Audit flags reconciliations and policy gaps; Rush Valley staff propose corrective actions

Rush Valley officials reviewed Ulrich & Associates’ annual accountants’ report, which covered the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, and identified accounting control issues the auditors recommended the town fix.

The auditors found that bank reconciliations were not always performed in a way that matched the general ledger: "transactions were posted to incorrect dates, and transactions were posted after the reconciliation was done," Chair (S2) read from the report, noting items older than six months remained on reconciliation.

The nut graf: town accounting staff acknowledged the issues and described immediate corrective steps. The clerk/finance staff (S9) described working with an accounting contact (Heather) and preparing a corrective action plan for the Utah State Auditor, saying they would change procedures in QuickBooks and begin mailing checks to reduce disputes over unreceived payments: "I am going to start mailing checks to people so that they can't say, 'Well, I never got the check.'" S9 also noted old checks from 2019 remain under review and that journal entries and cooperation with an external accounting contact will be used to clear old items.

The audit also flagged the town’s fraud-risk assessment gaps, including missing easily referenced policy manuals and lack of a formal audit committee. Staff described drafting written policies and posting a fraud hotline to improve the town's fraud-risk controls. The council asked staff to bring draft policies back for review and to provide the corrective action plan to the auditor.

The council accepted the report and encouraged staff to finish policy drafts and implement the recommended controls in the coming months.