Folks I really don’t know where to start except to report the State Auditor has released the Bay St Louis Performance Review, a 42 page document which drills down on the root causes of each and every major finding contained in the City’s 2014 audit report that included the Mayor Les Fillingame committing the Citizens to bank debt without City Council’s approval, among many other major internal control issues including a general failure to follow the financial portions of the Mississippi Home Rule Statute.
That the City is cash strapped with major budgetary issues is a given for anyone that has followed the coverage of the financial meltdown here on Slabbed. Even more disturbing is Mayor Fillingame’s steadfast refusal to hire a competent City Clerk while the clock runs on the deadline for the City to submit its 2015 FY Audit to the Single Audit Clearinghouse as required by law. It is a certainty the June 30, 2016 deadline will again be missed by the City marking the third straight year the City has been seriously delinquent closing its books.
More disturbing is that sources with knowledge of the operations of City Hall that are not authorized to speak with the media have disclosed to Slabbed that the City’s new audit firm has experienced their first “run in” with Mayor Fillingame, who is attempting to limit the scope of the audit procedures being applied in certain audit areas. [See paragraph .11]
With that set up and given that Slabbed, along with the Seacoast Echo, The Sun Herald and WLOX all covered the Performance Audit Presentation a few months back I figured the best way to present the report would be to present the Mayor’s belated response to the detailed analysis of the audit findings, which he submitted three weeks late, in a musical format so without further adieu: Continue reading “State Auditor releases City of Bay St Louis Performance Review, a Slabbed Musical Rendition”