Alexandria Common Council discusses budget confusion after state audit
Alexandria’s Common Council spent much time at a Monday night meeting going through the city’s finances to see which city accounts are being used to pay bills. As IPR’s Thomas Ouellette reports, this examination comes after the city received a dismal state audit.
The council voted earlier this month to impose stronger internal controls for the clerk/treasurer’s office. That’s after an audit from the Indiana State Board of Accounts found Alexandria had improperly used and recorded funds – including “overstating [city] debt by $888,955.”
The audit also said, “The City had not established an effective system of internal controls to prevent, or detect and correct, errors related to financial close and reporting.” The council now says its new internal controls, which are still being created, will include additional training and making sure documents are reviewed.
On Monday night, Alexandria City Attorney Chou-il Lee voiced concern that the city has been recently using “general fund” money that hasn’t been appropriated – earmarked for a special purpose, as all councils in Indiana must do first before spending money.
“This council needs to go for and take action on every dollar that is appropriated and spent,” Lee said. “You’ve got to move it into one of the five major budget categories and have a public hearing and vote on an appropriation. Just because there may be a balance in something does not mean that that can be spent without this council’s approval and appropriation.”
Lee said the council also has funds with negative balances, which can’t be used to pay bills. According to the ISBA audit, Alexandria was overdrawn on at least 10 different funds in December 2024, the last month the audit covered. The audit said, “Routinely overdrawn funds could be an indicator of serious financial problems which should be investigated by the unit.”
When asked about the various funds, Alexandria Clerk/Treasurer Darcy VanErman said she’s been paying the city’s bills “with the money that is in the bank.”
The audit also documented multiple funds from the state’s opioid settlement that were not spent in compliance with that agreement’s restrictions. “In a test of ten expenditures from the Opioid Restricted fund, seven were not considered to be allowable uses of funds,” it said.
The confusion led the council to hold a special public meeting at a later date to continue looking into the matter, which has not been scheduled yet.
Thomas Ouellette is our reporter and producer. Contact him at thomas.ouellette@bsu.edu
