Ridgecrest — Former Ridgecrest Town Clerk Dana DeLaughter may have violated state law according to a recent audit which found that she failed to deposit $56,679 in utility payments, intentionally overstated $27,814 of utility collections to the town’s board of aldermen and issued herself three extra payroll checks totaling $1,865.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor conducted an audit after the town’s external auditor, Silas and Simmons, could not render an opinion on the town’s financial statements from 2010 because of a lack of sufficient documentation of its utility customer accounts.

The audit conducted by Silas Simmons, a certified public accounting and consulting firm in Natchez, indicated that $25,399 of the town’s money was unaccounted for in its 2010 budget.

In early November, former Mayor Kevin Graham resigned and DeLaughter was placed on administrative leave without pay because of discrepancies in the town’s bookkeeping.

The state auditors arrived in December and newly appointed Mayor Dwayne Sikes provided them with full access to the town’s finances — including paperwork from as far back as 2008, access to the town’s computers and its two bank accounts at Concordia Bank and Delta Bank in Ferriday.

DeLaughter was terminated at a January board of aldermen meeting after Sikes said he believed the town clerk improperly transferred approximately $5,000 from the road fund into the general fund, as well as misrouted cash payments for water bills of residents.

The state audit report states that utility payments from Jan. 1, 2010, through Dec. 31, 2011, collected from customers totaled $273,473, but the town’s bank records reflect that only $227,226 was deposited — leaving a shortage of $46,247.

“It appears (DeLaughter) intentionally recorded customer payments in the utility system that had not been deposited,” the report states. “Recording the payment in the customer’s account would prevent a customer who had paid, but not had their payment deposited, from getting a late notice.”

The report also states that from February 2011 through October 2011, DeLaughter prepared and submitted financial statements to the board of aldermen that reflected an intentional $27,814 overstatement of the town’s utility collections.

“DeLaughter inappropriately classified transfers and other transactions as utility collections,” the report states. “This false information…may have prevented the users of the town’s monthly financial statements from discovering possible misappropriations of utility collections.”

From June 10, 2010, to Feb. 4, 2011, DeLaughter issued herself three extra payroll checks totaling $1,865 that “could not have been for hours worked,” the report stated.

Also in the report, Graham is said to have used state grant funds to purchase a water pump and accessories totaling $4,055 that was not necessary for town operations and was used for personal purposes.

During interviews with the auditors, Graham admitted to using the pump for personal purposes on one occasion to get his personal boat out of the lake, but said that he and the town’s water superintendent, Paul Dillon, determined the pump was necessary for town functions.

Dillon stated during a separate interview with the state auditors that he did not need nor request the pump, and that the pump is actually too large for any of the town’s uses and had never been used for the town’s lift stations.

In addition to several state law violations, the audit report also states town employees violated the Louisiana Constitution by improperly issuing Christmas bonus checks in 2010 and failing to collect property taxes totaling $2,244 from Dec. 31, 2010, to March 9, 2012.

The audit report made nine recommendations in order to improve the town’s lack of financial management.

Sikes, who has said he was always in favor of a full audit of the town’s financial records, said in a letter attached to the report that the town is taking correct steps to improve its town’s financial management.

“We appreciate the thorough job complied by (the auditors) in this audit, and think they did an outstanding job,” Sikes said. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your assistance in a successful attempt to straighten up our town’s financial system and professional practices, along with bring justice to the parties responsible for this confusion.”

Sikes was unavailable for comment on Monday.

DeLaughter served as town clerk from December 2008 until November 2011. The audit says she refused to meet with auditors on the advice of her attorney.

District Attorney Brad Burget is preparing to call a grand jury into session to investigate Ridgecrest’s finances.