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Villa Park finance director: revenues under-recorded while forensic audit delays 2024 opinion
Summary
Finance Director Susie Micah told trustees that lower reported January revenues reflect delayed recording while staff completes the 2024 closeout for auditors; a forensic review of multiple years is keeping the 2024 audit open and auditors will present updates at a March 9 Committee of the Whole meeting.
Finance Director Susie Micah told the Village of Villa Park board on Feb. 23 that January 2026 general fund year-to-date revenues stood at $381,722 and that revenue figures look artificially low because many taxes and credit-card revenue for January have not yet been journaled into the financial system.
Micah said the department is prioritizing closing 2025 records ahead of auditors' field work (scheduled in coming weeks), which has delayed the routine recording of items such as sales tax, state income tax and utility taxes. "We're behind on recording revenues in the month of January," Micah said, adding that once auditors complete field work staff will update and normalize monthly reporting.
Trustees pressed staff on why the 2024 audit remains open. Micah explained that the village commissioned a forensic audit that covers 2024 among other years; external auditors (Baker Tilly and Lotterback & Amman) are awaiting the forensic interim report before they can opine on the 2024 audit. Staff invited the auditors to present that interim forensic report and to answer trustee questions at the March 9 Committee of the Whole meeting.
Micah also explained a central-services spike on the bills list: a single monthly Blue Cross Blue Shield health-insurance invoice (in the hundreds of thousands) currently posts as one line in central services and will be allocated across departments later via journal entry, which can make central services appear inflated in single-month reports.
The report noted general fund expenses were about 6% of budgeted annual spending for January (below the 8.3% monthly benchmark) and that the village had roughly 124 days cash on hand as of Jan. 31.
Next steps: auditors will perform field work in March, Baker Tilly will present forensic findings to the board on March 9 if timing allows, and staff will update trustees when monthly revenue recording is complete.
