EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
A state audit reveals poor bookkeeping and accounting errors by the city of Evansville last year.
The city says a new software system lead to the mistakes, which have now been corrected.
That audit is 60 pages long. It doesn't show any fraud or embezzlement, but it does reveal how a new software system incorrectly recorded transactions.
With $92 million in the city's checking account and hundreds of transactions a week, it's important everything is recorded properly. City officials say that wasn't done in 2011.
"A lot of the transactions weren't set up properly, so they were hitting the wrong accounts, causing errors, the city controller at the time and the staff were unable to get the fund reconciled so that caused other funds to be off," said current City Controller Russ Lloyd Jr.
Lloyd Jr. says the switch to a new accounting system in January 2011, combined with insufficient training of city staff, caused the problems.
"I think the city didn't devote the resources to it in 2011 as they should of, and that is why they got off track and into this mess," he said.
City officials say they tried to stall the state audit to get time to fix the mess, but couldn't.
"They said because of their schedules they would not be able to do that," said Lloyd Jr.
Since then, the administration says all the funds are now reconciled, and the state has been invited to do a follow-up review if it should so chose.
The administration says several changes have been put in place to insure proper bookkeeping moving forward.
Those include separate bank accounts for utilities and programming changes, and in the statement released Friday, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke wrote "City personnel have received updated training in the new technology overseen directly by the software vender. The vendor continues to be onsite to provide additional training and process improvements."
This is the first time in 25 years that the city has made an accounting software upgrade and the new software is highly regarded.
In order to get the books straight, the city did hire a consultant and a CPA firm.
Officials say that did cost several thousand dollars, but needed to be done.
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The city says a new software system lead to the mistakes, which have now been corrected.
