Sidney’s Financial Records Subpoenaed By Indiana State Board Of Accounts
March 11, 2020 at 12:22 a.m.
By Jackie [email protected]
According to councilwoman Sharon Rancourt, the State Board of Accounts called and notified Clerk-treasurer Lydia Neal the town is being subpoenaed because Sidney did not file the 2019 six-month reports or the year-end 2019 reports. As a result, the town finances are now being subpoenaed.
The town is supposed to submit paperwork twice a year, and in 2019 that was never done. February 28 was the deadline to file for an extension and that wasn't met.
“This is not to be taken lightly,” Rancourt said. “This is serious stuff.”
Neal said she still has the forms partially filled out, but they’re filled out wrong. She said she’s working to fix the problem.
The reports have to be filed through Gateway. It’s mandatory the forms are filled out and submitted through Gateway or the town is looking at getting fined, Neal said.
The town council also voted to become part of Advance Indiana Municipality during its Monday meeting.
The fee to join, according to Rancourt, is based on town size. Sidney’s fee would be $500. Sidney was part of the organization until 2015, but didn't pay the fees.
Rancourt said there will be several benefits to that, including having access to a team of lawyers, which the town can use instead of using the town's attorney every time they have legal questions or issues to deal with.
The town council also voted, upon becoming part of AIM, to ask the organization about the legality of the town having a laptop for the town's use. If it’s legal for the town to have a laptop, the council will purchase one.
Neal said she didn't want to use her personal laptop for town business. She said previous clerk-treasurer Etta Hurd had done town work on her computer and handed everything over when she quit at February’s meeting.
Neal stated the longer it takes to get a town laptop, the further behind she gets in getting work done for the town.
One of the AIM rules is that the town paperwork can't be saved to a computer hard drive. Neal said other towns have computers, so it must be fine.
Town Council President Jack Wolfe said the county has computers, and if someone goes to the county courthouse, they look up everything up on computers.
Councilman Gavin Parrett just wants to verify whether the wording means an external hard drive or an internal one. He believes it means an external hard drive, but just wants to verify.
In other business, the town council:
• Learned the council has set up a Pierceton post office box for mail, paying $54 for an annual fee. Parrett and Neal would be the only ones who would have access to the post office box.
• Voted unanimously to rent an office space at 307 S. Main St., Sidney, for the clerk-treasurer's office for $250 a month. Once the town council is moved into the space, Neal said she will establish office hours.
• Heard an estimate from Timothy S. Woodward, superintendent of Turkey Creek Regional Sewer, for replacing the grinder at the waste water plant in town.
The grinder is 13 years old. The estimate was $10,000.
In 2014, the town had a lightning strike in that area and the sewer pump was replaced.
Woodward also talked about possibly doing sludge testing for the town. He said by doing testing every couple of months, it’ll help the sewer system work better in the long run.
According to councilwoman Sharon Rancourt, the State Board of Accounts called and notified Clerk-treasurer Lydia Neal the town is being subpoenaed because Sidney did not file the 2019 six-month reports or the year-end 2019 reports. As a result, the town finances are now being subpoenaed.
The town is supposed to submit paperwork twice a year, and in 2019 that was never done. February 28 was the deadline to file for an extension and that wasn't met.
“This is not to be taken lightly,” Rancourt said. “This is serious stuff.”
Neal said she still has the forms partially filled out, but they’re filled out wrong. She said she’s working to fix the problem.
The reports have to be filed through Gateway. It’s mandatory the forms are filled out and submitted through Gateway or the town is looking at getting fined, Neal said.
The town council also voted to become part of Advance Indiana Municipality during its Monday meeting.
The fee to join, according to Rancourt, is based on town size. Sidney’s fee would be $500. Sidney was part of the organization until 2015, but didn't pay the fees.
Rancourt said there will be several benefits to that, including having access to a team of lawyers, which the town can use instead of using the town's attorney every time they have legal questions or issues to deal with.
The town council also voted, upon becoming part of AIM, to ask the organization about the legality of the town having a laptop for the town's use. If it’s legal for the town to have a laptop, the council will purchase one.
Neal said she didn't want to use her personal laptop for town business. She said previous clerk-treasurer Etta Hurd had done town work on her computer and handed everything over when she quit at February’s meeting.
Neal stated the longer it takes to get a town laptop, the further behind she gets in getting work done for the town.
One of the AIM rules is that the town paperwork can't be saved to a computer hard drive. Neal said other towns have computers, so it must be fine.
Town Council President Jack Wolfe said the county has computers, and if someone goes to the county courthouse, they look up everything up on computers.
Councilman Gavin Parrett just wants to verify whether the wording means an external hard drive or an internal one. He believes it means an external hard drive, but just wants to verify.
In other business, the town council:
• Learned the council has set up a Pierceton post office box for mail, paying $54 for an annual fee. Parrett and Neal would be the only ones who would have access to the post office box.
• Voted unanimously to rent an office space at 307 S. Main St., Sidney, for the clerk-treasurer's office for $250 a month. Once the town council is moved into the space, Neal said she will establish office hours.
• Heard an estimate from Timothy S. Woodward, superintendent of Turkey Creek Regional Sewer, for replacing the grinder at the waste water plant in town.
The grinder is 13 years old. The estimate was $10,000.
In 2014, the town had a lightning strike in that area and the sewer pump was replaced.
Woodward also talked about possibly doing sludge testing for the town. He said by doing testing every couple of months, it’ll help the sewer system work better in the long run.
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