Township Receives Very Favorable Audit Report Township Receives Very Favorable Audit Report

9/16/14 - Genoa Township has received a very favorable audit report for the 2014 fiscal year. The board met Monday night and approved a motion to accept the audit report for the fiscal year that ended March 31st and send it on to the state. Auditors determined the township’s finances are in excellent shape and it has a very favorable fund balance. Auditors commented during a presentation that it was pretty remarkable the township was able to complete projects totaling more than $1 (m) million dollars, without eating away too much at fund balance. It stands at roughly $4.37 (m) million, compared to $5.1 (m) million the year prior. Supervisor Gary McCririe doesn't foresee any significant challenges or issues moving forward and says the township took on some pretty sizable projects over the last year, which did not negatively impact fund balance. Those projects included the installation of pathways along Nixon Road, a parking lot addition and new playground equipment at the township hall property on Dorr Road, a new DPW van, road projects in the Red Oaks neighborhood and an overlay project on Coon Lake Road. Board members did briefly discuss the percentage of funds that are insured or collateralized. Genoa Township already has an investment policy but it doesn’t have any specific percentage requirement for funds. McCririe says the struggle Genoa Township and most municipalities face is the placement of funds in various financial institutions and whether those funds are fully insured or not. He says in the not-too-distant past, the federal government lowered the amount of federal insurance on accounts to half a million dollars. McCririe says that means money has to be spread over multiple institutions, which isn’t always possible, so the township moves money around between accounts to make sure it’s as safe as possible. Treasurer Robin Hunt commented during the meeting that the funds and different accounts are monitored closely and constantly, adding the percentage insured or collateralized changes frequently and has everything to do with timing, payments and tax collections. (JM)