D-158 board checks out auditor's charges

Board present Mike Skala said the following about the audit firm investigating D - 158 "I want there to be some kind of checks and balances." The irony is that many of the taxpayers feel the same exact way about D - 158, it's administrators and it's board.

D-158 board checks out auditor's charges

[published on Sun, Apr 23, 2006]
HUNTLEY – Questions lingered Friday in District 158 over about $13,000 in additional charges from its auditor.


"We didn't give them authorization just for a blank check," school board President Mike Skala said Friday. "I want there to be some kind of checks and balances."

Board members on Thursday delayed a payment to accounting firm William F. Gurrie. Skala said he and his colleagues wanted more details to make sure that the firm's fees were accurate and necessary.

At Thursday's meeting, board members said they had agreed for the district to spend about $30,000 for its audit.

But the district already has spent more than double that – about $61,000 – its finance director, Stanley Hall, said Friday. That figure does not include the latest fee of about $13,000 and possible additional payments, Hall said.

Workers from William F. Gurrie recently finalized the district's audit more than nine months after the end of the fiscal year. A discrepancy of about $60,000 remains between the district's books and bank balances, down from about $2 million before experts discovered input errors and other problems.

To view the rest of the story go to the Northwest Herald website.