The Truth Is Still Missing In False Allegations About Charlestown’s Savings
The following letter was sent to local newspapers and is shared with us here by the author Bonnie Van Slyke. Bonnie Van Slyke is a member of the Charlestown Town Council.
The taxpayers of Charlestown can have confidence that $3 million of their hard-earned money is not missing and that their taxes have been spent as they authorized. Further, they can be assured that the town is well positioned to weather an emergency.
There is confusion, so let’s try an analogy. Say, for example, you have $1,000 in your checking account, and you plan to spend $300 on gifts for your kids, family, and friends for the holidays next year. You move $300 into a savings account. Of course, the result is that your checking account now shows a balance of $700. You still have $1,000. The $300 is not missing, lost, stolen, or hidden; it is exactly where you put it.
The 2021 financial report (the audit) looks backward in time to the last fiscal year (which spans parts of two calendar years, 2020 and 2021). That is, it is a report of the actual financial transactions that occurred between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, and the town’s savings as of the end of that fiscal year, June 30, 2021.
Should certain expenditures that did not actually occur in the 2021 fiscal year be included in the 2021 financial report, even though the funds were authorized by the voters to be spent in the 2022 fiscal year (the current fiscal year)? The auditor recommends that these types of funds be reported in a “committed” fund balance account in the year before they are to be spent.
The confusion arises because in the 2020 financial report (the report that covers July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020), some funds authorized to be spent in the 2021 fiscal year were not reported in a separate fund balance account in the 2020 financial report. It is important to know that the financial reporting was not wrong and there was no “accounting error.” It was a difference in reporting. The method used in the 2021 financial report is to be preferred.
When one spends time looking at the town’s financial reports and at budgets adopted by the voters, how much money has been, and is, available in the town’s total fund balance and how much has been, and is, available for specific purposes at certain points in time is not a mystery.
To state this in another way, regardless of what account you have your $300 in, how much money you have does not change and what the funds are to be used for and when they are to be spent also does not change.
For individuals who should know to say that they are confused about how much money the town has, where it is located, and how it is to be spent is misleading at best. Telling a tale about an accounting error that does not exist and implying that there is fraud that also does not exist in order to try to confuse some people to gain political advantage does the town a grave disservice.
You can learn more about Bonnie at her profile page.
March 8, 2022 @ 6:27 pm
As a town Citizen, Shall I assume the above information is correct? and if it is, who is the author of these statements. With such a large amount in question, an independent audit seems necessary.
March 9, 2022 @ 8:55 am
Hi Michele. Thank you for commenting on the letter that I wrote explaining what has occurred regarding the town’s financial reporting. To reiterate, a large amount of money is not missing and has not been mishandled, and statements to the contrary are untrue and irresponsible. The town has an audit by an independent,outside auditor every year. In January, the auditor presented their 2021 Financial Report to the Town Council and answered questions from the Council and residents in detail. The auditor clearly stated that there were no material errors, which losing or mishandling $3 million certainly would be, and that there was no fraud. A second independent audit to investigate something that did not happen and that would discover, again, what we already know would be a waste of town resources that could be used elsewhere.
March 8, 2022 @ 3:11 pm
Thank you Bonnie, for clarifying what is used exactly as you say..which is an effort to turn a” reported error”…
(as some people claim) into a effort for political gain. So sad that so many good actions are looked at as chances for political gain and in so doing separating our town into factions. Thank you for your work on our Town Council.
March 8, 2022 @ 2:39 pm
As always many thanks Bonnie for your clear and concise explanation.
March 7, 2022 @ 6:15 pm
To call for a forensic independent audit implies criminal activity. That is why the town council majority wanted the word forensic struck from the town’s agenda. Coming so close to accusing the auditor or the town treasurer or the budget commission of a crime is malicious.