Fort Thomas recently reviewed a draft forensic audit that revealed a larger total of unrecorded discrepancies in the city’s general fund than originally discovered.
On Monday, the draft of the forensic audit, conducted by Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC earlier this year, was shared during the city council meeting. The audit revealed over $847,000 in discrepancies in the city’s general funds dating back to 2017, including an additional $524,000 beyond the initial $322,000 write-off in 2025.
“No doubt that everything in here is atrocious,” said Fort Thomas Councilmember Brad Fennell. “It’s bad. It’s real bad.”
Though Dean Dorton representatives were not present during the city council meeting, members shared initial reactions to the information found.
“These results are coming from a long-running failure of basic accounting control,” said Fort Thomas Mayor Andy Ellison.
Public comments included questions about why these discrepancies were not shared with the current council sooner, what next steps the city council can take to correct and prevent the misrecording of funds and more.
One point stated in the draft is that there were no misappropriations or misuses of funds.
“There is no missing money,” said Ellison. “There was no fraud.”
The audit draft shares the steps council can take to prevent such errors from taking place in the future:
- Consolidating general ledger cash accounts for easier system management.
- Compare and balance accounts every month under tight deadlines and note of unresolved/to-be resolved items.
- Log payrolls accurately and on time.
- Seek oversight when needed.
Discussions about finding a new director of finance took place, and Ellison shared that the position will be posted soon.
The council will announce a public hearing for the month of October where Dean Dorton will present and share the draft and discuss recommended actions for council to take.
