When director Steve Anderson said last fall that, "By next year, there will be a new auditor," he was not just blowing off steam.
At the Jan. 15 Moraga-Orinda Fire District board meeting, the selection of JJACPA, Inc. as the new district auditor will be recommended by Gloriann Sasser, the district's administrative services director. The Dublin firm specializes in governmental accounting and it submitted a bid of $30,690 to audit the district's financial statements for a 3-year period, at least 40 percent lower than figures submitted by three competitors. The low bid did cause Sasser concern, but she said that JJACPA president Joe Arch assured her that his company has senior level staff who know exactly what they are doing, and that his bid was based on a true determination of the costs that he expected to incur. MOFD budgeted more than $14,000 for its audit expense this fiscal year.
The district tore into its auditing firm, Cropper Accountancy Corp., at a November meeting for failing to recognize $2 million in cash that should have been allocated to a special restricted fund.
Sasser confirmed that JJACPA has no personal or business connection with any member of the MOFD staff or board of directors.
The district will also elect new officers at the Jan. 15 meeting. Director John Wyro will have served as MOFD president for only seven months. He took over the leading role from Frank Sperling, who moved out of the district in May. And unless MOFD moves away from historical precedent, the new president for 2014 will be board vice president Alex Evans, assuming that he wants the job.
Evans plans to attend the meeting via conference call from Hawaii.
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