Audit committee presses treasurer over reconciliations, lockbox and staffing; appoints Marina interim CFO

The Isle of Wight County Audit Committee on the recorded meeting examined the county's audit readiness, questioned the treasurer about outstanding bank-reconciliation postings and vendor payment problems, and appointed Marina as the interim chief financial officer.

Chair Rountree opened the meeting by thanking Stephanie Wells for her years of service and noting her recent move to a role with the City of Suffolk. The committee then heard from Treasurer Sly, who said she had answered most of the committee's written questions but did not plan to take bank reconciliations fully back into the treasurer's office "at this time," citing a prior board resolution and current staffing limits.

Treasurer Sly described a workflow in which corrections are sent to her office, staff (identified in the meeting as Jennifer) post what they can, and some required system corrections must be entered by Julie's office before the fiscal year can be closed. Finance staff confirmed that reconciliations themselves were complete but "the work in the financial system where things need to be posted accurately is not completed," and that those entries are the responsibility of the treasurer's side of the system.

Committee members pressed for clarity about who holds user access and whether previously shared access should be restored. Sly said some bank roles and EDI routing were changed after staff transitions and that she needs to reassign roles to restore prior access.

Members also raised problems with the county's lockbox arrangement and the Tyler Payments platform. Sly described a cut-off error that closed online payments at 10:00 p.m. on tax day instead of midnight; staff said they caught the error, reversed the payments posted during that window, re-applied them without penalty and issued credits to affected accounts.

Several supervisors emphasized the stakes: "We can't afford to have a bad audit," one said, warning that audit findings can affect credit ratings and borrowing costs. Former finance director Stephanie Wells, who returned to offer perspective, told the committee the biggest immediate hurdle is finding experienced accounting talent and that some treasurer duties will remain with the finance office for now, which requires planning to ensure audit tasks are completed on schedule.

The board moved and approved an appointment placing Marina in the county CFO slot as the interim replacement for Wells; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. Chair Rountree welcomed Marina to the role and asked staff to follow up. Committee members asked that additional questions for the treasurer be compiled and provided to staff in advance of a September meeting so follow-up items can be addressed.

Next steps: staff will work to restore any necessary system access, compile outstanding corrections with clear owners, and present a timeline for closing FY '25 postings before audit field work intensifies in October.