- The External audit report on Lansing's 2023-24 finances was recently released.
- The report shows Lansing is in decent financial standing, but could improve on a few things.
- Watch video above to find out how neighbors and officials are responding to the report.
A proud Lansing Neighbor for more than 20 year, Julie Vandenboom said she's learned the ins and outs of all things city government.
‘I took the time to really get knowledgeable about the City Charter, and some of the ordinances that are driving whats happening within the city, far as laws and stuff,” Vandenboom said.
We asked Vandenboom about an external financial audit report done on the City’s 2023-24 fiscal year budget.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE REPORT.
Overall, the report shows the city is in decent financial standing, with no major accumulated debt.
“It's always good to see a clean audit,” Vandenboom said. “You want to know that the city is doing what they can do to make sure that they're transparent and make sure they're going by the book.”
But the audit did uncover things that the city needs to improve on. Like departments submitting financial documents on time and improving the payroll process.
According to the audit, city employees currently do not have to get their timesheets approved by a manager before getting paid.
“I don’t know any other business that's going to pay you before they made sure you worked your hours, and those are tax payers dollars, that could potentially be going out without oversight.” Vandenboom said.
All of these recommended improvements have been cited in previous audit reports.
“We can make improvements, but they grade it on pass or fail so until its completely fixed they're going to keep citing it as an issue,” said Lansing’s Chief Strategy Officer Jake Brower.
Brower said an example of the city correcting these issues would be the new payroll system that will be rolled out within the coming months.
“Built into our new system, these internal concerns will not be present and it will make sure in order to receive a check it must be fully approved,” he said.
