2011 Maverick County Financial Statements approved by Commissioners Court
By: Jose G. Landa
An Exclusive Eagle Pass Business Journal News Story/Copyright 2013
The Maverick County Commissioners Court approved the 2011 Maverick County Financial Statements by a 4-0-1 vote presented by Martinez, Rosario & Company, LLP, Certified Public Accountants of San Antonio, Texas, on Thursday, May 30, 2013, at a special Commissioners Court meeting held at Commissioners Court, 500 Quarry Street, in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Maverick County Judge David Saucedo and Commissioners Roberto Ruiz, Jose Luis Rosales, and Jerry Morales voted to approve the overdue 2011 Maverick County Financial Statements while Commissioner Daniela Aleman voted to abstain because she was not a County Commissioner during the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
Ismael “Milo” Martinez, CPA, presented the 2011 Maverick County Financial Statements to Maverick County Commissioners Court at the May 30th special meeting as well as at another special meeting held on Monday, May 27, 2013, during an Executive Session agenda item with consultation of legal counsel regarding the 2011 Maverick County Financial Statements.
In the Independent Auditor’s Report by Martinez, Rosario & Company, LLP, presented at the May 30th meeting, the Auditors expressly state that “the County does not currently have adequate accounting records in regards to its capital assets. Also, the County does not have adequate accounting records for all internal due to/due from amounts as of September 30, 2010. In addition, the County does not have adequate accounting records for its accounts payable balances as of September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2011 and its revenues, expenses and expenditures for the year ended September 30, 2011. Furthermore, we were unable to perform certain audit procedures necessary for certain related party contingencies and other matters. The County’s records do not permit the application of other auditing procedures to its capital assets, all of its internal due to/due from amounts, its accounts payable balances, revenues, expenses and expenditures, certain related party contingencies and other matters.”
The Independent Auditor’s Report further states that “the County’s financial statements do not report and disclose sufficient information in regards to capital assets and related depreciation expense. In our opinion, the reporting and disclosure of that information is required to conform with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.”
The Independent Auditor’s Report further states that “Since the County’s accounting records are inadequate, and we were not able to apply other auditing procedures to satisfy ourselves as to its capital assets, all of its internal due to/due from amounts, its accounts payable, its revenues, expenses and expenditures, certain related party contingencies and other matters, the scope of our work was not sufficient to enable us to express, and we do not express, any opinions on these financial statements.”
The Independent Auditor’s Report points out that “certain errors resulting in the misstatement of interfund receivables and payables, certain accounts receivable, accounts payable, intergovernmental payables, capital assets and accumulated depreciation as of September 30, 2010, and the over statement of certain revenues and expenses, the understatement of miscellaneous revenues and depreciation expense for the year ended were discovered in May 2013. Accordingly, adjustments have been made to net assets and fund balances as of September 30, 2010 to correct the errors.”
The 2011 Maverick County Financial Statements present many accounting deficiencies and errors in the County’s accounting and financial management and procedures questioning the integrity and veracity of the County’s overall financial situation. The 2011 Maverick County Financial Statements show that the County’s Government Fund had a combined deficit fund balance of $4,563,756 as of September 30, 2011. In addition, the County’s General Fund had a deficit of $1,562,938 and the County’s Road and Bridge Fund had a deficit of another $4,478,938. Also, the County’s Texas Department of Transportation 3 Fund had a deficit of another $1,367,266. The County’s Non-Major Government Fund had a combined deficit of $2,845,386.
There are too numerous deficiencies reported in the 2011 Maverick County Financial Statements to write in one article but a few of them include that the Maverick County Payroll Department was printing blank payroll checks that had been pre-signed, a complete report of the Maverick County Solid Waste Authority (MCSWA) financial records was unavailable due to the confiscation of records by federal and state law enforcement authorities, that approximately $10,362,133 of expenditures and accounts payables did not have approved purchase orders, that $3,964,498 of these expenditures did not have a supporting invoice, that the County did not record certain fines it received during the months of August and September 2011 in the amount of $45,915, that the County Auditor failed to present monthly financial reports to Commissioners Court as required by the Texas Local Government Code, and that the County generally had inadequate County-wide accounting, internal controls and financial reporting procedures and poor cash controls without bank reconciliations.
To review the 2011 Maverick County Financial Statements, you can go to the County of Maverick’s website at: www.co.maverick.tx.us and go to the Financial Transparency Section and click on Audit. Every Maverick County citizens should take the time to read and review the 2011 Maverick County Financial Statements to understand the current financial crisis the County is in and having to work itself out of. The report notes that the County’s government-wide non-current liabilities at September 30, 2011 were $67,003,375. Bon Appetit reading the 2011 Maverick County Financial Statements!
