Results of a special audit in the near future for Shoshone County

WALLACE –– The Shoshone County Board of Commissioners is still waiting for the results of a forensic audit that it hopes will show it where the county has spent too much money in recent years.

But the wait could soon end.

On Tuesday, Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman told the News-Press that the results of the forensic audit could be finalized by the end of June, provided the county's annual budget is completed on time.

In November, after several rounds of budget cuts and the use of emergency funds to pass its annual budget, the board agreed to pay trading firm Eide Bailly LLP. $11,500 to complete a forensic audit that would show where the county overspent about $3 million in previous years.

Therefore, as Eide Bailly went through his work, it was determined that he would need to view the completed annual audit for 2023 to complete his contracted work.

The annual audit, managed by Hayden Ross Pllc. outside Moscow, should be completed by the end of the month.

In the meantime, the county is looking for ways to save money while increasing revenue. This included a recent board-led workshop discussing the possibility of a salary freeze for county employees. However, the board said nothing will be decided until it receives the results of both audits.

“I want to be careful about what we say,” Zimmerman said. “I don’t want to give hope to employees.”

Commissioner Dave Dose still maintains that the purpose of the audit is not to place direct blame but to ensure that missteps that might have occurred do not continue to occur.

“This is a fact-finding mission. We need to understand how the mistake happened so we can begin to right it,” Dose said. “It’s like a big ship – it’s going to take a little while to turn.”