State releases audit on city of Fairfield

FAIRFIELD – The Iowa State Auditor's Office released its audit on the city of Fairfield, finding things the city can change while noting the city has complied with requests to improve its financial reporting.

The audit listed a number of improvements Fairfield can make to its oversight of finances. It noted a few instances where fund transfers that should have been made were not and commented that the city employees should update their computer passwords on a more regular basis. One section of the audit recommended better segregation of duties among city staff so multiple people are reviewing disbursements.

Fairfield City Administrator Aaron Kooiker said it's not always possible for a small town like Fairfield to segregate the duties of city staff since it has a low number of employees. He added that he and other city staff have gotten better at financial reports as they've gotten more experience with them. For instance, Kooiker and City Clerk Rebekah Loper have been in their respective roles for more than three years.

'A new person is always more prone to make errors,” Kooiker said.

Kooiker said some of the comments in the audit reflect the personal opinions of the state employees performing the audit, and that their recommendations are not always consistent from one employee to the next.

'Sometimes we've made a change, and a new auditor comes in and doesn't like the change we made,” Kooiker said.

Kooiker said his main takeaways from the audit are that the city is doing well financially and that it remains committed to following the state auditor's advice on documenting transactions in all of its funds.