Friday, October 11, 2024–9:04 a.m.

-John Bailey, Rome News-Tribune-

This story is possible because of a news-sharing agreement with the Rome News-Tribune. More information can be found at northwestgeorgianews.com

An audit of the Northwest Georgia Housing Authority is nearing completion.

Authority Executive Director Justin Jones told members of the board recently that, while it’s been a monumental task, they’re expecting to have the 2023 audit completed by the end of October.

One issue, Jones said, is that they needed to complete the 2022 audit, which had a large number of adjustments resulting from the audit filed in 2022.

“Typically what I see is four or five, (but) there were 200 pages of adjustments,” Jones told the board. If the audit for the previous year isn’t fully finished, then you can’t complete the audit for the next year, he said.

However, Jones told the board the audit process is a necessary one and he feels that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will allow them some wiggle room on the deadline. Jones said he anticipates sitting down with HUD representatives and laying out the reasons for the need for additional time.

The man spearheading the task, outside accountant Shango Oseitutu, told the board last week the audit is 75% complete and that they have two additional accountants working on the task.

“It’s not been cheap, but it’s been necessary,” Jones said.

Another boon, Jones said, is that they’ve finally hired an experienced chief financial officer to keep tracking up to date going forward. James Garvin, CPA, is starting work Friday, he said.

During his short time in the position, Jones has been working to streamline processes within the authority.

He gave the board the example of vendor billing. In the past property managers would handle submitting bills from vendors, now they’re working to enact a central billing system that would receive billing and then pay those vendors.

Another example has to do with dedicated funds. Within the authority there are a number of funding streams that are allocated for use only for specific projects. There also are general funds, which can be used for most purposes. Then there are federal funds only for use on federal projects, and the list goes on.

The authority has been working to establish processes to ensure funds that were issued incorrectly are repaid and those dedicated accounts are replenished.

Jones also suggested to the board that they consolidate the authority’s accounts in one location to streamline processes.