Friday, May 11, 2012

Hercules (City of) - Audit disaster


How will Hercules ever unscramble their accounting mess? The State may have to step-in to resolve.

Hercules audit, not even close to accurate  
San Francisco Chronicle/Carolyn Jones, 5/11/12.  "Hercules in hot water over financial records."

In a pair of scathing audits, John Chiang, California State Controller  "warned that the East Bay city may have to pay back the $2 million it received in 2009-10, and because the "glaring holes" in the city's accounting may have existed before that time, the city's liability to the state and federal governments may be higher.

Hercules, a mostly residential town of 25,000 on San Pablo Bay, has been hovering on the brink of bankruptcy, in part because of the real estate implosion and a string of redevelopment gambles gone awry. The city's general fund has dwindled from $18 million to about $10.5 million, resulting in the layoffs of 40 percent of City Hall staff in the past year.  Read Article.

Related - Contra Costa Times/Tom Lochner, 5/10/12, "State audit blasts Hercules financial practices; more reports coming up."

Submitted by Jim Alex

Posted by Kathy Meeh

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