Fiscal Court Virtual Meeting Recap: Staff Commended On Near Perfect Audit: Drastic Change In Two Years

Darren Doyle, story:
Judge Wil Cannon commended County Treasurer Tammi Willhite and finance officer Amy Heath on turning the accounting procedures around for the fiscal court and Judge Executive's Office in only two years.

The 2018 audit had nearly a dozen violations that ended up costing the county over $60,000, which is more than double the amount of a standard audit; however, Cannon noted that because of Willhite and Heath, the accounting has been nearly perfect according to state audit standards as he addressed today's court.

"This is a complete turnaround from where we were a couple years ago, and it's only going to get better from here," he said. "These auditors used to come in here and stay for months because they found so many violations, but thanks to our staff now our last audit was very smooth. We appreciate how easy it is now, thank to our treasurer Tammi Willhite for that, as well as Amy Heath, they are a good team and it’s working well now."

Judge Cannon has stated multiple times that the abundant violations occurred under the care of former employees that no longer work for the county and the entire system has been overhauled under Willhite.

The most recent audit, which was just released, showed only one violation that has since been fixed according to Willhite. The violation was in regards to the bidding of road materials and other purchases from vendors. The state listed the violation as "The Edmonson County Fiscal Court Lacks Adequate Controls Over Procurement." 

The auditors stated the following: 

This is a repeat finding and was included in the prior year audit report as finding 2018-009. The Edmonson County Fiscal Court advertised and received bids for road materials. According to the fiscal court minutes, all bids were opened, and read for road materials. The fiscal court approved all bids for road materials. This method of selecting a vendor is not in compliance with KRS 45A. The minutes do not document the amount of the bids or what materials were included on the bids; therefore, acceptance of the winning or lowest bid was not documented. During fiscal year 2019, the fiscal court paid $673,016 to vendors for road materials who submitted bids.

In addition, the fiscal court did not follow the procurement process for purchases from the same vendor that over the course of the year were above the $20,000 threshold set by Edmonson County Administrative Code. The following purchases were noted as being above the $20,000 threshold without being bid or without documentation as to the reason the purchases were not bid:

• Two vendors were paid $43,862 and $59,582, respectively, for gasoline. Gasoline was not bid or purchased under the state bid contract. The fiscal court budgeted $105,000 for gasoline in their original budget.
• One vendor was paid $30,710 to purchase a truck. This purchase was not bid since the vendor honored the state contract price. However, the vendor was not the vendor that was awarded the state contract price.​​

​The county judge/executive stated he was not aware the fiscal court could not accept all bids as part of the bidding process for all bids related to the construction or maintenance of county roads and bridges. He further stated that the fiscal court makes it a practice to accept all bids for road materials to allow the county to use the vendor that has the best price in relation to the location of the road project.

The county judge/executive also stated he was not aware the fiscal court was required to bid the truck purchase if the vendor honored the state contract price. He was not aware they had spent over $20,000 with the same vendor on gasoline and materials for road projects. As a result, the fiscal court was not in compliance with procurement laws or their administrative code. In addition, the fiscal court might not have received the best value for services or products provided.

Strong internal controls require management to monitor disbursements and purchase orders to ensure compliance with procurement laws, and keep good records of all bid and other procurement transactions. KRS 178.140(1) states, “[a]ll bids for the construction or maintenance of county roads and bridges shall be received at the time and place specified in the advertisement, and shall be opened publicly at the time of awarding, and the amount of items comprising each bid shall be publicly announced.” In addition, KRS 178.140(2) states “[t]he contract shall be awarded to the lowest and best bidder, who shall furnish satisfactory security in an amount equal to the amount of the contract in question, to be approved by the county judge/executive of the county.” 

The Judge Executive's Office responded with the following: 

"The Edmonson County Fiscal Court will properly bid, accept and record in the Fiscal Court Minutes to meet the KRS 45A requirements. The Edmonson County Fiscal Court will monitor all disbursements to ensure that the procurement procedures are followed for all qualifying disbursements. The Edmonson County Fiscal Court will ensure that proper procedures and requirements are followed to be in compliance with our Administrative Code and KRS 178.140. The Edmonson County Fiscal Court will not use a vendor on a state contract price unless it is properly bid and accepted. All gasoline accounts are now under the State Contract and the accounts were set up in accordance with KRS 45A and State Contract requirements. The gasoline accounts were set up in March 2020."

Magistrate Charlie Tarter also commended Willhite for her work on another efficient audit for the county.

​The court also discussed the potential purchase of a new paving machine for the road department. During the last fiscal court meeting, County Road Supervisor Greg Carroll said the county's paver was in desperate need of an upgrade and that repairs wouldn't be feasible due to its condition and age. 

Today, he said that their current machine is virtually on its last leg and is around 30 years old. Carroll said he had located a used paver in Florida that could potentially fulfill the county's needs for many years. While photos and phone calls only go so far, he asked the county to allow him a couple days for travel to see the machine in-person and negotiate a price.

The county has already said the machine would be in the budget for the road department, with an estimated cost of $150K or less, which would include delivery if purchased. The court voted to approve the travel.

The court also voted to:

1. Approve to advertise for part time Dog Control Officer.
2. Set Finance Committee Meeting (Dec. 14-18).
3. Approve to advertise Paver Bids.
4. Approve Resolution EC20-38, Transportation Funding Needs for the Commonwealth.
5. Acknowledge $300.00 donation form Woodmen of the World to Emergency Management for COVID Relief.