Campton Hills finance committee hears audit, residents and members flag weak controls and a $378,000 restatement

Campton Hills — The village finance committee reviewed a recently completed external audit and heard sharp concerns from residents and former volunteers about internal controls, reconciliations and budget variances.

Jasleen Core, an audit manager at Lauterbach and Eamonn who led the engagement, told the committee the firm "issued an unmodified opinion, which is the cleanest form of opinion," and summarized required disclosures, notes and a management letter that includes internal-control recommendations.

Resident Patsy Smith, speaking during public comment, pointed committee members to updated Illinois revenue projections and asked about an audit correction she found on page 44 relating to accrual versus cash basis accounting: "I'd like to know more about that," she said, referring to an adjustment she described as $378,005.70.

A vocal resident and former committee member, Mike, told the panel "the audit is embarrassing, shows lack of controls" and urged the board to demand monthly financial reports, bank statements and improved segregation of duties. He said he resigned from the finance committee when staff refused to provide bank statements to volunteers.

Core responded that the audit team's responsibility is to form an opinion on the financial statements and that the firm performed testing and internal-control procedures in accordance with auditing standards. She said the audit covered the fiscal year ended April 30, 2025, and that auditors reviewed the April 2025 bank reconciliations and did not find anything that changed their opinion. "If we did any recommendations we did have, we put it within the management letter comments," she said.

Board members pressed for clarity about several numbers in the report. The audit packet notes a restatement/adjustment posted to beginning fund balance of about $378,570 tied to income-tax accruals the auditors reversed because the accrual exceeded customary practice; Core explained that the auditors reclassified the excess accrual and posted it to beginning fund balance.

Committee members also discussed budget variances. The audit and subsequent board discussion referenced a general fund overrun of roughly $401,371 and motor fuel tax variances (the audit flagged a negative motor fuel tax ending fund balance earlier in the presentation). Board members said timing of road projects and transfers contributed to the appearance of larger variances in a single year.

Several trustees and members recommended follow-up steps. Mike and other speakers urged consideration of a forensic review or an independent reconciliation of bank accounts going back at least two years; Core said deciding whether to pursue a forensic audit is a board decision and that options and proposals were included in the meeting packet.

The committee asked the audit team to provide a more detailed account-line breakdown showing where the $401,371 general fund overrun occurred; Core said she would email the requested breakdown to the board and the police chief. The auditors also recommended formalizing policies, including an outstanding-check write-off policy and improved segregation of duties.

The committee did not take formal action on a forensic audit or other follow-up at the meeting. The most immediate outcomes were requests for additional documentation and a commitment from staff and the auditors to supply more detailed account-level information to the committee.

Next steps: the audit manager said she would supply the requested breakdown of overages by account line; the board discussed options for outside review and emphasized the need for monthly financial reporting and regular reconciliations going forward.