Ala. (WBMA) — Hoover leaders could ask state examiners to help answer unresolved questions about city receipts and expenditures identified during outside audits of nearly three years of the city’s financial records
The Hoover City Council is scheduled Monday to consider a resolution authorizing city leaders to contact the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts for assistance resolving issues raised by audits performed by Kroll Inc.
The city’s own resolution says the Kroll audits “raise questions regarding the propriety of some receipts and expenditures which are presently unresolved.”
For taxpayers, the central question is straightforward: Was the city’s money received and spent properly?
Right now, the documents do not provide an answer.
They also do not identify how much money is involved, which transactions are in question or whether Kroll determined any city money was actually misspent.
Audits covered nearly three years
Hoover hired Kroll to audit financial records covering Oct. 27, 2020, through Sept. 30, 2023, according to the proposed resolution.
The audits have since been delivered to the mayor and City Council.
But city documents indicate Kroll has been unable to fully answer the questions its work raised.
According to the resolution, Kroll representatives told the city they do not have sufficient legal authority to obtain information necessary to determine whether the receipts and expenditures were proper to the satisfaction of the council.
The resolution does not identify what information Kroll still needs, who has that information or whether anyone has declined to provide it.
Why Hoover could turn to state examiners
The Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts is the state’s legislative audit agency.
Hoover’s proposed resolution would authorize the mayor, council president or their designees to contact the department and request its assistance in resolving the outstanding issues.
City leadership would also be required to keep council members informed about information received from state examiners.
The resolution does not say the state has already agreed to review the matter.
What taxpayers still don’t know
The wording of the resolution raises significant questions that aren’t answered by the City Council packet.
- How much money is associated with the questioned transactions
- What specific receipts or expenditures Kroll identified
- Which city departments, accounts or vendors are involved
- What additional information Kroll needs
- Why Kroll has been unable to obtain it
- Whether any transaction has actually been determined to be improper
That distinction is important.
The resolution says the audits raise questions about whether some receipts and expenditures were proper. It does not say Kroll concluded money was wasted, missing, improperly spent or misappropriated.
Those unanswered questions are also what make the issue significant for taxpayers. Until the underlying transactions are identified and reviewed, the public cannot know whether the matter involves routine documentation problems or something more serious.
Separate city audit received clean opinion
The Kroll matter comes after Hoover received a clean opinion on a separate audit of its more recent financial statements.
In August, accounting firm Mauldin & Jenkins presented Hoover’s fiscal 2025 financial audit and issued an unmodified opinion — commonly referred to as a clean audit opinion — on whether the city’s financial statements were fairly presented under generally accepted accounting principles.
The two reviews should not be confused.
The Mauldin & Jenkins audit concerned Hoover’s fiscal 2025 financial statements. Kroll’s work examined records from 2020 through 2023 and is the work referenced in Monday’s resolution.
Council considers next step Monday
The Hoover City Council is scheduled to meet Monday at 6 p.m. at Hoover City Hall.
If Resolution 8970-26 is approved, city leaders would be authorized to seek assistance from state examiners in resolving the questions raised by Kroll.
For taxpayers, however, Monday’s vote would represent the beginning of the next stage — not an answer to what happened.
The key questions remain how much public money is involved, what transactions are in question and whether further review determines the money was handled appropriately.
ABC 33/40’s Waste Watch is seeking additional information about the Kroll audits and the receipts and expenditures referenced in the city’s resolution.
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