Van Buren County shifts $44,250 to cover courthouse skylight payment after bookkeeping error

Van Buren County commissioners on May 5 approved a series of fund transfers to correct how a $44,250 skylight payment was recorded after county staff said the amount had been put into the wrong fund.

The action, made as a motion by Jordan Delong and seconded by Terry Hickey, moved $44,250 from county fund balances into the expenditure line to finish payment for courthouse skylights. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the transfer.

County staff said the county initially recorded an $88,000 skylight payment in the wrong line and that one of the affected funds did not have sufficient balance. Amy Hewitt, identified in the meeting as the county auditor, provided written guidance to fix the entries, staff said. “We put all of it,” a staff speaker said while explaining the accounting error.

Officials described the transfers as an internal accounting correction made now to avoid audit problems later. The clerk read several related motions and roll calls moving money between fund 01/2001, fund 112, and the general fund so that the expenditure line item for courthouse building maintenance would reflect the payments properly.

Commissioners discussed that the transfers were “due to audit reasons” and urged that any questions be addressed to the auditor; no member opposed the corrective entries. The clerk noted emails from the auditor explaining the required entries were attached to the packet.

County staff said the skylight installation work is complete on the exterior, with interior finishing and related damage repair still outstanding. The transfers are bookkeeping to allow payment to be completed and to restore fund balances after the initial recording error.