FERRIDAY, La. — After a discussion on water meters and financial findings, the Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to accept its 1998-99 local audit report.

The vote comes in the wake of another report from the Legislative Auditor’s Office that claims two ex-Ferriday employees stole $90,947 in utility services and $23,980 in property taxes since 1998.

Local certified public accountant Myle Hopkins made reference to those findings while presenting his audit report to the board Tuesday.

&uot;This town’s records are really good,&uot; Hopkins said. &uot;It’s not a total breakdown or lack of internal controls. It’s you got two people working together.&uot;

Water clerk Kathy R. Green, 36, 127 Warren St. and ex-town clerk Ida W. Tolliver, 54, 27575 Highway 15, Ferriday were arrested last week and charged with theft and malfeasance in office.

At the meeting, Hopkins explained why he could not report to the board earlier about the findings. The law requires him to first report to the state and then follow its direction, he said.

&uot;(Hopkins has) done his job,&uot; said Alderman Bob Jones. &uot;He’s done a good job.

&uot;What (the two employees) did was pretty slick and it was hard to catch,&uot; Jones said. &uot;According to the state we have to do some thing to keep that from happening again.&uot;

Hopkins also discussed with the board the amount of money broken water meters are costing the city.

The city has made improvements by reducing the number of broken water meters from close to 400 out of 1,457 in 1998 to currently less than 200.

However, this still is a loss to the city, because broken water meters require only a minimum payment.