By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – The St. John the Baptist Housing Authority has enlisted a Pennsylvania accounting and consulting firm to help the agency in its efforts to get its financial records in order.

The Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners on Monday approved a three-year, $178,820 contract with Casterline Associates for various professional fee accounting services that will help the Housing Authority reconcile various holes in its past financial records.

Housing Authority Executive Director Trina Henderson said at the meeting that past financial documentation has been so bad that auditors have been unable to render any opinion on the agency in the past two years.

Henderson said the Housing Authority used Casterline’s services earlier this year in an effort to help the agency understand why it was not able to get good audits. The firm performed a complete assessment of agency’s finances and put together a timeline that set expectations for procuring external resources, financial records management and reconciling bank accounts and general ledger transactions.

“With the staffing levels we have we really need professional help,” Henderson said. “Casterline has a wonderful reputation with HUD, and they can provide training and consultation that will help us beyond the life of the contract.”

Prior to a vote on the contract, Board Chairwoman Iona Holloway asked if there might be a similar firm in Louisiana that could have handled the job. Henderson said firms within the state responded to the agency’s request for proposals, but none could provide the level of services the Housing Authority needed.

Henderson said the bulk of the document reconciliation could be completed by the end of the year. Holloway and commissioners Jo Maxent and Melissa Faucheux voted to approve the contract. Commissioners Art Smith and Mercadel Cosey were absent from the meeting.

The board also heard from Housing Authority Accountant Sherilyn O’Neal, who said the agency has made progress on various benchmarks set as part of Casterline’s assessment. Most notably, O’Neal said the agency has been able to bring its more than $160,000 past-due parish water bill completely up to date. She also said the agency has automated its tax records and finished updating tenant receipts.

Holloway said she was pleased to hear the water bill is current and said tenants need to take the necessary steps to make sure it stays up to date.

“If you have a leak, call it in. Make a note of it,” Holloway said. “If it doesn’t get fixed in a timely manner, call again. It took a struggle to get our water bill paid, and we need to keep it current.”