City of Bogalusa Audit Report Published on LLA Website

The Audit Report of the City of Bogalusa (for the year ending December 31, 2017) by Robert A. Nielson, CPA, is now on the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's website. (Click here for the report) 

Nielson addressed the Bogalusa Council on July 17, 2018 regarding the audit. In his remarks, Nielson noted that the City is operating in the black, with more revenue than expenses, and also noted issues that date back many years, issues LLA Representative Bradley Cryer addressed separately. However, Nielson's report to the Council did not include details of other findings in his report.

The report had 16 findings, 11 of which were repeated from the previous year. The findings, including Nielson's recommendations and the City's responses, begin on page 105 of the report. The findings included:

• the City of Bogalusa Employee’s Retirement System (COBERS) was severely underfunded, with a funding ratio of 17 percent and a net pension liability of more than $22 million; 
• the City owed $2.1 million to Washington Parish for its share of the operating costs of the Choctaw Road Landfill; 
• the City had improperly borrowed money from its debt service funds and only partially repaid the money; 
• the City had not established a sinking fund required to make payments on its Series 2012 bonds;
• the City had not set up a separate accounting for water system operations; 
• the City's Landfill Fund, Youth Recreation and Parks Fund, and Street Improvement and Sales Tax Fund had negative balances of $443,450, $187,160, and $18,825, respectively;
• COBERS was invested in foreign stock, in violation of the investment policies of the plan; 
• the City did not include state supplemental pay in the calculation of wages paid to firefighters and police for compensated absences at the time of termination; 
• the City did not properly collect lease revenue from a tenant in its Industrial Complex. At year-end, the City was owed $60,000 in lease payments; 
• reimbursements related to airport grant projects were not billed and collected in a timely manner, and the City was owed a combined $536,565 from the federal and state governments. 

Click here for our previous story on the City's woes and what the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, Robert Nielson, and Mayor Wendy Perrette had to say.