HAZARD – The county judge and former jailer should repay money they were overpaid in 2010, the judge should present quarterly reports to the fiscal court, and greater controls should be applied to certain financial aspects of county government. Those findings were all included in a new state audit of the Perry County Fiscal Court released on Friday.

The audit covers the court’s fiscal year which ended on June 30, 2011, and while auditors noted that the county’s statements fairly represent the county’s finances, there were several issues noted by auditors on the final report.

In 2010, according to the audit, Perry County Judge-Executive Denny Ray Noble was inadvertently overpaid in the amount of $3,148, while former Jailer Johnny Blair was overpaid in the amount of $2,307.

Auditors noted that the salary schedules for both county judge and jailer are based on a bi-weekly schedule of 26 pay periods. In the 2010 calendar year, there was 27 pay periods, and it appears that the treasurer inadvertently paid each the judge and jailer an additional paycheck.

Auditors recommended that the treasurer take steps to assure the number of pay periods, and that Noble and Blair pay those funds back to the fiscal court. According to the county’s response, these issues are being evaluated.

The audit also noted that Judge Noble should prepare and present quarterly reports to the fiscal court, adding that they could find no evidence that such reports were being presented.

According to a state statute, county judges in Kentucky are required to, within 15 days after the end of each quarter, prepare a financial report including receipts, expenditures and transfers. The report should be posted in the courthouse and presented to the members of the fiscal court, and also read at the court’s following meeting.

The county responded that these reports will be prepared and presented to the fiscal court.

Other comments made by auditors included one that the county does not have “adequate controls over disbursements.” While performing tests, auditors noted that they found limited instances where invoices were not provided or not on file at the fiscal court, some invoices were not approved in the minutes, and one invoice was not approved within the required 30-day window.

Auditors recommend that officials reevaluate controls over disbursements, to which the county responded that action is being taken to ensure compliance.

Auditors also noted that the fiscal court should improve controls with payroll, noting that they found several issues with timesheets, including tests that found some timesheets did not indicate time taken for lunch or breaks, timesheets that were not signed by a supervisor, and one timesheet on which it appeared the employee’s timesheet did not agree with the supervisor’s accumulation of time.

Two other comments were made, noting that the county treasurer should establish controls over the public properties corporation, prepare an accurate liabilities schedule, and an updated depreciation schedule.

The audit report can be read in its entirety online at www.auditor.ky.gov.