West Bloomfield Officials Adjust Annual Audit to Include 'Irregularities'

West Bloomfield trustees voted Monday to have the township's audit process start sooner than usual, in the event any "irregularities" show up in the treasurer's cash accounts. 

Auditors with Plante Moran requested the early start, trustee Larry Brown said, to ensure they can complete the annual audit in a timely manner. Treasurer Teri Weingarden has been at odds with her colleagues for months over a number of issues, including failure to post millions of dollars in cash receipts. 

At one point, Weingarden closed down her office in the middle of the day, citing "political reasons". 

In July, officials ordered an investigation by Johnson Rosati law firm over questions about paperwork filed with Comerica Bank authorizing the treasurer and deputy treasurer to conduct banking transactions. That investigation has been expanded. 

Weingarden said Monday she believes her office has been audited enough. A previous audit, she said, "wasted" $8,000 and found no irregularities. She suggested inviting auditors to sit down with her and her staff to talk about how staffing issues have impacted her department.

In addition, she said, any audit should include more than her office. 

"This board consistently ... blames my department," she said, "but statutorily, this is the responsibility of the clerk ... Statutorily the clerk is in charge of the chart of accounts and keeper of the records."

Weingarden also accused Shaughnessy of firing a temporary accountant hired to help the treasurer's office catch up on posting several months' worth of cash receipts. 

Township supervisor Michele Economou Ureste pointed to a number of concerns, including an unpaid Standard & Poor's bill and "not understanding that this board is doing due diligence by having the accounting firm come in to make sure this does not affect our bond rating." 

After Weingarden countered the unpaid bill was Shaughnessy's responsibility, trustee Howard Rosenberg asked, "So everything that went wrong in the treasurer's office is the clerk's fault? That's what I'm hearing."

Weingarden cast the lone vote opposing the expanded timeline. 

Officials expect to receive the Johnson Rosati report at their Dec. 9 meeting.