75¢
Hazen and Carlisle hold special events. (See p. 6.)
Volume 120 Number 45 - USPS 225-680
Community Calendar of Events Tuesday November 9 Quorum Court Meeting Annex Building 6:00 p.m. Thursday November 11 Veterans’ Day Local and County Offices in Prairie County closed. DeValls Bluff City Council Meeting City Hall 6:00 p.m. Friday November 12 Hazen Hornets vs Hampton Bulldogs @ Hampton 1st Round of 2A State Playoffs 7:00 p.m. Des Arc Eagles vs Parkers Chapel Eagle Field 1st Round of 2A State Playoffs 7:00 p.m. Carlisle Bisons vs Poyen Indians @ Poyen 1st Round of 2A State Playoffs 7:00 P.m. Thursday November 18 Hazen City Council Meeting City Hall 6:00 p.m. Food Distributions Hazen First United Methodist Church Drive-Through 10:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m. Thursday November 25 Thanksgiving Day Community events brought to you by Hazen Chamber of Commerce
and the Please call F&M Bank (255-3042) or The Grand Prairie Herald (255-4538) to list events.
Serving all of Prairie County and the Grand Prairie
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Carlisle Clerk/Treasurer fired after arrest Angelia James, the Clerk/Treasurer for the City of Carlisle, was fired by the Carlisle City Council in a special meeting held on Thursday, November 4, after the members were notified that charges were being filed against her for failure to comply with Arkansas Statute 14-59-115 which mandates how municipal books are to be kept. She was arrested by the Arkansas State Police for auditing errors found in the 2018 Carlisle budget. James has been charged with two Class B felonies. Council Members Anne Anderson, Larry Flynn, Kevin Kegley, Todd Turner, and Jon Plafcan were present for the unanimous vote. The Arkansas statute named states that “each municipal treasurer of this state or the designated representative that has been approved by the governing body shall submit a monthly financial report to the council or board of directors, and that municipal treasurers shall maintain the accounting records prescribed.” The charges were the result of an Arkansas Legislative Joint Auditing Committee report dated October 8, 2020. The report was certified to the bond board. In that report, the Office of Management and Business (OMB) found that the city management failed to obtain a federal compliance audit when federal expenditures exceed $750,000. The City had federal expenditures in excess of $750,000 in 2017 and again did not obtain a federal compliance audit as required, due to management oversight. The City could be responsible for repayment of federal expenditures if instances of noncompliance are noted during a federal compliance audit. The City will reponded that a federal compliance audit would be done. The minutes of the governing body did not document the review of the findings and recommendations and the action taken by the governing body for the prior report, as required by Ark. Code Ann. § 10-4- 418. The city reponded that when the 2018 audit was complete, the City would make it available
for review. City receipts exceeded deposits by $3,352 ($2,288 in undeposited cash and $1,064 in undeposited checks) during the period September 11, 2018 through January 27, 2020. The Clerk/Treasurer was custodian of these undeposited funds. Arkansas Code requires City management to maintain financial records. The financial records contained omissions/errors that were considered material as specified below. The General Fund financial records contained misstatements in assets, liabilities, fund balance, revenues and expenditures in the amounts of $209,358, $52,181, $78,958, $207,358 and $20,637, respectively, due to posting errors and unrecorded accounts receivable and accounts payable. The Street Fund financial records contained misstatements in assets, liabilities, fund balance, revenues and expenditures in the amounts of $71,313, $6,580, $8,880, $37,577 and $35,061, respectively, due to posting errors and unrecorded accounts receivable and accounts payable. The Other Funds in the Aggregate financial records contained misstatements in assets, liabilities, fund balance, revenues and expenditures in the amounts of $43,031, $49,177, $10,848, $249,988 and $264,837, respectively, due to posting errors and unrecorded accounts receivable and accounts payable. The effect of these omissions/errors constitutes a significant control deficiency in the process of preparing financial statements. The state recommend ed that City management implement procedures to ensure that financial records are properly posted. Accounting procedures for municipalities are set forth in Ark. Code Ann. §§ 14-59-101 – 1459-118. The City was not in compliance with these codes and other accounting procedures as follows: · Adequate supporting documentation was not maintained for all disbursements. · A fixed assets listing was established, but did not include all additions and deletions.
All five teams in 2A-6 will play in State Playoffs By Mark Buffalo Sports Editor All five teams from the 2A-6 conference will be playing in the Class 2A state playoffs this week. Clarendon, Des Arc and Hazen all finished tied for first at 3-1. Clarendon, which beat Des Arc 47-0 on Thursday, earned the top seed and will play the Bearden Bears on Friday night. Des Arc is the second seed and will play Parkers Chapel on Friday night at Hinson Rollins Field. If Eagles win, they will play the
winner of Gurdon and Junction City. Hazen is the third seed and will play at Hampton on Friday night. If they win, the Hornets will play the winner of Bigelow and Mineral Springs. Carlisle is the fourth seed and will play Poyen on Friday night. If the Bison win, they will play Dierks. England is the fifth seed and will play Lafayette County. If they win, the Lions will play the winner of the Clarendon-Bearden Game. (See write up of Carlisle game on p. 3.)
Additionally, deletions were made without proper authorization of the governing body. · Bank reconciliations were not approved by someone other than the person preparing the reconciliation. · Bank accounts for the General, Street, Airport, Civic Center, Firemen's Pension, and Act 833 Funds were not properly reconciled to the journal. · Prenumbered receipts were not issued for all items of income. · Cash receipts journals were not properly maintained to include all receipts and were not reconciled to total bank deposits. · Canceled checks and deposit slips were not maintained for audit purposes. · The annual financial statement was not prepared or published. The City responded that it would maintain all invoice copies and make sure they have been approved. The administrative assistant will record all receipts and make deposits. The city also said that it would make sure to publish the yearly financial by April 1st of each year and that the asset list would be properly maintained going forward. The state also found that bid documentation was not properly main-
tained or provided to audit, as required by Ark. Code Ann. § 1458-303. During the review of payroll, the auditors noted the following: · The City made payments totaling $5,947 in excess of authorized salary, in noncompliance with Ark. Code Ann. § 14-58-203: o $4,845 to the Clerk/Treasurer/Payroll Preparer. o $1,102 to an Administrative Assistant. They were unable to determine if the Park Director’s salary was properly authorized, as the detailed payroll budget did not agree with the budgeted salary approved by ordinance. · Information provided by the City concerning compensated absences was determined to be inaccurate and unreliable. · Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System (APERS) payments were not always submitted timely, and the City paid penalties of $450 for late payments. The city reponded that the payroll amounts exceeded the authorized amounts because overtime was not figured into the budget and that future budgets would include overtime. The state found that
journal entries were not properly authorized, did not have supporting documentation, and appeared to be incorrect or incomplete. The remaining balances in the District Court and Small Claims/Civil bank accounts were not identified with receipt numbers for cases not yet adjudicated and the payments made on all unpaid time accounts, as required by Ark. Code Ann. § 16-10-209. The city responded that the Chief Clerk would continue to identify the remaining balances in the District Court and Small Claims/Civil bank accounts and distribute them. The following Information System weakness was discovered during a review of computers: Finding: The Disaster Recovery Plan in place was inadequate (both technical and end user) for restoring from short-term or long-term interruptions of computer processing. This situation could cause the entity to be without computer processing for an extended period of time in the event of a disaster or major interruption and could also place a financial and personnel burden on the resources of the entity. (Continued on p. 3)
WoodmenLife members beautify Carlisle... WoodmenLife members in Carlisle recently completed a beautification project as part of the organization’s Giving Together program. The chapter chose to work with the City of Carlisle’s Beautification Department to place mums and Kimberly ferns in various locations throughout Carlisle. For this project, Sales Representative, Mary Foster, along with the help of local WoodmenLife Chapter officers and members, purchased several yellow and orange mums and Kimberly ferns in containers and placed them at Rock Island Memorial Park, Carlisle City Park, Veterans Memorial Statue, the Carlisle Library, and throughout the downtown area. “WoodmenLife was built on a commitment to family, community and country, and Giving Together expands that foundation into a wider area,” said Sales Representative, Mary Foster. “We are so pleased to contribute to the City of Carlisle in this way and are excited to continue Giving Together in more areas of our town.”
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