(Spirit Lake)– A standing room-only crowd filled the Dickinson County Community Building Tuesday evening to hear Susan Battani of the State Auditor’s Office address the Spirit Lake city council on the re-audit of the city’s finances.
As we reported last month, the audit turned up concerns over spending from several accounts in the Police Department; payments that were made to former Police Chief Dan Thomsen; the use of Tax Increment Finance money to purchase equipment; a lack of a credit card policy; remittance of water meter rental fees to the city of Orleans; and whether or not the city complied with terms of the Local Option Sales Tax referendum…among other things.
City Attorney Earl Maahs responded to Battani’s comments, saying while mistakes may have been made, there was no intent by any city council members or city staff to violate the law. He criticized the report for what he says was a “lack of objectivity” and that not all additional facts submitted by the city were considered. Battani argued otherwise, saying her office was very thorough.
The fact that former Police Chief Dan Thomsen’s status wasn’t discussed in an open council meeting was also an issue between Maahs and Battani. Maahs sited a supreme court case he says precluded the city from having to do that. Battani said that while it isn’t the duty of the State Auditor’s office to issue legal opinions, that it’s their opinion as auditors that the discussion should have been held at an open meeting.
Battani says while the report has some findings in it that are rather glaring, that it isn’t too far out of the ordinary from audits of other cities her office has conducted.
Battani adds there’s a follow-up procedure in place to make sure things don’t happen again. She says the city’s independent auditor will be in charge of documenting that.
The Attorney General’s Office is reviewing the State Audit report for any possible criminal charges. Dickinson County Attorney Rosalise Olson forwarded the audit to the A-G, siting a potential conflict of interest. A spokesman for the A-G’s office tells KUOO news he isn’t sure when the office will issue any formal findings.
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