Virginia’s independent auditor is compiling a report on how every county, city and town in the state spends its money, but Falls Church has so far failed to turn over its data to the state, which was due Nov. 30, and the state says it still doesn’t know why. Richard La Condre, Falls Church’s director of finance, told The Washington Examiner that lawsuits filed against the city’s water system by Fairfax County residents who say they were overcharged are one reason the city has yet to comply with the auditor’s request. “Due to a change in external auditors, and the potential financial impact of litigation related to the city’s water system, the issuance of the City of Falls Church annual audit report has been delayed,” La Condre said.
But the reason behind the delay was news to Auditor of Public Accounts Walter Kucharski, who said he’s still waiting to hear from the city.
“Large companies and large [entities] are getting sued all the time, and [they] disclose it in their financial reports,” he said.
A handful of other jurisdictions failed to turn over their audit information, but most have sent letters to the state explaining why. Dickinson County, for example, wrote that it was late because of problems with the firm it contracted with to help perform its annual audit.
But Falls Church, along with the Hopewell and Wythe County, have sent no such explanation, Kucharski said.
Kucharski’s office uses the data to compile a comparative report on how much tax revenue local governments take in and how they spend it on services like police, public works and health and welfare programs for the fiscal year that ended last June.
“We [hound] these people because we have no stick to [make them] do it on time,” Kucharski said. “The only stick I have is to try to embarrass them.”
