Basile Housing audit finds missing money

The annual audit of the Basile Housing Authority discovered about $4,600 missing from the rental income fund and the person allegedly responsible is paying it back, but keeping her job.
The Legislative Audit Report released Monday says the missing funds were traced to the authority’s assistant director, who was responsible for preparing the rental registers for the audit year ending Dec. 31, 2012.
“Several of these registers were altered in an effort to conceal the missing funds. Upon discussion with the fee accountant, this trend continued into 2013, with some of the missing funds being replaced,” the report notes.
The auditor’s office recommends what it calls theft be turned over to police and the Evangeline Parish District Attorney.
“The Executive Director and the Chairman of the Board were both informed of this matter. They would like to give the person responsible the opportunity to pay back the missing funds,” the auditor notes.
“Although she denies taking any money, the assistance director agreed to sign a promissory note for the full amount missing in exchange for keeping her job.
“ She would pay back the funds by June 30,2014. The full board has yet to meet to discuss this matter,” the auditor said.
On another matter, auditors noted that the the housing authority’s policy and procedure manuals had not been updated since 2005. Board members were not aware that these existed.
The failure to maintain updated policy and procedure manuals is a violation of both Louisiana and federal regulations.
“We recommend that the Board take it upon themselves to update all policy and procedure manuals in accordance with state and federal guidelines. Samples can be obtained through the
Louisiana Housing Council.
“We also recommend that the board attend workshops designed to inform them of their responsibilities regarding this and other issues,” the auditors said.
The reported noted that the Executive Director and Chairman of the Board said they will bring this to the full board for discussion and work on updating all policy and procedure manuals.
Officials involved could not be reached for comment.