La Grange Likely To Avoid Audit Lateness: Official

LA GRANGE, IL – A top La Grange official announced Monday that the village was on track to meet the state's deadline for completing its audit.

That's a far cry from last year's audit, which wasn't completed until nearly a year after the budget year ended.

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At the time, officials made no announcements that the village was late. They were prompted to acknowledge the situation after a Patch inquiry based on a local watchdog's comments at a public meeting.

The village blamed the delay on its shorthanded finance department.

In June, La Grange hired the Lauterbach & Amen accounting firm to handle the village's finances, with Kathleen Morley as the contracted finance director.

"I'm happy to share that the audit process that began in May has gone well under the leadership of director Morley," Village Manager Jack Knight told the Village Board. "Final fieldwork wrapped up a little less than two weeks ago, and we are on schedule for the draft audit report to be ready for the beginning of October."

Under state law, a town must complete its audit within six months after the budget year ends.

For last year's audit, the village was nearly five months late. The board did not receive the document until nearly a year after the budget year ended.

The auditors turned up "significant deficiencies," but La Grange received a "clean" audit opinion, as nearly all public bodies do.