Marion County utility reviews finances, approves outside bookkeeping and advances well-drilling plans

At a meeting of Marion County utility officials in Hamilton, staff presented a new QuickBooks profit-and-loss format for monthly financial review, described progress on a planned well-drilling project funded through a state loan-forgiveness program and an ARC grant, and the board approved hiring an outside bookkeeper to reconcile bank statements and maintain QuickBooks records.

Staff said the new QuickBooks reports let officials “drill down” from summary numbers to the individual checks and transactions that make up each line item, and recommended using the profit-and-loss view rather than reviewing individual checks. Officials discussed separating water sales from other income on the report so the utility can track water revenue separate from tap fees, late fees and sales tax. The finance discussion included specific line items mentioned by staff: a $44,592 figure (context: unclear in transcript), a $28,022.66 line described as the total cost for water purchases, and a $336 interest amount shown as other income.

The board received several…