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Village of Big Bend hires Baker Tilly after multi‑year accounting imbalances found
Summary
The Village Board approved hiring Baker Tilly to reconcile accounts and prepare audits after the firm found the library fund about $126,000 in deficit and debt‑service accounts roughly $1.2 million short; the board also approved budget corrections and a $5,000 write‑off threshold for small reconciling items.
The Village of Big Bend voted to hire Baker Tilly to reconcile several years of financial records and to help prepare audits after consultants reported material imbalances in the village’s fund accounting.
Tyler Smith of Baker Tilly told the board the firm began reconciling village books about six months ago and has worked through 2022–2023 and up through August 2024. "The library fund is a negative 126,000, and debt service is a negative 1,200,000," Smith said. He recommended retroactive property‑tax settlement corrections and a pragmatic write‑off policy for small items: "If at the end of 2024 the bank reconciliations are under a $5,000 threshold, we have approval to write that off and move on to 2025," he said, noting that researching every small item could cost roughly $25,000.
Trustees approved an engagement letter with Baker Tilly and passed a series of related resolutions to move misallocated property‑tax settlement amounts into the correct accounts rather than create new spending. As described in the presentation, property‑tax settlements in recent years were posted to the general fund instead of being allocated to debt service and the library, creating the need for retroactive corrections.
Board members and finance staff emphasized that the corrections simply reassign existing receipts to the correct fund lines. One trustee said the measures were about getting the village’s books "in the right direction" so future audits can proceed without repeated stoppages. Baker Tilly will continue reconciliation work and will coordinate with the village’s auditor to keep independence between consulting and auditing functions.
The board also approved a resolution establishing a $5,000 write‑off threshold for small outstanding reconciliation items from 2022–2024, citing Baker Tilly’s estimate that the total effort to chase items below that threshold would exceed their cumulative value. Tyler Smith said the goal is to create value by focusing on material items and preparing the books for timely audits.
The engagement and the budget corrections were advanced by motion and approved by voice vote. Next steps include completing remaining reconciliations, transferring funds into corrected accounts, and scheduling follow‑up meetings between Baker Tilly and village staff to implement the recommended changes.
