(Sage Smiley / KSTK)
After nearly 15 months, Wrangell’s audit of borough finances is complete. The 150-page report didn’t find any issues with the local government’s 2020 financial statements.
But auditors did find some issues with internal controls over financial reporting and compliance and made some recommendations.
There were four main issues found, in total.
Those included not always having set rules or procedures for closing out the books before an audit, separating duties for reviewing financial entries, or for marking federal funds so they could be properly reported.
The auditors also found instances where receipts or documentation were sometimes not reviewed and approved before costs were entered in the books.
Wrangell’s administration has outlined a plan to address each of the four findings from the FY20 audit.
Wrangell’s borough assembly accepted Anchorage-based accounting firm BDO’s findings at its Tuesday meeting. And assembly members said they’d discuss it in detail during a work session at a future date.
In other Wrangell borough financial business, the assembly approved $1,800 to hire a temporary finance clerical assistant to help Wrangell’s finance director organize last year’s sales tax report. Between June of 2020 and June of 2021, the community took in almost a million dollars more from sales taxes than it had budgeted for.
Property taxes were due October 15, and the financial report provided to the assembly shows that about 75% of the levied taxes have been paid. About $533,000 in expected property taxes remain outstanding.
And according to the finance report, Wrangell’s investment committee has met to begin improving Wrangell’s investments. The community is now in the process of moving $10 million from a checking account, where it’s earning minimal interest into a higher earning fund: the Alaska Municipal League Investment Pool.
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