Fiscal Administrator Plays Critical Role in Restoring Water System, Financial Stability to St. Joseph

The Legislative Auditor today congratulated the Town of St. Joseph and its fiscal administrator, David Greer, on the Town’s successful reorganization of its finances and completion of its water system renovation and expansion project.

In offering his congratulations, the Legislative Auditor said he also wanted to bring some attention to one of the responsibilities of the state Fiscal Review Committee – providing fiscal administrators to assist political subdivisions that for various reasons have been unable to effectively manage their financial affairs. The Fiscal Review Committee, which is composed of the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, and the Legislative Auditor, is charged with overseeing the financial stability of the State’s political subdivisions.

Appointing a fiscal administrator is a last resort and is done only after all other efforts to help an entity sort out its fiscal operations have failed. Once appointed, fiscal administrators take over an entity’s financial operations and determine what action is necessary to return the political subdivision to financial stability. The appointments, which must be approved by a judge, are temporary, and the goal is to return control to the political subdivision as soon as possible.

Greer, a former First Assistant to the Legislative Auditor, was appointed fiscal administrator of St. Joseph in June 2016. At the time, the Town had suffered repeated financial losses, had failed to file its state-mandated annual audit reports on time, and had been cited for numerous infractions by the Legislative Auditor’s office over a period of several years.

In addition, the Town was on the Legislative Auditor’s noncompliance list, which meant officials had no access to funding designated for critical repairs to its municipal water system. After Greer’s appointment and the submission of a plan to restore the Town’s financial stability, St. Joseph was taken off the noncompliance list, and legislators approved nearly $8 million in capital outlay money to repair the water system.

In December 2016, the Governor declared a public health state of emergency in St. Joseph after elevated levels of lead were found in the water supply, giving further impetus to rebuilding the system.

Under Greer’s leadership, the Town has worked since 2016 to overhaul its financial operations and to repair and expand its water system. By January of this year, the Town’s finances were on stable footing, and work on the water system was almost finished. On March 13, the Town’s public health state of emergency was lifted, allowing residents to receive water service again.

The work of fiscal administrators is difficult and complicated, Purpera said, but it is critical to ensuring the efficient and transparent financial operations that residents expect and deserve.