A recent audit of Wareham's finances by independent auditor Powers & Sullivan outlined a number of weaknesses in the town's accounting practices.

Although the version released is a "draft" that will be sent back to the auditors with input from the Board of Selectmen before the final draft is issued, the "management letter" raised some serious questions.

"I want to remind everyone that this is the [fiscal year 2012] audit," Town Administrator Derek Sullivan said during the Selectmen's meeting on Tuesday. "Going forward on many of these issues ... I'd really request that the board take the time this week to review [fiscal years 2010 and 2011]," as Wareham has made some progress, according to Sullivan.

The report identified a number of deficiencies with the "internal control structure" of the departments responsible for managing the town's finances.

The report acknowledges that "significant accounting improvements have been made in the last two years," but also states that the current accounting process represents "a material weakness in internal controls."

"We've actually made some progress," Selectman Alan Slavin agreed, adding: "The biggest issue has been not having a town accountant."

One of the auditor's recommendations was to hire a permanent town accountant, as high turnover in that department was citedas one of the issues negatively impacting the town.

That night, the Selectmen voted to appoint Assistant Town Accountant Judy Lauzon to the town accountant position.

The appointment was part of a larger reorganization of the town's Finance Department, approved by Town Meeting voters last week. The oversight of the town's financial departments will be placed under a new "finance director," which will be an "upgrade" of the current treasurer/collector position, currently held by John Foster.

The move will save the town money, as it eliminates the assistant town accountant position and lowers the salary of the town accountant's position. Sullivan told Town Meeting voters that the move will provide an "additional layer of security" over the town's finances.

The audit also states that reconciliation procedures between the town accountant and other town departments was not happening in a timely fashion, but that considering the progress that has been made, the auditor expects the issue to be resolved this year.

Sullivan said that letters such as this are generally sent out in December, but at that point Powers & Sullivan were helping Wareham with another financial issue: setting the tax rate on time.

"We worked hard, and Powers & Sullivan dropped a lot of things to make sure this town set its tax rate" by the December 31 deadline, Sullivan said.

Selectman Judy Whiteside suggested that the board take up every issue outlined in the letter one by one as agenda items until the Selectmen have resolved each as best they can.

"The feet [will] get held to the fire until there's nothing left to burn off," said Whiteside.

Take a look at the draft audit by clicking the link below!