Pocatello For Accountable Government Entities reported yesterday that the City of Pocatello was fined $7,500 for failure to submit the Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2021 to the Idaho Bond Bank Authority. This is the fourth consecutive year that the city has failed to submit these records in a timely manner.
On their social media site, P.A.G.E. explains the details of the situation and how they became aware of it:
FYI, Pocatello
The Materials/Claims report presented to Council on 06/02/22, contained a $7500 expense to the Idaho Bond Bank Authority with the description “FY20 Audit/Failure toFile” (sic)Materials/Claims report showing the $7,500 fine
The Idaho Bond Bank Authority is a state level authority that ” . . . lends money to local governments within the state, with the goal of providing funds for their infrastructure needs and access to the capital markets at competitive interest rates.” https://sto.idaho.gov/Debt…/Idaho-Bond-Bank-Authority-IBBA
Unexpectedly, P.A.G.E. learned from a public record request that ” . . . this is the fourth year in a row that the same failure has occurred.”
A portion of the letter accompanying the invoice indicates that this could have negative ramifications to our city’s rating and impact current as well as future municipal borrowing.
Letter explaining the fine and its potential ramifications for the city. (Redaction added by P.A.G.E., because the addressee is only the recipient of this correspondence.)
Our public record request also revealed this most recent 2022 payment is for the late FY21 audit (not yet completed) and an additional $8500 was spent in 2021 for late fees/fines associated with the late FY20 audit.
In addition to the $16,000 in fines incurred in year 2021-to-present, based on the letter, if similar fines of $7500/year were also incurred for FY18 and FY19, then up to 31,000 in fines may have been expended since 2019.
Certainly, recent turnover in Finance has played a significant role, but this is now a FOUR year occurrence. Does this concern you, Pocatello?
To view the original post and the responses it has garnered, click here.
