Dixon $2.7 million in the black; Auditor to give council financial update tonight

Although the audit is not complete, Rory Sohn of Wipfli in Dixon will fill in commissioners on the progress of the city’s audit from May 30, 2011 to April 30, 2012.

Mayor Jim Burke said the audit is taking more time to complete because of Rita Crundwell’s $53 million theft of city funds.

Wipfli was hired when previous auditor Samuel S. Card, CPA, P.C., and Janis Card Co. LLC of Sterling was let go shortly after the former comptroller was arrested. The city is suing the former auditor.

A year-to-date financial summary will be presented showing Dixon has taken in $2,732,737.25 more than it has spent as of Nov. 30 – 7 months into the fiscal year.

“That’s a healthy change from the past few years,” Burke said, noting the difference in city finances since Crundwell’s arrest.

Crundwell has admitted taking $53 million over the last two decades and using the money to pay for her quarter horse empire, a vacation home in Florida and other trappings of wealth.

At the Dec. 2 council meeting, her successor, Finance Director Paula Meyer, told commissioners that Dixon lost $30 million in operating funds in just the last 10 years, and that the operating budget was still $16.6 million in the hole. She did say the city had seen a $3 million rebound since Crundwell’s arrest on April 17.

Also tonight, the council is expected to vote on hospital board appointments, authorizing the execution of minimum and maximum contribution agreements for the city’s self-insurance program and authorizing proposals for a new heating and air conditioning unit at City Hall.

To attend

The Dixon City Council meets at 6:30 tonight in council chambers at City Hall, 121 W. Second St.

Go to www.discoverdixon.org and click on "Citizens Information Center" or call City Hall, 815-288-1485, for an agenda for this meeting or minutes from past meetings.