Martin Co. Clerk has two Findings in State Audit

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

INEZ —Martin County Clerk, Suzie Skyles has two findings in the audit released Tuesday by State Auditor Mike Harmon, including one for a deficit of $16,591 in her 2022 official bank account.

The audit says that the Martin County Clerk’s Office does not have adequate segregation of duties.

One employee collected cash, prepared the daily checkout sheet, prepared the deposit slip, and took the deposit to the bank, the audit said.

They recommended the county clerk’s office adequately segregate duties and implement internal controls to ensure transactions are recorded timely. Employees receiving payments and preparing deposits should not be posting to the receipts ledger and preparing bank reconciliations, the audit said. They also noted that proper segregation of duties may not be possible with a limited number of employees and if that is the case the county clerk or bookkeeper should review and document, the daily deposits, receipts and disbursement ledgers, monthly reports and bank reconciliations done by another employee.

“This always seems to hit us on every audit, I am going to double check each of the deputy clerk’s duties to see how we can switch everything around,” Skyles said in response to the recommendation.

The audit also said that the Martin County Clerk has a deficit of $16,591 in her 2022 official bank account.

“The county clerk overspent funds that were available to her in calendar year 2022. The deficit is primarily due to a lack of internal controls over the reconciliation process. Near the end of the calendar year, the county clerk found that she did not have enough funds to pay outstanding liabilities due to the taxing districts. The county clerk borrowed $30,000 from her 2023 operating account to pay the outstanding tax liabilities owed. Although the county clerk did not exceed budgeted operating expenditures, she failed to recognize revenue was not sufficient to cover her expenditures. The county clerk did not review monthly bank balances to determine if there were sufficient funds to pay outstanding liabilities. As a result, the county clerk owes the 2023 operating account $30,000. Strong internal controls and proper oversight procedures dictate that expenditures should be monitored closely and compared to budgets to ensure revenue is sufficient. If funds available are not sufficient to meet obligations, expenses must be reduced to compensate and to avoid overspending and a fund deficit,” the audit said.

The auditor recommended that the county clerk consult with the fiscal court and the county attorney to determine how to eliminate the deficit, up to and including using personal funds to pay the office’s obligations that are currently outstanding.

“I have spoken with my county attorney and county judge about ways to get assistance with clearing this deficit up. We know to watch in November and December since it has become two of the slowest months,” Skyles said in response to the recommendation.