A panel of 10 Florida lawmakers next month will consider ordering a state audit of Eatonville, officials said Friday.
The Joint Legislative Auditing Committee will meet March 3 to discuss whether to do the extensive audit, which would be the first in the town’s history.
Five senators and five state representatives, including state Rep. Bruce Antone, D-Orlando, make up the committee.
The Florida Auditor General’s Office would do the audit. Officials could not say how soon that might happen.
In January, state Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, announced he would ask for the audit, which has happened in only four other towns during the past two years.
Siplin said he wanted to lobby legislators to support giving $250,000 in state money to the town for fire-station renovations. But he said he couldn’t do so without assuring his colleagues that the town — which has a history of financial problems — was spending money appropriately.
Record-keeping has been so poor in the town of 2,408 that officials have said they don’t always know how much money the town has. Sloppy bookkeeping has cost the town federal grant money.
In July, the Town Council declared the town in a “financial state of emergency.” Through belt-tightening, including cuts to staff, officials balanced the $5.1 million budget.
Mayor Anthony Grant has said he supports the audit but said it is politically motivated. Grant, mayor since 1994, is up for re-election March 1, running against former Town Council member Louise Johnson-Wright and Vice Mayor Bruce Mount.
Grant said Siplin’s request for an audit is intended to help Mount’s campaign.
Siplin said the election had no bearing on his decision.
Earlier this month, Grant voted against a town resolution endorsing the audit because he said the audit could call for an oversight committee to monitor the books. Grant said that should be the town’s responsibility.
Siplin, who said he is confident state officials will vote in favor of the audit, will announce next week the members of a committee of experts who would serve on an oversight board.
“The board will help Eatonville become fiscally sound,” he said.
The other two mayoral candidates also said they support an audit.
Auditors would point out where city leaders could correct mistakes. An audit also is used to show credit and bonding agencies that finances are in order.
“We welcome an audit, and hopefully this will bring some closure to this issue,” Grant said Friday.
