By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The City of Great Bend anticipated receiving their financial audit presentation on
June 6. Nearly a month later, and the city is still waiting to have their audit
finalized because of a delay involving the Great Bend Public Library.
City Administrator Kendal Francis said Tuesday night that the library went through an accounting software
conversion and there are differing budget balances. The city’s auditor flagged
the issue as a material violation.
"I don't know if the library will end up fixing it on their own or get a CPA to assist them," said Francis. "We're not able to and the auditor is not able to because that would be an ethical violation. They (library) used a local company as their accountant. They wanted to switch that over and take care of their bookkeeping on their own for budget savings."
The library operates as its own entity, with a separate board, but the city
owns the infrastructure and provides funding to the library each year as an
outside agency.
Francis said the library employee that handles the accounting has been out with
a long-term sickness, which has likely compounded the delay.
The delay had councilmembers considering if the library should conduct their own, separate audit in the future.
"Honestly, this has drug on for a while, and there doesn't seem to be any urgency on their part," said Francis.
"It almost makes you wonder if they're (library) trying to cover something up," said Great Bend City Council member Alan Moeder.
"I hope that is not correct," responded Francis. "It is completely on them (library). It does not affect our finances directly, but it does delay us getting our city audit."
The library has requested $650,000 from the city for the 2023 budget.