BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Auditors for the City of Lake Butler gave the municipality a clean opinion for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, marking another positive step after a former city manager left the local government in financial difficulty.
City commissioners fired Dale Walker in 2023 before his fourth anniversary leading the city.
A forensic audit commissioned by the city concluded Walker overspent the city’s budget by over $1 million, including misspent ARPA funds, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other spending irregularities uncovered by auditors were nearly $14,000 in state sales tax paid by the city, which local governments are not required to pay, and $19,000 in alcoholic beverages.
Other issues listed by auditors were improper financial oversight of spending, expenditures over budget with no commission approval, depletion of fund balances, no balance sheet reconciliations with adequate financial documentation, unreconciled bank statements (including credit card statements), and a lack of adequate emergency funds.
During the commission’s July 15 meeting, Brendan McKitrik with James Moore and Company, stated that the accounting and budget problems associated with the Walker period had been corrected.
Mayor Melissa Hendrix said that current City Manager Kimberly Hayes is a penny-pincher who scrutinizes every expenditure.
According to the financial statements, the city’s net financial position increased by over $2 million from 2023 to 2024, while liabilities dropped by $1.7 million.
Auditors also noted that the city is planning to replace its 50-year-old sewer treatment plant at a cost of approximately $38 million, which is being financed by state grants and loans.
The city’s financial statements also noted that at year’s end, Lake Butler was renegotiating its wastewater contract with the Department of Corrections.
