Starke County Councilwoman Defends Treasurer in Audit

Posted on Author WKVI
Linda Belork

Starke County Councilwoman, Judy Benninghoff, still believes that the errors reported in the Treasurer’s office by the State Board of Accounts are actually errors in the Auditor’s office. In a release to WKVI, Benninghoff said that is backed up by an official in the State Board of Accounts.

“I called the State Board of Accounts and I spoke to Debbie Gibson, and she told me that the paragraph that was inserted in the Treasurer’s audit had nothing to do with the Treasurer,” said Benninghoff. “That pertained only to the Auditor. So, where it says that ‘beginning in March 2010 and continuing through 2011, there was a failure to post the entries pertaining to the remittance of various payroll withholdings’, that was true. That withholding fund is with the Auditor’s office, not in the Treasurer’s office.”

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Starke County Treasurer’s Books almost Balanced

Posted on Author WKVI
Linda Belork

The discrepancies in the Treasurer’s office have almost been solved. It was reported at this week’s Starke County Commissioners meeting that the Treasurer’s balance, and bank balance were in sync within pennies. The figures came from the monthly 47TR report given to the commissioners.

“The 47TR form is basically the form that compares our Treasurer’s balance to the bank balance to the Auditor’s balance,” explained Commission President, Dan Bridegroom. “The Auditor’s balance will be somewhat different than the Treasurer’s because of how the funds are received. In the bottom line, that form out of the Treasurer’s Office should balance with our bank. That is where we had the huge discrepancy of almost $900,000 and that’s what led us to where we are today. As of Tuesday of last week, the Auditor, Kay Chaffins, and Casey in the Treasurer’s Office have got that down to somewhere around $.33 and they will find that portion of that also.”

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Starke County Commissioners Receive 47TR Report from Treasurer’s Office

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Commissioners received the “47TR” figures from one of the interim employees in the Treasurer’s office this week. That report is sent to the state each month showing that the figures balance with the bank receipts.

In an answer to a question from Commission President Dan Bridegroom, Casey Clark stated they still are not balancing, but “they are working on it.” By working with the Auditor’s office, the monthly figures are now balancing, but they are still off $46,000, according to Clark. That figure is a combination of money that is unaccounted for in 2010, and what she has found back to May of 2011

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Audit Meeting Turns Confrontational

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem, Starke County Council President Mark Smith and Starke County Commissioner Dan Bridegroom discuss the audit with the media

A meeting to explain the findings of the 2010 State Audit of the Starke County Treasurer’s records suddenly turned confrontational Friday afternoon. The report only listed almost $22,000 that the Auditors could not find for certification.

County Council President, Mark Smith, said there is still over a half million discrepancy for 2009.

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Starke County Commissioners to Meet in Executive Session to Discuss Treasurer’s Audit

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners: Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom and Jennifer Davis

The Starke County Commissioners are getting together in Executive Session this afternoon to analyze the 2010 Treasurer’s audit released this week by the State Board of Accounts.

Although the report pointed out that there were hundreds of thousands of book-keeping discrepancies, all but $21,906 has been found. When granted access to the county’s bank account statements and depository records, County Auditor, Kay Chaffins, was able to investigate the material.

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DLGF Certifies Starke County’s Budget Order and Tax Rate

Posted on Author WKVI

The Department of Local Government Finance certified Starke County’s 2011 budget order and tax rates on December 21st, paving the way for on-time property tax bills for the second year in a row. The budget certification put the county in a position to have taxes due on May 10th, 2011. Starke County was the 28th county in the State to receive its 2011 budget order and tax rates.

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