By Krystle S. Morey
After being faulted by the state regarding an audit of its finances, the village of Granville has adopted a policy that will govern the amount of money it keeps in each of its funds.
The village board voted unanimously last week to put in place a plan to regulate its reserves.
The state Comptroller’s Office spent months reviewing the village’s budgets for the sewer fund and whether it took appropriate action to maintain the village’s overall fiscal stability. An audit released in July found that the village board consistently overestimated revenues and underestimated appropriations in the sewer fund budgets for fiscal years 2014-15 through 2016-17.
“The board overestimated revenues by a total of $118,684 (7.8 percent) and underestimated revenues by a total of $52,288 (3 percent) for the three-year period,” read the report.
Auditors said the board’s consistent over-expenditure of budgeted appropriations each year showed “a lack of realistic budgeting.”
To address the shortfalls, state officials recommended the village board adopt budgets that include adequate recurring revenues to finance recurring expenditures; formulate a plan to eliminate the sewer fund deficit; and adopt a fund balance policy to govern the level of fund balance to be maintained in each of the its funds.
The fund balance policy adopted at a board meeting last week, said Mayor Brian LaRose, will address the issue of governing its fund balance.
As far as eliminating the fund balance deficit in the sewer fund and improve cash flow in all funds, the village opted to raise water rents by $25 for each household unit, for a total of $385 annually, in 2018-19.
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