An audit of the city of Trenton and Trenton Municipal Utilities is expected to begin sometime this week and it could take four to six months before a final audit is completed and made public.
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An audit of the city of Trenton and Trenton Municipal Utilities is expected to begin sometime this week and it could take four to six months before a final audit is completed and made public.
Mark Ruether, audit manager with the state auditor’s office, told members of the Trenton City Council at its meeting Monday night that field work on the audit is already under way. The audit is being done as the result of a citizen?s petition in which 413 signatures of registered voters within the city of Trenton was gathered over a two and one-half year period.
Ruether and Susan Beeler, a senior auditor who will handle most of the field work, met with some of the petitioners on Monday afternoon. At that meeting, Ruether said the petitioners presented information and voiced concerns about the city, which will be included as part of the audit process. The meeting was held at Gifts by Garcia and, according to Ruether, was only for petitioners. Attempts were made by the Republican-Times to attend the meeting, however, the R-T representative was told by auditors that the meeting was closed so that petitioners could have their comments kept confidential.
Ruether said at the council meeting that the auditors are bound by an oath not to reveal information gathered as part of the audit?s ?work product,? as allowed under the Missouri Sunshine Law. However, he admitted, following a comment made by City Attorney Chris Raynes, that petitioners are not bound by the same oath and could report and/or repeat anything that was said in the meeting.
There was a question concerning the ?advertising? of the meeting on the local radio station in which a local businesswoman sponsored an advertisement that gave the date, place and time of the meeting. Ruether said the auditor?s office has no way to control that and that if the announcement was on the radio, it shouldn?t have come across that the meeting was public.
Ruether went on to say that he and Ms. Beeler have also reviewed the work done by the city?s auditing firm, Lockridge, Constant and Conrad, which recently completed a financial statement audit of both the city and utility. He said that the petition audit being done by the state would most likely focus on information from the year that will end on April 30, although the state could go back for information from past years.
As part of the field work, Ruether said auditors would review city records and interview the appropriate city officials.
Once the field work is completed, a draft will be drawn up and reviewed at the state level. The draft will then be brought back to the city council, which will meet with the auditors in closed session to review the recommendations and make responses to those recommendations. Ruether said the meeting could be closed under the Missouri Sunshine Law, noting the document is still a ?work product? of the auditor?s office.
After meeting with the council and getting its response, the auditor?s office will come up with a final audit that will be made public, most likely at a meeting to be held in Trenton. The time and place would be announced by the auditor?s office.
Ruether said the audit cost has been estimated at between $5,000 and $15,000, depending on the scope of the work that will need to be done by the state office. He expects the cost to be at the higher level because of both the city and utility needing to be a part of the process. The city is required under law to pay for the audit costs.
Mayor Tim Whitaker said he welcomed the audit and offered to help the auditors in any way he could.
?We?ve always had a clean audit in past years and I want to help bring all of this to a closure,? he said.
Whitaker went on to say that he was more than willing to meet with the auditors and wanted to make sure ?that both sides of the story are told.?
It was noted that when the audit is brought before the council for review, many of the current council, as well as Mayor Whitaker, would no longer be a part of the city?s governing body. Ruether indicated that those individuals could be invited to the closed meeting when that time comes.
In other business, the council:
? heard a report from Councilman Gary Black that the Administrative Committee will be sending the city?s street program to the Finance Committee for further consideration.
? was told that requests for design-build proposals for the Tinsman Avenue sewer project have been sent out and are due back to TMU by March 20. TMU is also seeking bids for new generators.
? received information from the 2000 census on employee commuter patterns in and out of Grundy County, which show more persons traveling out of the county to go to work than coming in.
? commended Trenton Police Officer Josh Eckerson for his work with the city?s drug dog, Riley.