Pembroke Park finance chief submits review; commissioners debate negative line items and agree to seek temporary financial services

The Pembroke Park commission on May 6 heard a detailed finance department report on internal controls, audit follow-up and operational changes and directed the manager to pursue short-term financial services support while the town addresses repeat findings and prepares the annual audit.

Finance Director James Averman described steps taken since his arrival: segregation of duties for invoice approval, a stricter bank reconciliation cadence, closure of petty cash, use of a fixed-asset system (Wasp) and faster purchase-order processing with a new procurement administrator and a 48-hour target for PO turnaround. Averman said the audit was approximately 80% complete and that the town’s fund balance was about $23.6 million.

But commissioners pressed staff on recurring audit findings and hundreds of encumbrances that produce many negative line-item balances in the general ledger. Commissioner Hodkins and others said the negative GL lines make it hard to know the town’s operational posture. James Averman and staff responded that encumbrances are reservations (purchase orders and commitments), not executed expenditures, and that offsets at the fund level keep the town solvent; they proposed an administrative cleanup of disused POs and a budget-transfer process to correct cosmetic negative entries.

Why it matters: Commissioners noted repeated audit findings in areas such as timeliness of bank reconciliations, expense recognition and accounts payable controls. Some commissioners characterized the problem as more than optics and asked for a third-party review to rebuild public confidence and ensure statutory compliance.

Personnel and procurement response: The town manager announced the finance director had submitted his resignation effective June 1 and recommended hiring a financial-services firm to lead or head the finance department on a temporary basis through the audit and budget deadlines. A backup memo circulated to commissioners listed five candidate firms; the manager and vice mayor recommended Eisner Amper as a leading option and said a professional-services agreement would be ready for the commission’s consideration on May 13. The manager described a proposed limited-term contract running to the end of the fiscal year with seven-day termination language and an option to renew.

What was said: Averman defended his staff’s work and said the continuous audit processes and procurement changes had materially reduced longstanding bottlenecks. "We reconciled our bank accounts within 20 business days" and "we're 80% of the way through" the audit, Averman said. Commissioners who had pushed for outside help welcomed the manager’s plan to bring a contract back on May 13.

Next steps: Staff will provide the professional-services scope and proposed compensation for a temporary financial-services engagement at the May 13 meeting. Forvis Maser (a consulting/audit firm referenced in the meeting) was reported as having an executed agreement and is expected on-site next week to begin its review.