying employees beyond stated policies.

Finally, Mitchell reported the paving of seven streets in the city should begin once the weather clears. Cranford Construction Co. of North Little Rock submitted the low bid of $306,416.70 to pave A.C. Wallace between the railroad tracks and the city park, E. 4^th Street, Jason Drive, Kent Drive, Alton Drive, Regency Drive, and Lindsey Drive. Most of the project is being funded by a $250,000.00 grant from the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council will be April 20 at 6:00 PM in the courtroom at city hall. The public is invited to attend.