William Fowler

William Fowler, the interim city auditor, introduced himself as “interim city auditor” and said he was “interim to the auditor.” He described his role as unusual because he is “not here for much longer,” and said his first goals were to “come in and try to stabilize operations,” help with “the hiring of a permanent city auditor,” and “institute policies and procedures to protect the city’s financial condition.”

Fowler said his department has focused on training staff in proper accounting practices. He reported that they are “making headway” and praised the team, saying, “I have some very bright people on staff who have not been trained,” and “we’re already getting more use out of them.” He also noted that he does not spend as much time training as he would like because of day-to-day operations, but said staff is improving “every day.” Fowler specifically highlighted Kara, saying she “has been an exceptional help,” and described her as “kind of the front end where she’s catching what I’m missing.”

On staffing, Fowler said the budget includes a new senior grant manager and special revenue accountants. He noted that there is currently no assistant city auditor because that position was eliminated last year and the funding was spread between two analysts. He said the department is understaffed in some areas and warned that this “could potentially jeopardize the city’s financial position.” He said the assistant city auditor position “should be back” at some point, but added that it would be for whoever replaces him to make that case next year.

Fowler also discussed audit services, saying there is an increase because the city is “just finally paying off the 24 audit” after delays. He said he held back some money and that the city signed with a new auditor this year, which he hopes will make things “a lot smoother” and provide better input on correcting city issues.

He explained that a staff member previously funded half by ARPA and half by the city was brought back from the assessor’s office because his office needed support and because Fowler lost his AP clerk to the elections director position. Fowler called the arrangement “a stopgap” and said much of the department is in a stopgap mode. He clarified that the grants position is new, will be covered for the year, with the first six months under ARPA and the rest from his budget. He also distinguished between general fund and special revenue, saying the office has had problems setting up grants properly and that the goal is to ensure grants are placed in the proper fund and monitored for expiration dates. No votes were recorded for Fowler’s presentation.