Oklahoma County Clerk Maressa Treat is joining District Attorney Vicki Behenna’s call for an independent audit of the county’s finances following multimillion-dollar accounting errors.
The county previously reported that approximately $14 million was available after being left out of its budget. Officials later determined more than $11 million of that amount was not available.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:Oklahoma County finances questioned after millions in budget figures change
Treat said no county money is missing. She said the discrepancy resulted from errors involving dates or financial figures being entered incorrectly.
“This isn’t a case of millions of dollars disappearing. The money isn’t missing,” Treat said. “What we have identified are errors in how information was entered and reported.”
Treat is also asking county leaders to review the different financial systems used across county offices. She said the lack of an integrated system makes it difficult to catch errors and verify countywide financial information.
Treat said she contacted the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector’s Office in August and will cooperate fully with any review.
“I welcome an audit, and my staff and I are fully committed to assisting auditors in every way possible,” Treat said. “Oklahoma County taxpayers deserve complete confidence in the financial information their government provides. When errors occur, our responsibility is to identify them, correct them and determine what changes are necessary to keep them from happening again.”
County commissioners are expected to consider the proposed audit Wednesday.
