Thursday, June 1, 2023
68.7 F
Pawhuska
HomeGovernmentMinerals CouncilOMC to bring on independent auditor

OMC to bring on independent auditor

An extra set of eyes will soon be looking over some of the mineral estate’s fiscal documents.     

At its Dec. 4 meeting, the Osage Minerals Council approved a resolution from its Production and Development Committee to bring on an independent auditor to review the council’s monthly financial reports.

The move came in part due to discrepancies between the announced headright amount for December and calculations by Councilor Susan Forman based off of Osage Agency Superintendent Robin Phillips’ reports during the quarter. The announced December payment is $2,385 for a full headright, while Forman’s math placed it at closer to $2,500.

“It just drove home the need to resume our monthly auditing of the superintendents reports like we had (former auditor) Mr. (Jim) Swan do,” Forman said. “I’ve asked several times to resume that … and this is not reflective of anyone’s work. We just all have so much on our plates right now that we are not getting it done.”

As per the approved resolution, the independent auditor will be brought on a contract basis, but several of the council members, including Councilor Marsha Harlan, expressed interest in eventually making it a full-time position with additional fiscal oversight duties.

“I’ve been a no vote on spending money so many times, but this is why we’re here: to make sure our estate is being paid out appropriately,” she said.

In other business, the council formally approved its 2021 meeting schedule and will continue to have its regular meetings on the first Friday and third Wednesday in 10 of the 12 months in the new year.

Thanks to the holidays, January and July are the two exceptions. The council’s Friday meetings for those months will be on Jan. 8, 2021, and July 9, 2021.


By

Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton


Original Publish Date: 2020-12-10 00:00:00

Author

  • Osage News Staff

    Stories that are not primarily written by an Osage News staff member will have a “Osage News” byline. These stories include press releases and other community content that was drafted by someone externally but reviewed and approved for publication by Osage News. As an independent news organization, we strive to report news and information with fairness and balance. While being the official news organization of the Osage Nation, we base our news judgements on our loyalties to our readers and Osage citizens, and we are not directly beholden to the Executive, Legislative, or Judicial branches of the Osage Nation.

Avatar photo
Osage News Staffhttps://osagenews.org
Stories that are not primarily written by an Osage News staff member will have a “Osage News” byline. These stories include press releases and other community content that was drafted by someone externally but reviewed and approved for publication by Osage News. As an independent news organization, we strive to report news and information with fairness and balance. While being the official news organization of the Osage Nation, we base our news judgements on our loyalties to our readers and Osage citizens, and we are not directly beholden to the Executive, Legislative, or Judicial branches of the Osage Nation.
RELATED ARTICLES

In Case You Missed it...

Upcoming Events