Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
ERWIN TOWNSHIP — Erwin Township’s financial situation appears to be improving, at least according to the audit report the township board of trustees approved Tuesday.
Roger Kolehmainen, the township’s auditor, walked the board through his report on the previous fiscal year.
He said the township received an “unqualified” audit opinion — the highest possible rating — and complimented the board on fixing many of the past problems.
“There has been a lot of improvements made in the accounting system, and a lot of past deficiencies that were present have been corrected,” Kolehmainen said. “I can see a lot of improvements have been made; and I like the checks-and-balances, the accountability … the transparency.”
He also discussed the past year’s revenues and expenditures.
The township received $93,653 in revenue and $69,572 in expenses over the course of the year, according to the report, leaving the township with a surplus of $24,081. This grew the township’s fund balance to $239,380.
“If you look at your expenses, most of those are just routine — you didn’t do any capital outlays of any sort last year,” Kolehmainen said.
He said the township’s fund balance was “very healthy” for a township of Erwin Township’s size.
While the township’s cash position of $234,603 — which Kolehmainen said was a “good, comfortable position to be in” — means the township could undertake major projects if the board wants, he warned the board to make sure they include any projects in the budget process rather than deciding to pursue them in the middle of the fiscal year.
He also noted the lack of deficiencies found in the audit, which he said was a change from recent years.
“If you look at the last page (of the report), in past audits — I would say at least the past three audits — there has been a shopping list of deficiencies and it highlighted problems,” Kolehmainen said. “You don’t see that list (this year).”
He made clear the deficiencies are only removed after the problems are resolved, not simply because the board agrees to make changes — meaning the proper procedures have actually been put in place.
Several people at the meeting complimented the township’s officials for the work they’ve done to help the townships out of its financial difficulties.
In other actions:
— Supervisor Larry Grimsby said one of the board members will need to be appointed as a local contact for the U.S. Census Bureau in the lead up to the 2020 census, but no appointment was made.
—The board tabled the county brownfield authority’s request for funding to pay for a director next year until more information could be gathered regarding the authority’s financial state and whether it had the funds to act on any projects.
