According to Washington State Auditor Troy Kelley, the City of Pacific’s finances and accountability are all above board.

The state auditor’s office released its review of Pacific’s books on Feb. 25, finding that the City’s financial reporting and compliance with government auditing requirements, from Jan. 1, 2011 to Dec. 31, 2011, were up to standards.

“The results of our tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards,” the report stated.

In addition to auditing the City’s financial statements, the auditor’s office performed an independent accountability audit looking at other activities of the City to ensure they complied with state laws and regulations and the City’s own policies and procedures.

Among the areas examined were: utility billing and receipting; hotline concerns reported to the state auditor’s office; review of operations; inter-fund transactions; credit card transactions; general disbursements; court activities; and financial condition assessment.

Mayor Cy Sun has openly questioned the integrity and accountability of the past administration (former Mayor Richard Hildreth was in office during the time frame audited) and current council (also in office in 2011) in his My Turn blog at www.mayorcysun.blogspot.com.

On Dec. 17, Sun referred to an unaccounted for $30,000 in an open cash bank account, $70,000 in missing cash and claimed that the City’s books were out of balance to the tune of $10,9 million.

“Did somebody steal money and mess up the ‘Books’ so as to hide what they stole,” Sun wrote. “The Council is fully responsible for the City’s money, why weren’t we, the people, informed about the Out-of-Balance for each year? Are they hiding something.”

Although the state audit report did not list any specific allegations, City Councilman Joshua Putnam said the list was “extensive.”

“(There were) more than 40 claims of corruption in the City from various sources, newspaper articles and blog postings,” Putnam said. “They investigated all of them, went over budget on hours and at the end of the day found no corruption, no improper governmental actions.”

According to the accountability audit:

“In the areas we examined, the City’s internal controls were adequate to safeguard public assets. The City also complied with state laws and regulations and its own policies in the areas we examined.”