A State Board of Accounts audit of Plain Township’s finances showed money placed in the wrong funds and some other noncompliance. One of the communities Plain Township encompasses is Leesburg, shown here. InkFreeNews file photo.

By Lilli Dwyer
InkFreeNews

PLAIN TOWNSHIP — A recent audit of Plain Township’s finances showed funds were not in their proper places during former Township Trustee Tyler Huffer and Clerk Alyssa Schmucker’s tenure.

The State Board of Accounts’ audit report became available Thursday, Aug. 1, and covers all four years of Huffer’s term as trustee, from 2019-22. Huffer is also the current county coroner.

All townships in Kosciusko County undergo a basic top layer audit every four years. However, inconsistencies had been noticed before this audit took place.

“There were some issues during the campaign that were brought up by concerned citizens that he had done some things incorrectly. Basically, where the monies were put in, and just things he wasn’t doing,” said current Plain Township Trustee Craig Charlton.

In 2020 and 2022, fund balances were misstated in the township’s accounting records. Tax distributions from Kosciusko County were placed in the township assistance fund, rather than in their designated funds. In 2022, for instance, $79,492 that should have been in the cumulative fire fund were placed in township assistance.

A new salary ordinance, which is supposed to be done every year, had not been done since 2018. Townships are also required to keep a detailed listing of all capital assets — for example, buildings, township lands and equipment like fire trucks and weather sirens — and their acquisition value. The asset listing the township provided for insurance purposes gave the replacement value of assets, not the acquisition value.

Any township personnel who handle funds are required to complete a training video on internal control standards and provide a signature verifying they have watched it. Huffer reported to the Indiana Gateway for Government Units that training had been complete, but no evidence could be found to verify this.

According to township administrative assistant Julia Goon, Huffer had also not been uploading required financial documentation to the Gateway.

None of these noncompliances were fraudulent in any way.

“It was just monies that are sent to each township from the county have certain places they need to be placed,” Charlton explained. “It was just oversight, just not taking the time the job needed. It wasn’t done maliciously or fraudulently or anything to gain, it was just not done right. And that just concerns me,” said Charlton.

The SBOA’s audit report is public record and can be found online at in.gov/apps/sboa/audit-reports/.