The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office said there were “some problems” and “some issues” with how Jeanerette is keeping its books but said, “If you look at a lot of local governments, it’s not uncommon to find things like this.”

The list of problems with Jeanerette’s bookkeeping is lengthy. Included in Jeanerette’s audit findings were:

• Jeanerette hadn’t reconciled its bank statements in more than a year, not exactly a complicated issue, one most individuals know needs to be done regularly.

• The city did not file third-quarter payroll reports with the IRS.

• The General Fund Budget approved for the 2013-14 fiscal year wasn’t balanced.

• Jeanerette failed to maintain control over purchases of fuel for public vehicles, had no formal review related to those purchases, did not monitor fuel usage.

• The city didn’t review that employees were added to the health plan or that premiums were paid on time, both of which could have been a big problem if an employee had a big claim only to discover his insurance wasn’t in effect.

• Jeanerette “may have” over collected ad valorem taxes and may need to repay residents for the over-collected amounts.

• Money dedicated for drainage and mosquito control was used for general operational expenses.

• The city didn’t publish its minutes as required by state law, nor its budget as is also required.

• Jeanerette didn’t provide its audit report on time, within the nine months after the close of a fiscal year.

• Worker’s compensation premiums weren’t paid in a timely manner.

If all of those issues weren’t enough to cause Jeanerette taxpayers to worry about how the city’s business is being handled, consider the audit also found where an employee’s health insurance premium was paid, after he was no longer on the payroll — sounding very much like a similar issue at parish government.

All of these findings and others were from an audit of 2014 about which we’re just now hearing.

If Jeanerette doesn’t get its bookkeeping in order, it could be prohibited from receiving state funds according to the spokesman for the legislative auditor’s office, but he said there must be something “really egregious” for that to happen.

It may not qualify as really egregious but if Jeanerette doesn’t reconcile bank statements in over a year, pays health insurance for people not on the city’s payroll and over-collects taxes from city residents, should taxpayers everywhere not be worried to be told “… it’s not uncommon to find things like this?”

WILL CHAPMAN

PUBLISHER