The state has released an audit of Brookfield Township covering the years 2022 and 2023. The audit looked at how money is managed, invested and spent; how the township runs its sealed bidding process; and how the township handles Sunshine Law issues such as records management, meeting notifications and meeting minutes.
The audit, performed by Perry and Associates of Marietta, specified three deficiencies. One deals with the fiscal officer certifying that money is available for a purchase. The auditors said they found seven instances where the certification date was after the vendor invoice date, and a “then and now certificate” was not attached, which would certify after the fact that the money was available.
Fiscal Officer Dena McMullin called this issue “a matter of bookkeeping.”
“The thing is with us, and I tried to explain this to him, I might generate the P.O. (purchase order), like, at a later date, but it’s not because it wasn’t anticipated or expected when the actual date was,” she told the trustees Jan. 27. “If I did that, almost every single P.O. we have would be a then and now.”
This issue carried over from the previous audit, as did a deficiency in McMullin failing to take 12 hours of continuing education courses a year.
“I try,” McMullin said, but added, “That’s a lot to ask.”
McMullin said a lot of her focus in the past two years has been getting used to the Ohio Auditor’s Uniform Accounting Network, a software package for local governments.
She added that she always watches training videos dealing with internet security.
The audit also said the township failed to timely file year-end accounting reports for 2023.
