Elgin council hears progress report on finance overhaul, auditors’ findings likely to persist short term

Elgin — City staff and consultants on Monday told the Elgin City Council they have begun a multi-year effort to correct the city’s accounting controls, prepare auditable financial statements and deliver clearer budget reports to the council and public.

The consultants and interim staff emphasized progress but cautioned that some audit findings will not disappear quickly. “We believe significant progress has been made. We still have a long ways to go,” said Isaac Turner, a city staff member leading parts of the effort.

The update matters because the city’s external audits have repeatedly flagged the same issues. Laurie Langford, a consultant with Gradient Solutions, and Pam Saunders Sanders, who has been “pitch hitting” as the finance director while also serving in HR, described recent training, software cleanup and reforms intended to reduce repeat audit findings and to prepare reliable numbers for the coming…