By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Members of St. Francis County government got their early report cards this week when the audit exit comments were delivered.
Although most officials received primarily verbal comments regarding their offices, there were some formal comments which could find their way into the official legislative audit later this year.
According to the audit exit report, all of the county's financial records were turned over to the auditors. There was no evidence of any fraud involving management, employees who had significant roles in internal control or others who could have material effect on the financial statements.
The exit report also found no violations of budget ordinances, laws and regulations, provisions of contracts and agreements, tax or debt limits or any related debt covenants whose effects should be considered for disclosure.
However, there were some errors recorded.
According to the audit report, both the county judge and county treasurer offices could be written up for errors in the handling of $76,711.31 for the transportation mall fund and $273,660.82 for the enterprise fund.
"The transportation mall fund with expenditures of $76,711.31 did not go through the claims process," the report stated. "The invoices were filed with the County Treasurer and paid by check after approval by the County Judge's office. The enterprise fund with expenditures of $273,660.82 also did not go through the claims process and was paid by check of the County Treasurer in a similar manner; the county is the fiscal agent for this fund. These funds should go through the claims/warrant system to insure adequate reporting of the county financial position."
According to St. Francis County Treasurer Ann Harbin, the two accounts in question were not taken through the claims process because the money was from grant funding and was not actually part of county revenue.
"The county sees no revenue from either of these two accounts which hold grant funding only. With the transportation mall, that money goes into that account and everything is actually paid out of Jonesboro. All the county has is an account set up so that we can input the grant funds. The funds in the EAEC account are there because we're set up to be their fiscal agent and basically do their check writing," Harbin said.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco echoed many of Harbin's statements, but also said that as the fiscal agent for the EAEC, the county is merely a conduit for funding from grant agencies to the recipient of the grants. Cisco said that taking the funds through the claims process would actually require that the funds be appropriated by the quorum court.
"If we have to take this through the claims process it will create a lot of paperwork, and it will require the quorum court to appropriate the funding. The first problem with that is how can you budget the funds when you have no idea when it will come or from what agency. The second problem is that you would be asking justices to appropriate money that's not county funds and were never intended to be county funds. All we do is basically write the checks for the East Arkansas Enterprise Community. When an entity gets a grant through the EAEC the funds come from the Arkansas Department of Human Services and we deposit it only to then turn around and write a check to the grant recipient. The only funds that the county receives for being the fiscal agent is $1,000 per month for administrative purposes, and that money is receipted though the claims process," Cisco said.
According to the report, the judge's office was also cited for $40,000 in transfers from a restricted account which had not been repaid.
The funds in question were transferred from the Economic Development account to the county general account and the solid waste account to the tune of $20,000 each. According to Cisco, the transfers were authorized in an ordinance last year which helped the county during the budget crunch.
Harbin was also cited for failing to properly reconcile bank statements with the county ledger. According to Harbin, the error was due to a bank error that caused the books to be thrown off.
"That error was due to a couple of checks that we had a stop payment on, but the bank passed them anyway," said Harbin. "We notified the bank properly that we wanted to stop payment and when the checks were honored, it threw the books off. We found the error later and fixed it, but that's what caused the ledger and the statements to be off."
The County Clerk's office will also face a formal finding due to errors in the final tax settlement. According to the report, the assessor's salary and expense and the collector commission used on the final tax settlement were incorrectly computed which resulted in excess expenses of $10,308.51 being charged to county general. According to St. Francis County Clerk Elizabeth Smith, questions on the $300 homeowner tax credit may have caused that error.
"I talked back and forth with the legislative audit committee because there were questions over some of the problems with the $300 tax credit. I couldn't find where the problems were and the auditors couldn't find were the problems were, but we both feel like it is tied to that tax credit," Smith said.
The St. Francis County sheriff and collector's office, the treasurer's office, the county clerk's office and the judge's office each received verbal comments from the auditors. Circuit Clerk Bette Green's office received no comments, while County Assessor Craig Jones said that he had yet to receive an exit report and tied it to the fact that his office handles no money.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
A boy shot inside his home this week continues to improve at a Memphis hospital while additional charges have been filed against the man who allegedly shot him.
Bobby Dilks, age 9, was shot through his stomach as he stood looking out of the dining room window at his parents home in the Pine Tree Community near Colt about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Dilks was airlifted to LeBonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis where he underwent surgery and was placed in the hospital's intensive care unit.
A LeBonheur spokesperson today said Dilks has been moved out of ICU and into a room. His condition has been upgraded from critical to satisfactory; however, he is expected to remain hospitalized for a few more days, according to the spokesperson.
Steven Drummond, 23, also of the Pine Tree Community, was arrested after the shooting Tuesday night and charged with committing a terroristic act. After conferring with prosecutors, the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department added a charge of first-degree battery to Drummond's list on Wednesday.
According to a report at the sheriff's department, Drummond told deputies he fired a .12 gauge pump shotgun across Highway 306 toward the Dilks home in an attempt to scare the child's father, Kenny Dilks. Drummond said he did not intend to shoot anyone. Deputies reported the two families had argued prior to the shooting.
During a search of Drummond's mobile home, deputies recovered the shotgun which was matched to the slug found inside the Dilks' dining room.
The St. Francis County Museum will host an exhibit of the art of Sarah Hughes, from June 30 into the month of August.
Hughes, a well-known local artist and musician, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jay Hughes of Forest city, and is a recent graduate of Hendrix College.
A reception celebrating the opening of the exhibit will be held Sunday, June 30, from 5-7 p.m. at the museum.
The museum is open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and by special appointment. There is no admission fee. The museum is located in the historic Rush-Gates Home at 603 Front Street in Forrest City.
The Day Street railroad crossing will be closed Friday, July 28, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
According to the Forrest City Mayor's Office, the crossing will be undergoing repairs.