Some Lafayette Utilities System fiber customers improperly received free or reduced service. A PlayStation 5 and amplifier assigned to Lafayette Consolidated Government's communications division are missing and at least 25 Fire Stick streaming devices belonging to LUS Fiber can't be found.
Those are some of the findings in the annual independent audit of LCG for the fiscal year Nov. 1, 2022, through Oct. 31, 2023, while Josh Guillory was mayor-president.
Current Mayor-President Monique Boulet, who defeated Guillory in November and took office in January, released the audit by Kolder, Slaven & Company last week. The audit was conducted from December to April. Management responses were provided by the Boulet administration.
The previous year's budget, for actions taken by the Guillory administration, noted 29 problems including possible violations of the state constitution, state public bid law and parish home rule charter. The Guillory administration disagreed with most of the findings, a few of which were repeated in the 2022-23 audit.
New to the 2022-23 audit were problems at LUS Fiber. Some customers are receiving more service than they're paying for while some aren't being billed for services at all, which may violate the Louisiana Constitution by constituting donations of public goods, the auditors noted.
The audit does not specify how many customers received discounted or free fiber service or how much LUS Fiber was short-changed.
City-Parish Attorney Pat Ottinger said Tuesday the Boulet administration is working to determine that information and remove personal information before releasing it to the public.
New procedures and internal controls are being reviewed to prevent a repeat of the problem.
LUS Fiber also was singled out for losing streaming devices called Fire Sticks.
Eighty-four Fire Sticks were checked out from inventory by the LUS Fiber Engineering Department for physical inspection. The auditors selected a sample of 25 to test. The department was unable to produce any of the 25, the auditors wrote. Of the remaining 59 Fire Sticks that were supposed to be in inventory, the department could only account for five.
In addition, the auditors wrote, in some cases customers are not being properly charged for Fire Sticks because work orders were not correctly completed.
The Boulet administration agreed with the finding and is working to put in place policies and controls to prevent it from recurring.
Ryan Meche, LUS Fiber director under Guillory, was not retained by Boulet. He is being replaced by Mamou native Michael Soileau, a former Comcast NBC Universal executive.
The auditors randomly selected 25 assets from LCG's fixed asset listing for physical inspection and were unable to locate three of them. In one case, documentation was provided to show the asset had been scrapped.
The two remaining assets, an Emcore 8200 Series Amplifier and a Sony PlayStation 5, that were assigned to the communications division were not found.
The administration agreed with the finding that departments did not properly safeguard LCG assets and will review policies and procedures.
LCG was called out by auditors for spending city funds on projects outside the city of Lafayette in possible violation of the Home Rule Charter.
A grant-related fund in LCG's consolidated cash account recognized a $17.75 million overdraft in 2023, with about $17.73 million of it related to construction of detention ponds in unincorporated areas. The overdraft was allocated as follows: 28.61% to the City General Fund and 5.22% to the City Combined Bond Construction Fund.
LCG officials replied that state grants for the city and parish are combined into the same grant fund, causing the city to inadvertently be charged for expenses in the parish. LCG is in the process of implementing a new financial system that will track the funds separately.
The 2022-23 audit as well as past LCG audits can be found on the lcg website lafayettela.gov.