Published: July 15, 2008 11:10 am      

ROYALTON: Auditors: Budget financially mixed up but not troubled

ROYALTON— Ears perked up when the small audience at Monday’s town board meeting heard the auditor say the words, “bogus entries.”

Prior to that, Jack Berry of Berry & Berry talked numbers, money from the A Fund, B Fund, the water fund, etc., during the financial overview. Folks were nodding off.

“Bogus entries” perked them up. Who made bogus entries? Why were bogus entries made? What is a bogus entry? Is Royalton in deep financial trouble?

The board was able to read the report along with Berry, but the document of at least 35 pages was not available for public viewing, and was not made available to the Greater Niagara Newspapers when requested. Supervisor Richard Lang, board members Jennifer Bieber, Brad Rehwaldt and Lee Criswell are going to take time to study it. James Budde was absent.

The financial report was confusing, attendees said, but the bottom line is, according to the auditors, the town isn’t deeply in debt.

“I really didn’t expect anybody to really understand,” Berry said. “It was too much ... ‘Bogus,’ as opposed to ‘genuine,’ means there was not the correct entry made.”

“That was Mr. Berry’s terminology,” Lang said. “These were what was found by Mr. Berry in the prior administration.”

The 2006 funds were overstated and carried over to 2007, but never corrected, Berry said as he addressed the board. There were bogus entries. Money went through the water fund but should have gone through another.

Bills were paid late and through the wrong accounts, but most were paid.

“We’re not in trouble,” Supervisor Dick Lang said. “Even though they were bogus, the figures pretty well balanced out.”

“There’s a proper way to do things in municipalities,” Berry explained. “If you run something through a capital project, you do the activity there. If you’re providing water for people, you do it there. You don’t do refinancing through the water. I know how they did it, but not why they did it.”

Royalton called upon the Frankinville auditors after Jack and Kathy Berry helped Wilson out of its bookkeeping quagmire. Lang thanked the Berrys after the report.

“If I’d known beforehand, I wouldn’t have taken the job,” Jack Berry said, half-jokingly. “I thought Wilson was a problem, but Wilson was a piece of cake compared to untangling this one.”

Royalton’s balances are fairly decent, according to the accountant. The water fund still has a $44,000 deficit, and sales tax revenue should have been handled better.

Lang felt assured. “We wanted it done as soon as possible and we wanted it done correctly and he did an excellent job. I was very pleased with Mr. and Mrs. Berry.”

Berry concluded that Wilson and Royalton are good towns that lost track of their money. “Because they didn’t know, both boards tried to be conservative with their budgets. They just didn’t now where they were at.”

The board is preparing for a long work session to discuss and review it.

• The board is pushing for four-year terms for the supervisor, town clerk, highway superintendent and tax collector. There will be a public hearing.

• Gina Carter was named clerk of the planning board and zoning board. Budde had offered other names for consideration.

• The speed limit on Root Road has been lowered to 45 mph.

Contact reporter Bill Wolcott 439-9222, ext. 6246.