State Auditor Finds No Issues Worth Pursuing In Jansen

By Gordon HopkinsDespite the failure of the Village Board of Jansen to issue bond reports as required by Nebraska statute as well as concerns raised by some residents over payments issued by the board in 2023, the Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts has found no issues that require further review.Deputy Auditor Craig Kubicek, CPA CFE, advised FJN via email, “There will be no report released regarding the audit of Jansen. We do review the audits submitted to our office; however, this would rarely result in a separate report.” Kubicek explained in a follow-up email, “As I had alluded to below, we do not plan on issuing a report regarding the Village’s fiscal year 2023 audit we received. We get over 2,700 audits/audit waivers throughout the year, and we perform various reviews of those depending on the filing received. We also have an anonymous hotline number and email for Nebraskans to raise issues about possible waste, mismanagement, or fraud within government. In connection with this, we help to provide accurate information to taxpayers and attempt to correct misperceptions about government.” Reason for the AuditThe State of Nebraska requires municipalities such as cities and counties to perform annual financial audits. However, some villages may be eligible for an audit waiver.According to the Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts (APA), the current threshold for allowing an audit waiver is for villages with total disbursements of $500,000 or less. A number of villages in Jefferson County have been eligible for audit waivers over the years. The Village of Daykin has filed a waiver every year since 2007. Endicott and Steele City have filed waivers every year since at least 2000.The State Auditor’s database available to the public does not have data reaching back before 2000.Jansen is also eligible and has not had a full audit since 2016. However, the board discussed the matter at a meeting on October 9, 2023, the village board opted to have an audit done. Board member Vern Niemand said at the time, “We just figured we’d go for a clean slate.”The audit was completed by Blobaum and Busboom, P.C. And sent to the state auditor’s office. Bond ReportsAccording to Nebraska Revised Statute 17-606, a village should prepare a bond report each year, “The city treasurer or village treasurer shall keep a record of all outstanding bonds against the city or village, showing the number and amount of each bond, for and to whom the bonds were issued, and the date upon which any bond is purchased, paid, or canceled. He or she shall accompany the annual statement submitted pursuant to section 19-1101 with a description of the bonds issued and sold in that year and the terms of sale, with every item of expense thereof.”In 2023, FJN reached out to Maureen Freeman-Caddy, an attorney handling public records requests for the village at that time, and asked for bond reports for the last six years. She indicated there are no bond reports.A bond report would not be necessary if there was no outstanding bonds. However, a “General Obligation Water Bond” in the amount of $750,000 was signed on March 13, 2020. The purpose of the bond was to provide funds for use by the village for paying the costs of constructing improvements to the existing water systems within the village and to pay certain costs of issuing the bond.Kubicek acknowledged that, “While we don’t disagree that the Village may be required to provide a report pursuant to § 17-606, we are not looking into every statutory requirement for each political subdivision during our audit report review unless significant issues are brought to our attention or are otherwise noted in the audit report itself.” Professional ServicesOn April 10, 2023, the village board approved a payment of $9,725 to board member Kesha Eldridge for what the meeting minutes describe as “professional services.” A list of the charges obtained from the board include some for water services, although no time cards, invoices or other details of those services were provided. Some of the charges date back to November, 2022.Below is the list of the payments to Eldridge in full, as it was presented to FJN: PayWastewater-$30/hour average•November 4 + 8 at 1.5x for winterizing pivot in a Saturday October 15 after my 30 day notice ended.•December 4•January 4•February 4•March 420 x $30 = $6008 x $45 = $360 Total $960Water base plus $30/hr average•November $250•December $250•January $250•February $250•March $250 + 7 at 1.5 x for saturday (sic) water leak March 25.$1250 + $315 = $1565 Clerk average•January 10/week (5) x $30 $1500•February 20/week (4) x $30 $2400•March 20/week (4) x $30 $2400•April 20/week (1.5) x $30 $900•Total 240 x $30 = $7200$7200 clerk$1565 water$960 wastewater$9725 totalA month later, Eldridge and all but one other member of the board resigned.Kubicek said, “As far as a potential conflict of interest for the payment to Kesha Eldridge, we would generally see if the Board approved the claim and if she abstained from voting which, according to the attached minutes, she did. The payment would have also been subject to testing by Blobaum and Busboom as part of the fiscal year 2023 audit.”

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