County hiring consultants to help meet state law

<p>The Johnson County Auditor’s Office says it needs to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars over two years to bring the county’s accounting practices in alignment with a state law.</p><p>County commissioners approved spending up to $188,000 over two years for the county to hire Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors to help the county bring up accounting practices under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The contract must still be approved by the county’s legal team.</p><p>The county received a notice in late August that a state law had passed that would require all schools, municipalities and counties who may seek bonds to file annual financial reports using the generally accepted accounting principals.</p><p>The accounting practices the county has been using are not being questioned.</p><p>However, the county must use new practices to meet the new state law, Johnson County Auditor Pam Burton said.</p><p>The county may not spend the entire $188,000 and the amount is an estimate that would cover auditors office employees who might need to consult Baker Tilley to make sure they are following the best practices. The county would only be billed for actual time and expenses incurred, she said.</p><p>The county’s goal is to do as much work internally as possible and over time, to minimize the need for outside help, Burton said.</p><p>Baker Tilly will build reporting processes for the county that meet the law’s requirements and to help identify which of the county’s source reports are most reliable from the county’s accounting system, she said.</p><p>County commissioners and the county council have grappled for months on the best approach to bring the county in line with the state law. The commissioners and county council had a joint meeting last month to discuss the state law and to consider a proposal to contract with Baker Tilly.</p><p>All of the commissioners said they were frustrated that they must spend money to change accounting practices to abide by a state law.</p><p>&quot;I have heartburn over this whole thing,&quot; county commissioner Kevin Walls said.</p>