Check snafu

Finance director says names accidentally marked out of St. Rose Fire Station check report

A check registry showing exactly what the St. Rose Volunteer Fire Department did with their money last year has been modified, with several names on the report lined through with a permanent black marker.

After a council member brought this to the attention of Lorrie Toups, who is the parish’s financial director, Toups discovered that a treasurer’s error led to the mistake.

But when asked the treasurer’s name, Toups said she didn’t know it.

“I already discussed this with a council member who asked me the same question,” Toups said. “The new treasurer of the fire department crossed the names out because he thought that payroll was not a part of public record.”

Toups says after she discussed this issue with the treasurer, he quit marking out the names.

“I told him that everything except for the Social Security number, personal address and personal phone number of a paid employee was subject to public record request,” she said.

While that issue has been resolved, Councilman-at-large Terry Authement has researched all the other issues involving the fire department and made a presentation to the council last month. Authement spoke with the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office and they are currently conducting a full investigation.

“I understand that Larry Cochran contacted the sheriff’s office and requested a full investigation into this matter, and himself,” he said.

Authement explained that the auditor reviews every audit with the state’s Legislative Auditor. If they believe that fraud or criminal activity has occurred, they refer their findings to the Louisiana Ethics board and the local district attorney. They then review the case further to see if any action is required.

“The St. Charles Parish Finance Department reviewed the previous audit, as with all audits, and was aware of all conditions in the auditor’s report during the audit process,” Authement said. “The finance department also tests the quarterly reports received from all departments too, on a continuing process, to verify that the report complies with good accounting practices and that the report is not false.”

Authement says an example of this is a check sheet they follow to verify that certain funds have been deposited into the correct bank accounts.

“Be assured St. Charles Parish is watching,” he said. “St. Charles Parish acts as an agent collecting and distributing the funds from the one eighth of a cent sales tax to the St. Charles Parish Firemen’s Association. This is no different from how the St. Charles Parish School Board collects sales taxes for the St. Charles Parish government and disburses those funds allocated to St. Charles Parish.”

Ronald Dawson, a partner of Ericksen, Krentel, & LaPorte LLP accounting, will be reviewing the financial records from the fire station’s activities from the previous year.

The audit has not yet begun.