Revisiting that balancing act . . .

This is now third in the series of articles regarding the Board Designated Master Plan Fund and the still unanswered question, “Where did that $265k go?” (1)     (2)   With receipt of additional information along with other recent developments,  yet another update seems to be appropriate. 

Whistleblower Hotline . . .

With $265k still unaccounted for in the Master Plan Fund account, the next, most logical point of contact appeared to be the Audit & Risk Management Committee. In fact, a quick review of the committee charter states that the “Committee Chair shall be designated as a direct recipient of any reports made to the Association’s Whistleblower Hotline. Appropriate follow-up on all reported matters shall be conducted by the Committee.” (3) That seemed to be the way to go.

Information was forwarded to the Audit & Risk Management Committee Chairman along with a request for assistance in determining the problem. The request also included the following explanation:

“Of most immediate concern is the account presently titled on the balance sheet as the Board Designated Master Plan Fund. All transactions listed on the reconcilement reports throughout the year do not equal the year end balance. To simplify, as one example, the balance in the account at November month end was $2,070,848. However, after including the December net positive transactions totaling $60,567, the account balance drops to $1,897,283. A similar but much smaller discrepancy took place in August as well. In other words, we have approximately $265k unaccounted for. “

Apparently the “Whistleblower” Hotline established by charter is non-functional . . .

The Committee Chairman politely responded to the request stating that any questions should be directed to the Board of Directors.  However, this  suggestion seemed pointless as the POA President and Treasurer had already been included in the original correspondence on the matter to no avail.  (2) 

And out of the blue, it is learned that Big Canoe POA year end bank statements have not even been reconciled . . .

Quite unexpectedly, the POA President emailed this writer on February 24th stating that: 

• • • The year end bank statements are in the “process” of being reconciled.

(Over $8 million cash in various bank accounts . . . 55 days into a new year . . . without performing a reconciliation of those accounts? Wow. )

• • • Year end financial statements are “preliminary”, and
      

• • • Audited financial statements will be completed mid-year. 

Really? . . .

Once again, in conclusion, this update has been intended to provide a fair representation of the explanations that have now been given to this writer by leadership, but really . . .  none of this is okay.  

. . . . .

If you would like to see additional articles posted in the future, please check back frequently or subscribe for an email notification. Likewise, please feel free to forward and share this information with your friends and neighbors. For questions or further discussion, I may be contacted at thepcrosses@gmail.com . Till the next time . . . take care and stay safe.

Patricia Cross (10438 Big Canoe)

References:

 1)  ”A balancing act”, January 31^st, 2021, bcmatters.org, https://bcmatters.org/a-balancing-act/
2) “An update to A balancing Act”, February 12^th, 2021,  https://bcmatters.org/an-update-to-a-balancing-act/

3) Audit and Risk Management Charter ((POAwebsite>login>POA>Committees>Audit&RiskManagement>Charter)