MADIGAN WANTS AUDIT IN ORAN

ORAN -- A former member of the Oran Board of Alderman is seeking a state audit to find $11,893 that was reported missing in the most recent city audit.

The audit for the fiscal year ending March 31 shows a cash shortage.

Walt Madigan, who served on the town board from 1989 to 1992, said he doesn't think anyone took the money. He blames the shortfall on a bookkeeping error.

That also is the stance of the board of aldermen. Aldermen have asked City Collector Jean Neal to search the records to try to discern the mistake.

Some double entries have been found during the past two months, but nothing yet to account for the almost $12,000 missing.

Wilfred Bucher, who lives near town and operates his own accounting firm in Sikeston, said in the city's audit that with the "lack of adequate records, there is no assurance as to which city monies are short."

This is the first year the city has learned money might be missing, Madigan said. He thinks the state auditor's office might have a better chance of getting to the bottom of the matter.

But a state audit could cost $4,000 to $12,000, according to a petition Madigan is circulating to secure signatures of residents who want a state audit.

The audit will require signatures from 20 percent of Oran residents who cast ballots in the 1992 gubernatorial election -- about 120.

Madigan is trying for 150, and he is about 50 shy of his goal now.

Madigan said he hopes to have the required amount by the end of the month. He intends to go to the town board meeting Dec. 6 and ask city officials what they are doing about the matter.

"If the board is trying to find the missing money, we may give the city more time before sending in the petition," Madigan said.

If the petitions are submitted to the state auditor's office, Madigan has been told it will be three to six months before a state audit could begin.

Bucher said there is no easy solution to the problem.

"I don't know of any way that the question can be resolved, especially without spending a lot more money," he said.

The city records might be correct, only inadequate, and money isn't missing, Bucher said.

"I believe it is a waste of money to call for a state audit," he said. "I think it will cost at least $10,000 and maybe $15,000.

"If it was me as a citizen, if I lost the money, then spent the same amount to find it, then I've spent twice as much," said Bucher, who lived in town until last year. "If it's not missing, then I've spent that much to find out nothing."

Alderman Tom Urhahn, president of the board, doesn't believe the state auditor will find anything different than what city officials already know -- bookkeeping procedures were inadequate.

Urhahn said no one on the town's board believes the money was taken. And even if it was, the past bookkeeping system would make it impossible to determine who might be at fault.

During the past fiscal year, the city switched some of its billing and record keeping to a computer system, and mistakes were made in the switch.

Urhahn said the city can't afford the audit, which he called unnecessary. If the annual audit couldn't pinpoint the problem, he said, a state audit won't either.

Urhahn believes the city is using better methods of bookkeeping. Daily receipts of revenues are being used and deposits are made more often.

Urhahn said the audit at the end of this fiscal year will give city officials a better handle on local finances.