Group seeks special audit of Elmore City

A citizen petition requesting the State Auditor and Inspector’s Office conduct a special audit of the town of Elmore City began circulating earlier this week.

Skip Mitchell, who is not a resident of Elmore City but has helped organize the petition request, said he has been working with a handful of Elmore City residents on the particulars of the petition for the last year.

Mitchell is requesting the SAI’s office look at nine items alleged to have occurred between 2020 and 2022. Those include:

Determining if utility customers were billed in accordance with properly authorized water rates.
Determining if water deposits were refunded to utility customers in accordance with town policy.
Determining if the town lawfully qualified for an U.S. Department of Agriculture loan.
Determining if Julie Christian was improperly removed from her position as the city clerk/ treasurer.
Determining if council meetings were scheduled specifically during a time when councilman Bobby Snow was on vacation to use the resulting absences as cause for dismissal from the council.
Determining if council minutes were modified to document votes regarding Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) expenditures when no such votes occurred.
Determining if the mayor exceeded the $1,500 General Fund spending authority without council approval.
Determining if police and EMS employees were hired without council approval.
Determining if police and EMS employees obtained required certifications and/or licenses within required timeframes.

By Oklahoma statute, the group needs signatures from 10% of the registered voters of Elmore City as determined by the county election board to secure an audit. In this case that means only 50 certified signatures are necessary, according to the SAI’s Office.

If the citizen petition is successful, the City of Elmore City will be required to pay for the cost of the audit, which is estimated to run between $30,000-$60,000 and is based on estimated audit hours and travel expenses.

The group has 30 days to secure the required number of signatures. The petitions must be turned into the SAI’s Office by 5 p.m. Aug. 5.