Members of the Henderson City Council and city staff held a brief “meet and greet” for the city’s new auditing firm.
Greg Adams and Bryon Scott of the firm Thompson, Price, Scott, Adams & Co. were introduced by Henderson City Council member Lynn Harper. Harper chairs the city’s Finance & Intergovernmental Relations (FAIR) Committee.
The auditing firm is headquartered in Whiteville, North Carolina with offices in Wilmington and Elizabethtown.
Harper told the group that the auditors were on their second working visit. She emphasized that they have experience with water systems such as the Kerr Lake Regional Water System, of which the city is a 60% shareholder.
Assistant Finance Director Sandra Wilkerson said that she had spoken to Adams and Scott about the report and that there were details about which the city needed to be educated.
Adams said that the audit should be completed by the next day. He said that he expected to submit the report to the state’s Local Government Commission (LGC) by the deadline of October 31, 2007. After the LGC returns the document, it will then be submitted to the City Council for approval.
The auditor also noted that due to new “pronouncements”, it was necessary for the city to proofread the document before submission. He said that municipalities have to “take responsibility” for audits before they go to the LGC.
Guest Tom Badger asked how many cities the firm represents. Adams estimated that 40-45 municipalities are served by him firm as well as Alcohol Boards of Control and water systems.
When asked about how much help the auditors would provide, Scott told the group that auditors were restricted as to what they can help [cities] create. He said that the independence of the auditor is considered lost when it audits a system it devised.
Scott said, however, that they would point out areas of need.