Interim memorandum on audit is pending
City Auditor Margaret Krym said an interim memorandum could be delivered following a meeting with county auditors this week, which would give city council some glimpse into the Cape’s fuel consumption and controls over the last five years.
Krym said an arrival date for the full audit is yet to be determined, but this interim memorandum will shed some light on the issue.
Krym said county staff is still working on the internal controls portion of the audit.
Krym also said work papers associated with the audit will become available to the council and the public, including the report from SCI, the city’s former software provider for the fuel management system.
“Because I know there’s a great deal of interest in things, we’re going to endeavor to make that available,” she added.
The audit has been ongoing since Feb. 15 when county and city staff met for the “entrance conference”, according to Krym.
The issue of missing fuel has been ongoing since November of last year, however, after special consultant Bill Towler stated thousands of gallons of fuel worth millions of dollars could not be unaccounted for.
Towler stated, and wrote in his report, that no fuel management policies or procedures were in place; fuel deliveries were unmonitored, fuel pump security was easily circumvented, and that control of the system was ineffective.
County auditors have been studying that process, along with the historical data from the last five years, to verify the report and subsequent statements.
Margaret Krym said the county has billed the $19,784 through April 5, with another invoice due very soon, she said.
The money comes from the auditor’s budget, and was made largely possible by the vacancies in that office. Krym said the department saved $125,000 this year due to staffing levels.
“We have plenty of funds to pay for this. We are under budget this year,” she said.
Lee County Clerk of Courts Charlie Green — whose office houses the county’s internal auditors — said the work was ongoing but expects information to come out sometime next week.
Margaret Krym said she was pushing to get the first part completed while county staff continues to work on the internal control portion of their investigation.
Fully aware of the way in which Bill Towler’s report has become politicized, Krym said the audit, when fully completed, will rely solely on hard data and is not beholden to any political agenda.
“It’s not our job to be the show. The information must stand on its own. Someone else will make it a show,” she said.