By ALEX GAYHART - Times Staff Writer
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At Monday evenings Littlestown School Board meeting, the board responded to accusations that the district’s financial report was riddled with discrepancies, including an understated revenue of $3.5 million.
Jim Lyons, president of
Greenewalt and Co. P.C., and the accountant responsible for the audit of the
school district’s budget, stood before the board and answered questions
from board members, as well as addressed the concerns that were brought up at
the May meeting by three community members.
“The year-to-date
revenues and expenditures were correct,” said Lyons. “I find nothing
to indicate any improper auditing.”
Lyons clarified that the
“mistakes” that were pointed out by Russell Fish, Paul Sharpless
and Terry Scholle were items that were taken from a treasurer’s report
and not from the annual financial report.
“It’s a very
general report,” said Lyons of the treasurer’s report, saying that
an accurate account of the district’s financial status could not be taken
from it.
Through his review of the
district’s revenues and expenditures, Lyons said that he found small human
errors in the monthly reports, but explained that the annual totals were fine.
In response to last month’s
accusation that there were four missing checks, Lyons said that those checks
were accounted for, in that they were actually two payroll transfers and two
voided checks.
“I’d just like
to say the checkbook does balance,” said Lyons.
Board members questioned
Lyons as to how the three community members could have made the calculations
they did, and Lyons stated that it could be that they were not familiar with
the school district’s accounting procedures.
Board President John Warehime
Jr. ended Lyons’ presentation by asking him how much of the “taxpayer’s
money” was spent on this extra audit to dispel the accusations, and Lyons
said that his services came with the price tag of about $1,000.
Warehime said that he’s
“100 percent satisfied” with the auditor’s report, and added
that the accusations were “wild and bizarre.”
Warehime also noted a July
2001 letter from the state Department of Education on the accuracy of the district’s
records in 1997 and 1998.
The board approved the
budget for the 2002-2003 school year, increasing the occupational assessment
tax from 75 percent to 100 percent.
The real estate tax will
remain at 30.35 mils.
The new budget is for $18,338,799.
Board member Eleanor Dehoff voted against the new budget.
Printed in the Gettysburg Times, June 18, 2002