Dewey Terrill
JC Post
Geary County Commissioners received a 2021 audit report Monday, that did not include any illegal activity or missing funds, but left officials shaking their heads. Commission Chair Alex Tyson described it at one point as troubling to hear about.
One major issue involved $2.7 million in COVID-19 money received in 2020 which was initially targeted for salary reimbursement but eventually went for a county 800 megahertz radio system.
Tami Robison, the new County Finance Officer, who did not take that job until March 0f 2022, said the check for the $2.7 million in funding was never deposited in the County accounts, but was held and then voided at end of 2021. Then Geary County moved those monies to pay for the radio project. "So based on the report sent to the state it showed the county was reimbursing for salaries but the thing that they missed doing is actually depositing that check." The voiding of the check freed up the funds for the radio project.
Robison explained that the net effect would have been the same. The salary reimbursement was already part of the budget funded by property tax dollars. Robison noted that was an eligible expense with COVID and because there was such a short time to do that, many of the counties, that's one of the things they were doing, they were taking salaries to get reimbursed so they could get the funds used.
Robison said there was nothing wrong with reimbursement of salaries but the check was not deposited.
Geary County will now contact the State and the county's consulting firm for the COVID-19 funds for clarification to see if there are issues on expenditure of the funds for the radio system. "Let the State know what happened, what was done with those funds, and see what they advise us to do to rectify it." Robison is hopeful the County will not have to find the funds to repay the $2.7 million. She said that would be worst case scenario because Geary County would have to give them the money back because the County didn't do what they said they were going to do with it."
Another topic during the audit report included the finding that $568,000 had to be adjusted for 24 accounts, with officials unaware that 18 of those accounts existed. Robison said the money is not missing but was being held outside the County's general checking account.
"Because it was being held outside there, somehow in previous audits those funds were not picked up and put on our financials so the cash wasn't being reflected in our financials on those 18 accounts. " Robison added that there were 24 accounts being held outside the county's general checking and 18 are not on the County's audit report and six are reflected on that audit report for 2021.
Robison has been researching the records since her hiring in March of this year to help correct any deficiencies.