NO FAULT NO FOUL

In January of 2009, Council called for an audit of the Hwy. 311 water line project. Water and Sanitation and the Administration were not pleased. After months of delays and road blocks, the audit was underway. On February 22, 2010, Mr. Larry Finney presented the audit report to Council. (Earlier, at the January Council meeting, an attempt was made to present this report in conjunction with the yearly County audit report which may have minimized its impact. This attempt failed.)

Council originally ordered the audit to get a handful of simple questions answered.

They wanted to know if and when Water and Sanitation had obtained approval from Council for the original Hwy. 311 project.

They wanted to know where the money came from to pay for the Hwy. 311 project.

They wanted to know who at W&S had authorized the Hwy. 311 project.

They wanted to know why the Hwy.311 water line terminated practically at Councilman Pinckney's front door.

They wanted to know who was responsible for submitting to Council the "flawed" documentation on the Hwy. 311 work contract.

After Mr. Finney presented his report, Council didn't appear to be satisfied that their questions had been answered. Even after an extensive Q&A period, questions still existed. During his presentation and in his summery, Mr. Finney kept returning to his contention that W&S was guilty of "poor record keeping and bad communications with Council". GE&P listened very carefully to the entire session and, unless we dozed off, we didn't hear the answers to any of Council's original questions either.

Believe it or not, there is an upside to this. In the future, if you happen to be so unlucky as to get audited by the IRS, this will be the result.

IRS Auditor: Well, Mr. John Doe, it seems you have taken $1.4 million in deductions this year.

Mr. Doe: Yes, I have.

IRS Auditor: Do you have any receipts for these deductions?

Mr. Doe: No, Sir, I don't.

IRS Auditor: Well, Mr. Doe, it would appear that you are guilty of poor record keeping.

Mr. Doe: I agree. What do you suggest I do to solve this problem?

IRS Auditor: I suggest you assess this situation and maybe take some steps to prevent this from happening again in the future.

Mr. Doe: OK, I'll consider that.

IRS Auditor: Good enough. That will be all, Mr. Doe. Watch the mailbox for your refund.