Gardner denies suggesting audit every two years
By WILLIAM F. AST III - H-P Staff Writer
Published: Friday, February 12, 2010 1:09 PM EST
STEVENSVILLE
Former Stevensville Village Manager Todd Gardner said the village didn't have an audit for fiscal 2007 because of the unexpected resignation of its accounting firm.
Village officials have said they decided to have an audit every two years instead of annually because Gardner told them it would save money. Under state law, villages may have their books audited every two years instead of annually.
"The 2007 audit was canceled because village accountant Steve Ross abruptly resigned in July of 2007," Gardner said in an e-mail to The Herald-Palladium. "Ross cited a conflict of interest in his role as auditor for the water authority. Considering the fact that the village's fiscal year ends March 31st and an audit would have to be under way by June, the accountant's resignation put the village in a real bind. You simply can not interview and hire a new firm and get an audit under way in time for a September submission."
Village officials have been grappling with a number of financial problems and have blamed Gardner's tenure for many of them. Council President Lori Gibson at January's council meeting said the council had gone along with Gardner's recommendation for an audit every two years, which would save some $15,000, she said.
After Thursday's Village Council meeting, Gibson said she had no comment on Gardner's allegations.
The council hired Gardner in April 2006 and in May 2009 voted to not continue his contract.
Council members also said Gardner was acting as interim treasurer, but he denies he had been responsible for the treasurer's duties. Until recently the village had not had a treasurer since Jan Lausch-Zilke resigned in November 2006.
Gardner provided The Herald-Palladium with a copy of Ross' resignation letter.
In that letter, dated June 11, 2007, Ross said the conflict of interest arose because his firm was also the auditor for the Lake Michigan Shoreline Water and Sewage Treatment Authority. Stevensville and the authority at that time were embroiled in a battle over issues ranging from the placement of a new water tower to the authority's budget.
"I find it extremely odd that Ross resigned citing a conflict of interest with the village and then went on to conduct the audits for both water authorities and then reappears as the village accountant last spring," Gardner wrote.
The village hired Ross in June 2008 to reconstruct village records going back to the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2007. The Michigan Department of Treasury did an audit of the past two fiscal years and will present its findings at a special Village Council meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
No audit was performed after the 2008-09 fiscal year ended on March 31 because the records weren't in shape for an audit. Gardner said the responsibility for the financial records mess lies with the council.
"The (council) finance committee's refusal to hire a treasurer and failure to appoint/hire a treasurer is the real reason the audit stalled for so long," Gardner wrote.
Furthermore, some financial records were in poor shape all along, Gardner claimed.
The audit records were "a mess prior to my arrival," Gardner said. "The audit reports from the late nineties through 2006 were simply dusted under the rug and ignored by the finance committee and the council."
wast@TheH-P.com
