Progress is made on Struthers audit

Council approved 2.5-percent pay increases for nonelected employees not covered by other contracts.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS -- Progress was made Wednesday toward resolving long-standing issues that have prevented the release of the final 2003-04 city audit, Mayor Daniel Mamula said.
Mamula told city council Wednesday that he had met at length earlier in the day with the state auditor's regional director in Youngstown. He said they agreed that "issues affecting the release of the final audit must be resolved so we can move forward with the 2005-06 audit."
That's good news, the mayor said, because the city is due for another regular audit this year.
In the draft audit presented to the city Nov. 29, 2006, state auditors said five city employees were overpaid in 2004 and in those cases issued findings for recovery.
However, Mamula refused to sign off on the report and called the document "misleading and incomplete. The official audit should at least acknowledge the extend of the problem more clearly ... and recommend corrective action to remedy the situation."
What's delayed release
Mamula's refusal to sign off has held up release of the audit.
City council also sent a letter to the state auditor saying because of the delay in receiving the audit results, about a year after auditors completed their work in Struthers, the use of the document as a management tool was "severely diminished."
Mamula and several council members have been at odds with city Auditor Tina Morell and disputed the accuracy of some of the financial information she presented to state auditors.
However, Morell has said that the audit confirms her numbers are correct. Referring to the overpayment of five employees that led to findings for recovery, she said one of the findings was for an employee who left before she came into office. Checks for three of the other four were prepared by the previous auditor, and she said she signed them so the employees could get paid. Of these four, three are no longer employees.
In other action, council approved 2.5-percent pay increases for a number of nonelected employees who are not covered by contract. The raise is the same percentage as those received by other employees in previously negotiated contracts, Mamula said.
In his report to council, Safety Service Director John Sveda said that the city will soon be getting several automatic cardiac defibrillators to aid heart attack victims.
alcorn@vindy.com