A state audit has uncovered questionable accounting in the books of a central Iowa community. The audit of accounts for the tiny City of Sandyville, which is near Indianola, showed the city’s clerk did not properly levy taxes. Almost 21-thousand dollar in taxes due were not collected over a seven-year stretch.
Investigators also found about 56-hundred dollars in warrants that were supposed to be paid to the state had not been paid. They were found in the home of Erin Tjarks, who was the city’s clerk for five of the seven years covered by the audit. The state’s auditor says it was impossible to determine whether private donations — part of a drive to raise money for a new combination City Hall and Community Center — were properly deposited.
Tjarks, the city clerk, took over the job from her mother-in-law. That mother-in-law still has authority over the account where all the City Hall fundraising dollars are held — and she’s refusing to hand over the records.