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Council reviews audit; staff says $35,000 was donation money mis-coded in operating account
Summary
Council reviewed an audit from Schmuelen, Rich, and Morrison and heard staff explain that a $35,000 overage was donation money for park and fire projects that should be coded to capital projects rather than appropriations; staff proposed revised account coding going forward.
The Cleveland Town Council discussed the town audit Dec. 11 and accepted an explanation from staff about an apparent budget overage.
Speaker 1 introduced the audit by Schmuelen, Rich, and Morrison. Speaker 5 explained that $35,000 identified in the audit was money the county commissioners provided for park and fire projects and had been recorded in an operating appropriation line. Speaker 5 said that the donation should be placed in a separate capital-projects/donation code rather than the department’s operating account, which created the appearance of an overage.
Staff and council members discussed limitations in the town’s current coding system and the need for clearer line-item codes to show donations and grant funds separately from regular appropriations. Speaker 2 suggested the town would seek ways to separate funds or adopt more granular codes so future reports accurately reflect restricted donations.
No formal vote on budget changes was recorded at the meeting; staff said they would implement clearer coding and seek technical help from regional fiscal staff who manage grant accounting.
