POPLAR GROVE — Years of haphazard record keeping and disorganized cash-management procedures have cost the village of Poplar Grove a “significant,” but unspecified, amount of revenue and jeopardized finance and personnel files.Earlier this month, the accounting firm Lauterbach & Amen completed a 21-page report for village leaders that recommended 28 changes to improve the village's internal controls. The report revealed several problems with the way village staff handles cash and other administrative duties.According to the report, sensitive financial information and personnel files have been kept in unlocked cabinets in the front office of Village Hall, residents have been billed incorrect amounts for public utilities, and information on payments to employees has been downloaded onto USB devices that have been lost, misplaced or kept overnight by staff members as part of the transport to banks to initiate payment.The evaluation found village employees and leaders have routinely ignored an ordinance requiring the Village Board to approve purchases totaling $2,500 or more. There have also been frequent delays in check deposits, sometimes for days or weeks at a time, and delays in posting revenue receipts into the village's accounting system, which "causes difficulty in investigating and identifying discrepancies," the report states.In one bizarre example of the village's poor financial management, the report said staff members occasionally took money from a nearby soda machine to make change for residents attempting to pay utility bills.“When you don’t have proper procedures in place, correct checks and balances, you open yourself up to a lot of scrutiny and things could happen that are faulty,” said Matt Beran, who oversaw Lauterbach & Amen’s evaluation. “You allow that there could be fraud happening, there could be some things going on. Those are your risks if you don’t actually do anything … and some of those things were actually (affecting) the village’s bottom line — they weren’t billing and getting money that they’re actually, rightfully owed.”Because the village doesn’t maintain a formal rate schedule detailing utility charges for residents, there have been “several instances” in which rate changes were not communicated to village employees, resulting in lost revenue, according to the report. Employees also had different interpretations of how utility charges were calculated and applied.
To read the entire RR Star article : Report: Poplar Grove incorrectly billed residents, needs to improve internal controls - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL
To read the actual auditors report: http://www.villageofpoplargrove.com/vertical/sites/%7BBB8156E5-19AE-4976-960A-C2DC686F7EB9%7D/uploads/VPG_Board_Agenda_Back-up_08-17-15.pdf
