Boating safety in Florida
Laws and tips on boating safety in Florida
- Ex-Finance Director Steven Dionne was fired Feb. 12.
- Dionne had not completed the yearly audit, nor had communicated issues with City Manager Monte Falls.
- The city could face a penalty of $258,000 in revenue freezes as a result.
VERO BEACH — City Finance Director Steven Dionne has been fired for his inability to complete the required annual financial report and audit — an omission that could cost the city $258,000 in half-cent sales tax money.
The 2022-2023 audit edition was due June 30.
“Mr. Dionne’s failure to complete the audit or request additional time is a betrayal of the trust I placed in him,” said City Manager Monte Falls. “As such, his employment ended on Feb. 20.”
Dionne was hired in June 2023.
“This is really an incredible compromise of trust in Dionne,” said former Mayor Tony Young at the City Council meeting.
In a unanimous vote of confidence Monday, the City Council said unequivocally that it would stand behind Falls and city staff in their efforts to complete the audit.
“We have to get this done,” said Mayor John Cotugno. “It is required by the (state) legislature, so we must complete it in a timely fashion or risk penalties.”
Since Falls was notified, he has been working with state Rep. Robbie Brackett, R-Vero Beach and a lobbyist to try and secure an extension and avoid penalties, which include withholding grant funds until the audit is complete and forfeiture of the half-cent sales tax revenue — totaling $258,000 — for March and April that the city is not in compliance.
Inaction and failed communications
The city conducts a yearly audit where it pulls and inspects financial records to ensure that it is practicing proper and adequate accounting strategies.
Prior to June, the city’s finance department had submitted its audits on-time since 1983.
“Usually, finance directors start working on audits right after the budget is adopted in October,” said Falls. “That gives an estimated 8-9 month timeframe to get it done.”
On Oct. 29 — four months after the due date — the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee — tasked with collecting audits from every city — emailed Dionne stating that a timeframe for submission or extension request must be sent by Jan. 15. Dionne did not respond.
On Feb. 12, Falls was notified by the committee of Dionne’s lack of communication.
It’s common for cities to miss the deadline. In fact, 34 cities within the state missed the June deadline. Of those, 22 responded to the committee. Nine were granted extensions, with due dates between March and May, and the other 13 said they could complete the audits by the end of this month.
“You can’t solve a problem until you know it exists,” said Falls. “Since Feb. 12, the city has been in overdrive to get this done, and we will.”
Working double-time
To speed up the process, Lisa Burnham — hired last month as the assistant finance director — has been tapped as Interim Finance Director. She and city auditor Cherry Bekaert are working together with an outside firm to complete the audit. Bekaert believes it can be completed by April 30. Falls will ask for an extension until May 15, for a two-week buffer.
“We’re in triage mode right now,” explained Falls. “Our goal is to fix this problem that could potentially cost us money.”
Dionne previously had been the budget director at the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County. He had been retired for six years between jobs.
“It’s rather unfortunate that we find ourselves in this situation,” said Falls. “But, we can’t dwell on what got us here. It’s time to dig in and get this done.”
Nick Slater is TCPalm’s Indian River County Watchdog reporter. You can reach him at Nick.Slater@tcpalm.com and 224-830-2875.
