A Quick Tour Of Mullett Township

Mullett Township News & Views-Promoting Open Government in Mullett Township

There is also the Mullett Township Party Line or you make drink the Kool-Aid from the Topinabee Development Association "Artesian" Well

Mullett Township is a general law township in Cheboygan County, Michigan. The population was 1312 in the 2010 US census. The township and Mullett Lake are named for John Mullett, who with William Burt, surveyed much of the area between 1840 and 1843.

The commercial center of the Township is the quiet unincorporated Village of Topinabee located on the west shore of Mullett Lake on M27 highway. The village is a trailhead for the DNR Trail with off-street parking and restrooms.

The village has a Post Office, Convenience Store with gas pumps, Public Library with 24 hour outdoor WiFi, an artisan-owned woodwork shop, a breakfast cafe and a bar and grille. Township owned buildings include the Library, Township Hall and Fire Hall, and an unused former school building on Lea St.

Recreation needs are served with a beachfront park and covered picnic area, free public boat launch at the north end of the village, a small public access to Mullett Lake across from the Nokia Cafe and tennis court, ball-field, and playground equipment at a public park located up the hill on Lea St.

The east side of Mullett Township is largely rural, with no commercial development. Township services include a Fire Hall and volunteer East Mullett Lake Fire Department.


Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Mullett Township Financial Statements for the year end March 31, 2010 were prepared by
a Certified Public Accountant, Mr Richard E. Mahlmeister with offices in Mackinaw City.

Mr Mahlmeister stated“These financial statements are the responsibility of Mullett Township’s management. My responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements based on my audit. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. I believe that my audit provides a reasonable basis for my opinions.

Mr Mahlmeister stated “Net assets on March 31, 2010 totaled $1,801,363, representing an increase of $61,396 from the previous fiscal year. “

(This amount includes capital assets.)

On page 19, the statement of net assets relating to cash and cash equivalents and investments represent deposits in varying amounts as follows:

Cash and cash equivalents $550,706

Investments-certificates of deposit $ 604,172

At 2010 fiscal year end, the Township had a bank balance of $717,587 on deposit covered by FDIC insurance and $478,100 uninsured or uncollateralized.

(That means 40% of funds on deposit are not insured or protected against loss.)

Mr Mahlmeister states “The Township believes that due to the dollar amounts of cash deposits and the limits of FDIC insurance, it is impractical to insure all deposits. As a result, the Township evaluates each financial institution with which it deposits Township funds and assesses the level of risk of each institution. Only those institutions with an acceptable estimated level of risk are used as depositories. “

(With 12 Michigan bank failures since August of 2010, can the Mullett Township Board tell us what criteria is used and what are your qualifications to determine “an acceptable estimated level of risk” for financial institutions? Is the Board, in their position of Fiduciary responsibility, prepared to personally guarantee an amount, possibly by posting a personal bond, in the amount of $478,000 against possible loss?)


Mr Mahlmeister’s letter of July 19, 2010 is titled “COMMUNICATION OF SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCIES AND MATERIAL WEAKNESSES IN INTERNAL CONTROL AND OTHER MATTERS”

To quote Mr Mahlmeister “A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or detect and correct misstatements on a timely basis. A material weakness is a deficiency or combination of deficiencies in internal control, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the entity’s financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis.

I consider the following deficiency in Mullett Township’s internal control to be a material weakness:

Financial Statement Preparation
Mullett Township does not have procedures in place to prepare financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, and to present required financial statement disclosures.

However, small organizations with limited resources and personnel inherently have difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective internal accounting controls related to the preparation and review of the formal year-end financial statements.

Mr Mahlmeister continues “A significant deficiency is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by those charged with governance. I consider the following deficiency in Mullett Township’s internal control to be a significant deficiency:

Lack of Segregation of Duties
Lack of segregation of duties exists in the accounting function due to the limited number of accounting personnel.

This condition is generally inherent in organizations the size of Mullett Township, where corrective action is not practical, and to the extent possible, duties are allocated between accounting personnel to mitigate the risk of material asset misappropriation.

Budgeting
Public Act 621 of 1978, Section 18(1), as amended, provides that a local unit shall not incur expenditures in excess of the amount appropriated. During the year ended March 31, 2010 Mackinaw
Township (sic) incurred expenditures, which exceeded the amount appropriated for the Street Lights Fund, as shown in the body of the financial statements.

Though the Board is reviewing the budget as compared to expenditures, I suggest that the Township
Board on a periodic basis, closely review appropriations as compared to actual expenditures and amend the budget as necessary, prior to incurring the expenditures to avoid incurring expenditures in excess of appropriations.

Here is the link to the complete 2010 Mullett Township Financial Report-
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/treasury/161130MullettTwp20100803_329642_7.pdf

Here is the link to the complete 2008 Mullett Township Financial Report- 
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/treasury/161130MullettTwp_263347_7.pdf