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. 4th
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.
