Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2018)
SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2018 | 9A SIUSLAW VALLEY from page 1A might want to slow down on send- ing our people to training acade- mies,” he said. A conflag, or conflagration, is an extensive fire that destroys a great deal of land or property, and often requires a fire district to call for outside help. Departments who re- spond to these fires get paid, but the money tends to take time to actually enter the accounts. McClure explained that the short- fall faced by SVFR has come about due to a combination of overdue reimbursements from supporting California fire suppression efforts, later than expected arrival of tax allocations from Lane County and accounting errors made by McClure and her predecessor. McClure has asked for and re- ceived supplemental bookkeeping support and additional training from Kathy Taylor, a retired CPA, to assist her as she learns the proper procedures that should be used in the future by SVFR and WLAD. According to McClure, Tay- lor needed to extend her contract, which would require the board to authorize $9,000 in additional fund- ing. The SVFR board voted to ap- prove this. In a letter to the board, Taylor explained the errors that she has uncovered while working to bring McClure up to speed. She expressed surprise that the special audit work done at the end of last year returned a clean audit report, as she had found additional and ongoing er- rors in accounting. “You may recall I mentioned in one budget meeting that I was sur- prised you had received a ‘clean’ unqualified audit opinion last year,” Taylor wrote. “That is accoun- tant-speak for ‘the books are not auditable.’ Your auditor did not ar- range to perform a site visit before year end, which they had typically done in the past. I suspect the au- ditor may have been considering their ability to perform your audit this year if the situation had not improved. Auditors are required to maintain independence. Last year must have been problematic for your auditors based on my find- ings.” Taylor went on to say that the original contract that she entered into with SVFR and WLAD had assumed that the two organizations had integrated their accounting procedures prior to her work. This belief was the basis for her initial bid of $15,000. After seeing the state of the district’s books and working with McClure, Taylor requested the additional $9,000 to complete her work. “I assumed that meant one gen- eral ledger was in place with a subsidiary company. That was my misunderstanding,” she said in her letter. “There are actually two com- pletely separate sets of books, with two completely separate charts of account. This in itself is not a seri- ous increase in effort. I believe we could easily be done with ONE en- tity for under the original budget of $15,000. … At this point, however, I predict the total will be closer to $24,000 for both. “The scope hasn’t changed as much as the depth of the extraor- dinarily inaccurate accounting for both entities which had been that way for at least two years.” The reaction to McClure’s report and the attached letter from Tay- lor seemed to stun the directors, as reports from McClure over the last few months had given no indica- tion that SVFR was facing a revenue shortfall of this size. During the meeting, McClure did mention that there is a strong possibility that the shortfall should be reduced by $200,000 to $300,000 when outstanding reimbursements and delayed tax revenue have been received. This observation did little to calm the audience or the board. Langborg provided a response to the concerns in a later discussion with the Siuslaw News. “The information presented in Mrs. Taylor’s letter is the result of the work we hired her to do in the spring of this year. This work in- cluded reviewing and reorganizing our financial records while creating new processes to ensure accurate accounting in the future. District staff and the board of directors were aware that we had bookkeeping er- rors prior to this report, which is why we hired her,” Langborg said. “I asked Mrs. Taylor to write this letter to provide an accurate picture of the challenges we are facing so that our board would understand why we are asking for additional funding to continue her work. In other words, the work that needs to be done to correct these problems is well under way. Before you can fix a problem, you need to know what to fix.” In regard to the newly projected shortfall faced by SVFR, Langborg believes the solution would be sim- ple if it is still needed later in the year. “The shortfall in the amount of money available to be used at the beginning of the new fiscal year was the result of a miscalculation made during the budgeting process, in- creased waiting times for grant and wildfire response reimbursements and the increased cost of providing service,” he stated. “We currently have and will continue to have mon- ey to deliver service. If needed, the district can utilize a line of credit provided by a local bank to provide funding until tax revenue begins coming in November.” Director John Carnahan, himself a longtime supporter and former employee of the district, expressed disbelief over the whole situation. “For over 60 years, this depart- ment has never borrowed money,” he said. “It makes me absolutely sick that we are in this position, and the things that led up to it. I think we need to take some action and I would like to discuss this in execu- tive session.” The board then adjourned into executive session to discuss the is- sues. While still in the public comment section of the meeting, Marvin Ti- pler, a retired operations chief with SVFR, said, “I spent 35 years as a volunteer and paid person here. It is absolutely appalling to me to see this department being destroyed the way it is being destroyed. You guys hired one person to manage this de- partment. To need to borrow half a million dollars to keep the depart- ment running for the rest of the year is just appalling to me.” He said he believed the mon- ey had been mismanaged and that “there should be over $1 million in the bank.” “If the money had been saved, like it was supposed to be saved, like the budget said it would be saved — but there were a million excuses,” Tipler said. “… You guys hired one person and charged him with running the district. I think it is very well prov- en how this district has been run for the past few years. And it’s up to you guys to do something about it.” The comments by Tipler were fol- lowed by those from former WLAD board member Ann Stonelake. “I sat on this board for 20-some- thing years and, if I’d seen all the mess that’s in this letter, I would have asked for an independent au- ditor to come in an and audit the books for one, two or three years in a row,” Stonelake said. “This is in- excusable, and I am appalled at the mess we are in.” Separate from McClure’s report, Langborg announced his resigna- tion during his Chief Director Re- port. He informed the board that he has accepted a position with an- other fire district, though he did not release the city’s name. Board President Ron Green ac- cepted Langborg’s resignation and mentioned the chief had informed him prior to the meeting of his deci- sion to accept the other job. Green then thanked Langborg for his efforts over the past few years and wished him well. At the conclusion of the meeting, Green summarized the next steps that will be taken by the SVFR and WLAD boards to not only begin the search to replace Langborg, but to clarify the future relationship be- tween the two districts. Green reminded the room that the two boards have each designat- ed two sitting members to form a committee that will work together to determine an acceptable course forward for the IGA. “The committee will create guidelines for measuring the IGA’s effectiveness,” Green said. “That in- cludes financial effectiveness and, most importantly, operational effec- tiveness. It will review performance and create guidelines to insure the IGA is operating effectively. They will also develop a job description for a chief director.” According to Green, the next board meeting for SVFR and WLAD will be a joint meeting, to be held at SVFR Main Station, 2625 Highway 101, on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 6 p.m. The meeting will be open to the public. This story was approved by the Siuslaw News editorial board. African art quilts coming to Yachats Aug. 25 This show will be on display in the Yach- ats Commons, 441 N. Highway 101, Satur- day, Aug. 25, and Sunday, Aug. 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is a suggested $7 donation. Chatelain employs a dynamic and char- acteristic style, marked by dreamlike im- agery, elaborate use of color and intricate thread detail. She creates unique composi- tions that address challenging social, envi- ronmental and political themes. Her work is found in public and private collections around the world and can be viewed at hollisart.com. For more information, visit www.polly- plumb.org. The “Stories of West Africa Art Quilt Show” is coming to Yach- ats this month, a collection of art quilts created by internationally renowned award-winning artist Hollis Chatelain. n NOW! o g in o g n egistratio R e u g a e L g Bowlin Fall/ Winter nds frie some new league! h it w p u g Team in a bowlin jo u o y n e h w We also have open bowling, fun for the whole family! Monday Night - Scratch League Tuesday Night - Open League Wednesday Aft ernoon - Seniors Wednesday Night - Mixed Social Th ursday Night - Men’s League Friday Aft ernoon - Seniors Saturday Aft ernoon - Junior League Sunday Night - Mixed Social Holiday Bowl Everyone is Welcome at Holiday Bowl 27th and Highway 101. Florence 541-997-3332 Hillside FREE ADMISSION A NATURAL FIT August 18 & 19, 2018 Florence Events Center FOR YOUR RETIREMENT 715 Quince Street, Florence, OR Saturday, 10-5 • Sunday 10-3:30 Set on 57 acres in the heart of Oregon wine country, you’ll find Hillside. With luxury accommodations, a full calendar of activities and beautiful surroundings complete with walking trails, gardens and wildlife, our senior living community is designed for your needs and your zest for life. Florence Coin Show Call 1-844-388-5640 today to attend our Gift of Life Care workshop at 11 a.m. Friday, September 21. COINS, STAMPS AND CURRENCY Free Appraisals For more information contact: A Life Care* Community 300 NW Hillside Park Way | McMinnville, Oregon 97128 brookdalelifecare.com DENNIS HANKINS 541-401-0949 OR TERRY WOODWARD 541-997-2682 BUY - SELL TRADE *Life Care plan/guarantee is subject to the terms of the Residency Contract. 165640-1 SR ©2018 Brookdale Senior Living Inc. All rights reserved. BROOKDALE SENIOR LIVING and BRINGING NEW LIFE TO SENIOR LIVING are the registered trademarks of Brookdale Senior Living Inc. Bringing New Life to Senior Living®