Popular Searches
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Share
Baer answers questions on $9M shortage
By Francesca Olsen
At the Space Utilization Subcommittee meeting Thursday morning, subcommittee member Hudson Mayor Richard Scalera took an opportunity to ask some questions of Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer, R-Hillsdale, regarding the $9 million in uncollectible funds recently discovered by an external audit.
Scalera asked Baer whether a year ago, when the county’s general fund was said to be around $26 million, he thought all of those funds were actual money.
“You realistically thought you were going to collect $9 million?” Scalera asked.
“Yes. That’s what it said in our books,” Baer responded.
There was some discussion over who was liable regarding the uncollectable receivables at the meeting and the Register-Star contacted Baer and Scalera afterwards.
“The external audit is given numbers ... data in, data out,” Scalera said. “Somewhere along the line they should be asking questions ... the person that actually gave them to the auditing firm has to know what’s real [money] and what’s not.
“It’s up to the agency to know what’s reimbursable and what’s not ... they really should just stop passing the blame and just let it go,” he said.
The audit in question, a full audit of the county’s 2008 finances completed by Pattison, Koskey, Howe and Bucci, CPA’s, P.C., was obtained via a Freedom of Information Law request by the Register-Star.
The practice of claiming reported by county officials matches the description in the audit. “Increased attention on DSS by the outside auditors revealed a finding of excess federal receivables that were not identified in prior years. Criteria should have been established sooner so appropriate adjustments could have been made,” the audit states on page 50 of the 60 page document.
Also on page 50, “responsible individuals” are noted as being county treasurer Kenneth Wilber and Commissioner of Social Services Paul Mossman. “Historically, it was management’s understanding that these adjustments would be made during the audit. It is our understanding that Finance at the county is knowledgeable and normally anticipates the majority of these adjustments during the audit process,” it states.
When asked about this part of the audit, Baer said, “The county recognizes that we have been conducting an improper practice ... with respect to booking revenues from the state and federal governments with respect to reimbursement claims. We recognize we did it incorrectly. We recognized it a year ago, and we said we weren’t going to do that anymore.
“There is, in our point of view, a responsibility of the independent auditing firm to test and check whatever assumptions we’re making about our financial statements,” Baer continued. “The fact we weren’t doing it properly ... puts more responsibility on the auditing firm, to test whatever we say we’re doing.”
When asked why the county didn’t immediately review its books for any inconsistencies if the accounting practice was recognized a year ago, Baer said, “It was partially my fault. I had no way of knowing the magnitude of the overhanging problem. I thought it was something that would be correctable at the end of 2008 and it wasn’t going to be a major financial impact. I had no idea that unrecoverable receivables was of the magnitude it was.
“The budget itself never anticipated receiving the money ... it’s only on the actual balance sheet where that money was expecting to be received,” he said.
Baer also said he suggested to Michael Bucci, of Pattison, Koskey, Howe and Bucci, CPAs, P.C., that they make a statement regarding the receivables.
“That’s their decision. I believe you just tell it like it is ... I have no problem with them making a fair statement as to what happened. If they disagree with our interpretation of what happened, then that’s OK,” he said. “I think we’ve been very balanced and not looking to just simply blame people. We’ve been focusing more on correcting the problem.
“There is such a thing as accountability here, and we’re taking it seriously,” he said.
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
Scalera asked Baer whether a year ago, when the county’s general fund was said to be around $26 million, he thought all of those funds were actual money.
“You realistically thought you were going to collect $9 million?” Scalera asked.
“Yes. That’s what it said in our books,” Baer responded.
There was some discussion over who was liable regarding the uncollectable receivables at the meeting and the Register-Star contacted Baer and Scalera afterwards.
“The external audit is given numbers ... data in, data out,” Scalera said. “Somewhere along the line they should be asking questions ... the person that actually gave them to the auditing firm has to know what’s real [money] and what’s not.
“It’s up to the agency to know what’s reimbursable and what’s not ... they really should just stop passing the blame and just let it go,” he said.
The audit in question, a full audit of the county’s 2008 finances completed by Pattison, Koskey, Howe and Bucci, CPA’s, P.C., was obtained via a Freedom of Information Law request by the Register-Star.
The practice of claiming reported by county officials matches the description in the audit. “Increased attention on DSS by the outside auditors revealed a finding of excess federal receivables that were not identified in prior years. Criteria should have been established sooner so appropriate adjustments could have been made,” the audit states on page 50 of the 60 page document.
Also on page 50, “responsible individuals” are noted as being county treasurer Kenneth Wilber and Commissioner of Social Services Paul Mossman. “Historically, it was management’s understanding that these adjustments would be made during the audit. It is our understanding that Finance at the county is knowledgeable and normally anticipates the majority of these adjustments during the audit process,” it states.
When asked about this part of the audit, Baer said, “The county recognizes that we have been conducting an improper practice ... with respect to booking revenues from the state and federal governments with respect to reimbursement claims. We recognize we did it incorrectly. We recognized it a year ago, and we said we weren’t going to do that anymore.
“There is, in our point of view, a responsibility of the independent auditing firm to test and check whatever assumptions we’re making about our financial statements,” Baer continued. “The fact we weren’t doing it properly ... puts more responsibility on the auditing firm, to test whatever we say we’re doing.”
When asked why the county didn’t immediately review its books for any inconsistencies if the accounting practice was recognized a year ago, Baer said, “It was partially my fault. I had no way of knowing the magnitude of the overhanging problem. I thought it was something that would be correctable at the end of 2008 and it wasn’t going to be a major financial impact. I had no idea that unrecoverable receivables was of the magnitude it was.
“The budget itself never anticipated receiving the money ... it’s only on the actual balance sheet where that money was expecting to be received,” he said.
Baer also said he suggested to Michael Bucci, of Pattison, Koskey, Howe and Bucci, CPAs, P.C., that they make a statement regarding the receivables.
“That’s their decision. I believe you just tell it like it is ... I have no problem with them making a fair statement as to what happened. If they disagree with our interpretation of what happened, then that’s OK,” he said. “I think we’ve been very balanced and not looking to just simply blame people. We’ve been focusing more on correcting the problem.
“There is such a thing as accountability here, and we’re taking it seriously,” he said.
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
Share this Article
 |
||
| Committee discusses capital projects |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of registerstar.com.
stonepound wrote on Nov 6, 2009 8:15 PM:
" To me it seems like we need some reform in the county board of supervisors. With all the talk of "reform" in the state senate this year , one would think our state senator would lead the charge.
The minority should have the power to at least watch over the majority. "
The minority should have the power to at least watch over the majority. "
You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here: |
Become a Registered User |
JFromKinderhook wrote on Nov 6, 2009 7:29 AM: