Pike County Placed on State’s Do Not Pay List For No Audit

By Benjamin Cox on September 28, 2022 at 8:24am

A West Central Illinois county is in financial trouble with the State of Illinois.

The Pike Press reports that Pike County was notified in writing by the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity that the county has been placed on the state’s Stop Payment List for not completing a financial audit for the previous fiscal year.

The notification says that all funding through DCEO has been suspended until the state’s audit reporting requirements have been met.

The Pike Press further reports that County Board Chairman Jim Sheppard informed the remaining board members that he hopes to have all outstanding financial information to the county’s auditor in October to get the audit completed by early November.

County Treasurer Scott Syrcle told the Pike Press that not all county departments will be affected by the Stop Payment designation. Syrcle says that the county’s ambulance, health department, and sheriff’s department who are all in the running for upcoming grants will likely see the heaviest effects.

Pike County has been dealing with fund status issues since July. Syrcle and Sheppard had previously said that the county’s switch to the Paycom payroll system caused many of the fund status errors, which in turn, has delayed the completion of the county’s audit.