State auditors have issued a finding for recovery against an employee of Pike County Jobs and Family Services after determining that child-support payments totaling $1,280 were handled improperly.
The financial audit released Tuesday by Auditor of State, Dave Yost, for 2015 determined that Amber McKee wrote receipts for six child-support payments that were received in cash, but the payments were not recorded in the county’s financial-management system and the money was not deposited in the bank.
“In government agencies and in private businesses, internal controls over money transfers are vital to minimize the opportunity for error, loss and theft,” Auditor Yost said.
As a result of the audit, the director of Pike County Jobs and Family Services has improved internal controls, according to a response from county officials.
The audit also identified a number of inaccuracies in Pike County’s accounting and financial reporting. Several general fund accounts contained understatements totaling nearly $405,000, a sewer fund balance was found to be inflated by $228,005, and a 2015 pension-liability calculation was more than $1.5 million lower than it should have been. The county believes that a new accounting system will eliminate such errors.
The audit also discovered that the county used federal funds intended for fire departments to buy equipment for the Pike County Sheriff’s Office and two local police departments.
The audit advises the county to return a total of about $77,000. County officials said they will better monitor eligibility criteria to ensure that federal money is spent as intended.