City files financial report nearly 6 months late

Santa Fe was one of three local governments deemed ‘at-risk’ by State Auditor’s office for missed deadlines

The city of Santa Fe finally filed its comprehensive annual financial report for last fiscal year with the State Auditor’s Office, a delivery almost six months overdue that came after a warning from Auditor Wayne Johnson about the “serious consequences” the city could face if delays persisted.

Santa Fe was one of the last local governments in the state to file its report, according to the state auditor’s list of “at-risk” agencies, which lists only Santa Fe, the city of Grants and the small town of Vaughn with outstanding reports as of this week.

Both the city and Johnson’s office confirmed the Santa Fe report had been filed Thursday and was under review Friday.

Expected to be delivered in December, the city and the external firm reviewing its report requested extensions for and missed four deadlines before Thursday.

The city’s former finance director attributed delays to personnel issues and other concerns within the finance department; the most recent extension was a result of a formatting request made by the external firm reviewing the report.

Mayor Alan Webber has said he expects the report to serve as a sort of guiding document for addressing internal financial concerns and other things that were likewise highlighted in the McHard report of last fall, which found the city was riven with procedural flaws and the potential for fraud, waste and abuse.

Webber and senior management have begun regular meetings to address and implement department-by-department responses to the findings of that report.

The city has proposed at least $200,000 for the coming fiscal year for three additional external audits of itself, including a forensic audit.