Auditors Revise 2004-2005 Results

According to an August 3 New Haven Register Article:

The city’s financial auditors on Wednesday released a revised 2004-05 audit revealing the city operated $5.28 million in the red last year instead of ending with a $6.12 million surplus.

The auditors, who volunteered to redo the audit after discussions with Mayor John M. Picard, found the $11 million difference because previous city officials allegedly "misclassified" capital bond money as general revenue and overspent certain school bonds.

Levitsky & Berney, the auditors for the City of West Haven 'volunteered' to redo the 2004-2005 audit ... yeah, right. Is this the same firm that we just paid the inflated $65,000 pricetag to audit the books after Mayor Picard came into office?

Isn't it 'ironic' that Mayor Picard was predicting that there would be an $11.2 million deficit for the 2005-2006 year, and this 'swing' is just about that amount?

Once again, it's politics as usual, as Mayor Picard tries to place blame on former Mayor Borer:

The mayor didn’t blame the auditors for failing to pick up on the alleged misappropriations, saying it may have been because of withheld documentation from former Finance Director Richard A. Legg and, by default, former Mayor H. Richard Borer Jr.

He said using capital funds was an easy way to pad the city’s budget to "artificially" keep the tax rate low.

According to former Mayor Borer:

Borer concurred with [former Finance Director Richard A. ] Legg that past councils approved every allocation of bond money.

Picard can make one of his "vast" allegations, Borer said, but said a careful look at the restated audit will show the difference is more of a "bookkeeping error that needs to be addressed" as opposed to a malicious intent to throw wool over taxpayers’ and auditors’ eyes.

Borer said some capital project bonds were put in the operating accounts before the state revised regulations in 1998, and that some outstanding bond money likely was still trickling in during 2004-05.

"This is not unusual in government or business as the world changes," he said. "If I was notified by the auditor, (city) financial adviser or finance director that money should have been handled in a different way then I would have done it, but that never came up."

Why does Mayor Picard continue to negatively compaign, when he is already elected in office? Instead of pointing fingers, why not try to address the real problems of over-inflated taxes that his consituents are now facing?

I love Legg's statement:

"I am not going to officially comment on it because this is politics and it’s crap," Legg said. "I’m out of it now, and I’m going to stay out of it. I did what was appropriate and what many (City) Councils agreed with, and I’m not going to sit here and defend it two years later."

Good for him... it IS politics- the ugly side of it.