Wynnewood residents seeking a special audit of the City of Wynnewood by the State Auditor and Inspector’s Office took another step toward their goal last week. The group, which has been collecting signatures since Nov. 15, submitted 210 signed petition affidavits to the SAI’s office on Friday.
Of those petitions submitted, at least 119 will need to be verified and certified by the Garvin County Election Board for the special audit request to move forward. That number would represent the 10 percent of registered voters required to request the audit according to state statute.
Petitioners are asking the auditor’s office to investigate eight items alleged to have occurred between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2021. Those items include:
•.Determining whether utility records were properly maintained, utility payments were deposited, improper utility billing rates were applied, and if any of these actions led to the loss of revenue.
•.Determining whether a former mayor improperly used city funds to take business trips to Florida related to smart meters and whether she received unauthorized benefits from the company from which smart meters were purchased.
•Determining whether the current mayor improperly used city assets to conduct business for her primary employer, Lumen Technology.
•.Determining whether sales tax money was deposited in an unaudited fund controlled by the fire department and used for inappropriate purposes.
•.Determining whether the current mayor improperly disposed of surplus city assets.
•.Determining whether the city enforced ordinances which were not legally codified, whether the city followed proper procedures in later codifying ordinances, and whether the city arbitrarily enforced ordinances against local businesses.
•.Determining whether the Open Meeting and Open Records Acts have been complied with concerning all city agencies, committees, departments and boards.
•.Determining whether payroll was calculated properly for police department employees.
If the Garvin County Election Board verifies the required number of valid signatures has been met, the auditor’s office will add Wynnewood to its schedule of pending audits. Currently, the SAI’s office said they are about a year away from beginning any new investigative audits.
The City of Wynnewood will also be required to pay the cost of the special audit if the petition request is successful. The SAI’s Office has projected the cost to be between $30,000-60,000 based on estimated audit hours and travel expenses.