TALLAHASSEE — More than six months after the deadline, the city of Springfield still hasn’t filed its annual financial report and audit with the state.
The reports, for fiscal year 2011-12, were due June 30, but were never submitted. In fact, the city only began to work on the audit a few months ago, after the deadline was missed. It also did not submit its community redevelopment agency (CRA) annual financial report for the same fiscal year.
The city is hoping the audit will be finished in a month and a half, so it can send the documents to the state, said Lauren Laramore, finance director
Laramore said she couldn’t speak to why the audit was started so late, noting she was hired in June.
“All of us are new here,” she said. “So we’ve got pretty much an entirely new staff, so I’m not sure of why it was running so behind.”
The city will not face any penalties for the tardiness for now, Laramore said. If it falls too far behind, she said the state could cut funding.
“We’ve not reached that point (though),” she said.
The Legislature Joint Legislative Auditing Committee had Springfield on its meeting agenda Monday, but ran out of time before the issue could be considered. More than 40 other cities and special districts across the state did not file their financial reports or audits and also were on the agenda.
The committee’s staff recommendation for Springfield was to act only if the financial report and audit weren’t received by March 31. The city originally told the state it hoped to finish the audit by the end of December, but later said it would be submitted at least by early March.
Laramore said Springfield has been working with the state, remaining in “constant communication.” She said submitting the financial report and audit in the next two months should ensure it loses no state funding.
Mayor Ralph Hammond pointed to the previous administration as the reason why the audit started so late. He said the city was running two years behind when he came into office in May. He said he had “no idea” what happened before that.
But Hammond said he wasn’t accusing anyone for the problems caused by the past administration.
“I’m not pointing no fingers. … It was the past administration, so, you know, but I’m not pointing fingers at no individual because it’s a group effort,” he said.
Hammond was confident financial documents would be submitted on time to the state in the future. He said the city is now 90 percent ready for the fiscal year 2012-13 audit.
He said in the past paperwork and receipts came up missing, but that won’t happen in the future because there’s a system of checks and balances in place.
“When (the auditors) come in, all we’ve got to do is give them the paperwork,” Hammond said.