DeKalb County's government is trying to reconcile a $1.3 million discrepancy in transactions that has delayed the completion of its annual audit.
No taxpayer money is missing, and the county government is correcting differences between bank and county records, said DeKalb spokesman Burke Brennan.
“We are committed to strengthening our internal controls surrounding cash, and investing in the resources moving forward to ensure that we are in alignment with our strategic goal to ensure fiscal integrity,” wrote DeKalb Chief Operating Officer Zach Williams in an Aug. 31 memo. “Ensuring that our audit processes are even more stringent than in the past is a major effort in that alignment effort.”
The county government’s accounting discrepancy was as high as $5.5 million last month, but that amount has since been reduced to $1.3 million as transactions have been reconciled, Williams wrote.
The issue arose because DeKalb's new auditing firm, Mauldin & Jenkins, is requiring more stringent standards of the county government, Brennan said. DeKalb previously used KPMG as its external auditor.
Several accounts required corrections, including watershed, employee benefits, risk management and general funds.
DeKalb's audit of its 2015 finances was supposed to be completed in the first six months of this year, and the county now hopes to finish the audit by Sept. 30. In all, the county has a $1.38 billion annual budget.
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