An annual audit of the Board of the Circuit Engineering District #5 for business done during fiscal year July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, was recently announced by the State Auditor & Inspector’s office. The audit came back with no findings reported.
A report of no findings is the best an auditor can give.
The audit showed that the District’s funds were adequately secured during the fiscal year, and that the District is performing accurate monthly bank reconciliations.
Cindy Byrd’s SA&I’s office was represented by Deputy State Auditor & Inspector Lisa Hodges, CFE, CGFM. She noted in the report that the goal of the SA&I is to promote accountability and fiscal integrity in state and local government, and that maintaining their independence as they provide the audit service to the taxpayers of Oklahoma is of utmost importance.
“We wish to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the assistance and cooperation extended to our office during our engagement,” Hodges states.
The Circuit Engineering District #5 was created for McClain, Canadian, Cleveland, Garvin, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne Counties. The audit states that the District provides project-focused assistance for its member counties, a shared engineer between counties in an advisory capacity, engineering expertise that counties could not afford alone, help for small, rural counties, and help with a county five-year construction work plan.
It states that each participating county in the District has an appointed county commissioner or county representative to serve as members from the District’s respective county seats, and each District then elects officers from the members.
McClain County Commissioner Wilson Lyles serves as vice-president of the group.
Thomas Manske, of Canadian County, is the president.
The audit states that the Circuit Engineering District #5 had previously set up a County Improvements for Roads and Bridges 5-Year Plan to take advantage of legislative appropriations.
The plan’s primary focus is the replacement of large bridges and roadways that the counties could not afford to construct with previous funding sources.
The audit states that the CIRB program has been very successful in the past 23 years, completing a number of bridge projects and roadway projects in the Engineering District. An example of one of these projects completed in the 2023-2024 fiscal year in McClain County was local county bridge number 224 over Sandy Creek.
