Nov 27, 2002 By Patty Shultz 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – No money is missing from the city bank accounts nor are there any misappropriated amounts, according to a Uniontown accounting firm seeking the whereabouts of unallocated funds within the city’s 2000 financial records. Instead, states the McClure and Wolfe report, the “missing” $48,000 can be attributed to how the city lists its transfers for its expenditures.

“We traced various revenue and expenditure totals to the audit report,” states the accounting report that was released by Councilwoman Judy Keller. “Based upon our discussions (with various city employees and the city auditor), we narrowed our focus to transfers between funds (as the source of the unallocated funds).”

After the release of the 2000 audit of the city’s general fund by Kisiel and Associates, the firm noted it could not locate documentation for $48,698 in expenditures.

While Kisiel attributed the missing paper trail to a “reporting issue,” and one that would be corrected through an upgrade of the city’s computer system, council opted in June to have an independent firm review the financial records to determine the location of the “missing funds.”

The McClure and Wolfe report ties the “missing” funds to a January 2000 purchase of a police car and an excess of transfers to the payroll fund over a period of several months.

When the police cruiser was purchased, the $21,840 cost was paid for through the general fund account, but when the amount was reimbursed through another account, it was not documented by the in-place system.

“Since the city maintains its accounting system as a single entry system by only printing reports related to revenue and expenditure, this disbursement was ‘lost’ and the resulting ‘unallocated expenses’ of $21,840 was needed by the auditor to balance the cash account activity,” states the McClure and Wolfe report.

The accounting firm noted that 24 excess transfers totaling $30,875 in connection to the payroll account caused additional miscalculations for Kisiel in the 2000 audit.

While the transfers within the two separate accounts do not total the undocumented expenditures, McClure and Wolfe attribute the difference to understated revenue amounts in the Kisiel audit, but notes the city accounts do balance.

“It appears that the described (transfer) items adequately explain the unallocated amounts and confirm that no city funds were missing or misappropriated,” states the report.

The city, meanwhile, has taken measures to improve the accounting system through the purchase of a new software package from Edmunds and Associates of Northfield, N.J.

According to Keller, who oversees the city’s financial bookkeeping, when implemented, the new system will track transfers within the accounts and eliminate any future documentation failures.

Concerning the timeframe for the release of the July 24 dated report, Keller said the engagement of McClure and Wolfe also included a meeting with the firm to discuss its findings and conclusions. That meeting did not take place until last month.

“We wanted a chance to digest what was in the report before we sat down with them,” said Keller. “Unfortunately, due to an unanticipated personal matter, we were unable to have that meeting until mid-October, and the report was released at the next council meeting.”