By JOYANNA LOVE/Senior Staff Writer

Maplesville — The Maplesville Town audit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2016 was presented to the Maplesville Town Council during its March 13 meeting.

“The Town is in a great financial position with no long- term debt,” Janice Hull of Hull & Russell, who presented the audit, said.

According to the audit,” The town is not responsible for any debt at year end, and is not responsible for any special assessment debt. Accounts payable are current.”

Under the budget versus actual comparison, the audit stated, “For the year ended September 30, 2016, the town’s revenue exceeded budget by $236,437. Expenditures and transfers exceeded estimated expenditures and transfers by $28,142.”

Even though expenses were more than anticipated, the increase in revenue meant the town had $80,356 more than it had anticipated by the end of the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

“We identified certain deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be significant deficiencies and other deficiencies to be material weaknesses,” Hull said.

Having “no system of internal control” was listed as a material weakness. The town has tried to improve this by having the town council approve expenditures, but additional financial checks and balances are not possible without hiring additional staff.

Hull discussed how fines and fees were being recorded and recommended an alternative. City clerk Dawn Smitherman said the funds had been deposited into and taken out of the same account within departmental budgets, making it appear that the fund had a zero balance. However, funds had been collected, and then spent by the town.

The town is working to implement Hull’s recommendation for record keeping to change the financial coding for transfers from the fees line item to the general fund. This will make smoother record keeping for the town.