Rincon’s financial health is improving, auditors told Rincon City Council.

“It’s getting better,” said auditor Donald Caines of Caines, Hodges, Pace and Corbitt in Rincon.“Most of your numbers remained relatively consistent.”

However, revenues in the proprietary funds were up 20 percent, from $1,695,004 in 2005 to $2,189,984 in 2006.

“It’s a little more than I expected,” Caines admitted.

Expenses were down significantly, by about $300,000.  Caines attributed this change to the decrease in legal fees for the year and several well buybacks.

The SPLOST fund was up by $1.1 million.

Caines was concerned about there being more money in the impact fee fund than is needed because of the city not moving funds out of it quickly enough.

Currently, the city receives money from impact fees and uses money from the general fund to pay for impact fee expenses out of the general fund without reimbursing the general fund from the impact fee fund.

Caines recommended the council move that money out of the impact fee fund as soon as it is spent.
In addition, Caines noted that there were several instances of improper recording of revenues. The city could not identify the source of some funds. The discrepancies were attributed in part to the city switching over to a new accounting system and hiring a new finance director at the time.

However, the auditors were able to get close to the exact amounts.

Caines voiced his concern about the city being overspent in streets and lanes and not spending enough on debt services. He also recommended the city establish a debt service fund for reporting purposes.
The city was cited for not approving two capital purchases, which were both police cars. According to policy, purchases over $1,000 need approval by the city council and mayor.

“We need to be consistent with what our policies are,” Caines said.

Overall, he did not find any major problem areas.

“Internal controls seem to be stronger; expenses are not out of hand,” Caines noted.