Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

City audit clean

Randy Turner, with Taylor, Rodgers and Turner, a public accounting firm out of Arkadelphia, said the City of Prescott had a clean audit for 2004.

Turner told the Prescott City Council the report is different, but more informative. The difference was because a different computer program was used to compile the audit. Basically, the new system segregates capital assets from other assets and is repetitive in some instances.

The audit, he said, has nothing on the municipal court, but this department is in better shape than its been in years. We have money in limbo well never find the answer to. We need to get with the judge and determine a dispensation of the money.

The audit does contain a new section on the management of the city, he said. This portion is about assets and balances.

According to Turner, the city has three types of funds: fiduciary/retirement, government funds and proprietary funds.

The fiduciary/retirement funds are held and cant be spent, except for the specific purpose they were created for. Government funds come from taxes and services provided, while the proprietary funds are from the utilities.

The utilities, Turner said, are ran like a business and hope to make a profit. The audit shows the segregation of these three types of funds. Anything spent out of the utility funds must be made up from future revenues.

Last year, he informed the panel, Prescott transferred $729,000 out of the utility funds to the governmental account. This resulted in a negative figure for the utilities. Future audits, he said, will show comparatives, but as this is the first year for this type of audit, there is nothing to be compared.

The electric department showed an initial profit of $832,000. But, the water and sewer department had losses during the year, which resulted in the electric department having to fund water and sewer yet again. Turner said this is nothing new, but added the Council may need to start looking at trying to get this balanced out so the water and sewer department at least breaks even. I think you have some issues with the revenue. If you dont raise the rate somewhere, there will be a problem with the revenue. Water and sewer isnt carrying its weight.

Government-wise, Prescott spent more than it took in, but this is normal.

According to Turner, there was a profit of $580,000 in the utilities overall, but the transfer to the government fund left a shortfall of $159,000.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said the city raised the water rates by $5 a meter earlier this year, and this isnt reflected on the audit.

With the increase coming in the electric rates, Turner said, the city may need to raise rates elsewhere or it could affect the citys revenue.