A Clean Handoff: Why I Am Asking the Board to Consider a Limited-Scope Transition Audit

Resident Amy Heutmaker, Russell Township Trustee

Published: May 10, 2026

Following public comments raised by resident Tonda Poppe and Fire Chief John Frazier at the May 7, 2026, Board of Trustees meeting, and subsequent questions from additional residents last weekend, I am asking the Board to consider authorizing an independent limited-scope transition audit or financial review in connection with Fiscal Officer Karen Walder’s announced departure, effective June 5, 2026.

Why This Review Matters

The goal is straightforward: one set of numbers, one shared understanding, and better decisions going forward.

A transition of this kind, with several unresolved financial questions, carries real risk if the incoming fiscal officer, the Board, department heads, and residents do not have a clearly reconciled financial picture. As the Township prepares for the 2027 budget process, everyone should be working from the same information.

This is not about assigning blame. It is about making sure Russell Township has a clean, transparent, and professionally reviewed financial transition so the Board can make sound budget decisions, including evaluating whether there are opportunities to responsibly reduce property taxes for residents.

What the Review Would Cover

A limited-scope transition review would focus on the areas that matter most for continuity, accuracy, and public confidence:

• Bank reconciliations and cash and fund balances

• Investment accounts

• Certificates of estimated resources

• Temporary and permanent appropriations

• Supplemental appropriations

• Interfund transfers

• Intrafund appropriation adjustments

• Encumbrances

• Payroll and benefit assumptions

• Restricted and reserve funds

• UAN system access and handoff procedures

The review would also include a focused forecast-to-actual reconciliation of the 2025 Police Department levy assumptions, year-end carryover, related reserve funds, and the March 2026 permanent appropriation revisions that have prompted questions from residents and trustees.

The Responsible Middle Path

A limited-scope transition audit is the responsible middle path. It gives the Board and the public independent confirmation of the areas that matter most without turning a budget process issue into a political spectacle.

Before the Board makes decisions on 2027 budgets, police reserve planning, staffing, capital needs, or potential tax relief, we should first reconcile the numbers and ensure the financial handoff is clean. Residents fund these services, and they deserve a budget process they can follow.

This Is a Board Decision

I want to be clear about the process. Any review should be considered and authorized by the full Board in a properly noticed public meeting, with the scope, reviewer, timeline, cost, and funding approved through the appropriate public process. This should be a Board decision, not an individual trustee directive.

My goal is to place the issue before the Board so we can decide together whether this review is necessary, how it should be scoped, and how to complete it in a way that supports township operations.

I intend to ask the Board to discuss the proposed scope, reviewer, timeline, and cost at the May 19, 2026, budget workshop meeting and determine whether formal Board action should be placed on a future meeting agenda.

The Standard I Am Holding To

Transparency should be the standard operating procedure of local government. Residents deserve a process that is clear, consistent, and built to outlast any one officeholder.

That is the standard I am holding this transition to. I will keep residents informed as the Board discusses and decides next steps.

The views expressed here are mine only and are intended to keep residents informed about township issues. Decisions of the Russell Township Board of Trustees are made only during public meetings.