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County Commissioners Vote to Write Off General Fund Cash Discrepancy
Author: Nancy Marks, MT43 News Reporter

Nancy Marks

MT43 News Reporter

Broadwater County Commissioners voted to pass a resolution to write off a general fund cash discrepancy of $128,806.61 after months of County Treasurer and Superintendent of Schools Melissa Franks working with auditors and Montana Association of Counties expert Government Finance Director Nancy Everson to find the inconsistencies.

In a September 2025 letter from Local Government Services (LGS), Franks and the Commissioners learned Broadwater County’s books were off by $322,759.93. LGS is a branch of the State Department of Administration which routinely audits county government financial records. According to Franks, until the discrepancy could be reconciled, the state would be withholding state and some federal funds committed to the county. Using new processes and procedures, Franks was able to reconcile to the number in the resolution.

The state has continued to withhold the funds earmarked for Broadwater County, amounting to over $978,000, which partially fund the department of health, among others, in the county.

The resolution states the discrepancy is a result of historical accounting errors in the financial records in fiscal year 2023 through fiscal year 2025. Franks, County Administrator Bill Jarocki and Everson, along with Deputy Treasurer Brenda Harris, have been able to find many of the inconsistencies, many of which are caused by county warrants (checks) not being cashed. This past April they had asked people to cash outstanding warrants. They indicated the warrants would be honored.

In public discussion, both Cindy Christopherson and Tim Ravndal (who is a candidate for County Commissioner) expressed their concerns about the write-off. “We need to continue to audit those past books- speaking as a taxpayer, how are we going to write off $128,000?” Christopherson said.

She suggested the county hire some college accounting students as interns to establish the location of the cash inconsistencies.

Ravndal stressed that the audit needed to come from outside and that the process of finding the inconsistencies should continue.

Commissioner Chairperson Debi Randolph explained some of the new procedures the county has taken to ensure that the discrepancies do not happen again. She said they have a new auditor. “We need to clear the field, starting with the new process of cash reconciliation.”

Commissioner Lindsey Richtmyer explained it this way: it would not be financially responsible for the county to pay for an outside audit. “It would cost more than what we’d be writing off.”

Jarocki, who spoke remotely, explained the steps that the county offices took after LGS did not accept their corrective actions: “We are now doing weekly meetings and making monthly reports from the Treasurer’s Office to the Commissioners. What happened to get the books out-of- balance was a very small set of errors that accumulated over a long period of time,” he said.

Neither Richtmyer nor Jarocki gave the cost of an outside forensic audit. Ordering an outside forensic audit would entail work which would extend into the next fiscal year. This action would trigger an indefinite state government hold on needed county resources, according to Randolph.

The problem, Richtmyer went on to say, is that in an elected government, new officers do not receive adequate training plus they have no historic background for reference.

A separate resolution was introduced by Franks to cancel outstanding warrants for claims drawn from July 1, 2003, to September 30, 2025. During public comment, citizen Cindy Christopherson questioned check numbers and names in and out of alphabetical order. County Finance Officer and Payroll Director Debbie Kelley answered questions, saying the county had many problems during the period, including an accounting software system changeover and a case of attempted fraud that the bank caught. She said the department changed check numbers twice: when they instituted the Black Mountain software system and again when the fraud attempt happened.

Kelley reiterated even though payments for warrants issued between July 2003 to September 2025 would be officially closed, if someone presents a valid check, they will honor it. Going forward, Kelley and Franks will continue sifting through the spreadsheets to reconcile numbers in that period. The commissioners rescinded the resolution with plans to revisit it at the next commissioner meeting.

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Image 1 Caption: Broadwater County Treasurer's Office at the Courthouse. Photo Provided