LIND — The town of Lind lost a substantial amount of its financial transaction records for 2022-25, a situation the Washington State Auditor’s Office attributed to a computer failure. However, the WSAO also recommended that town officials revise some of its financial transaction processes. 

"Due to the loss of data, we were unable to audit certain portions of the town’s financial activity, including payroll, utility adjustments and bank statement reconciliations,” according to the city’s 2023-25 audit report released Monday. 

The audit report said the records were lost when the computer system failed in September 2025. The failure wiped out records from March 2022 to September 2025. The loss included payroll records, adjustments to utility billing and reviews and reconciliation of Lind’s bank statements. 

“The town was unable to provide detailed pay stubs showing hours employees and their rates of pay for 2025 and 2025,” the audit report said.  

One employee was paid a higher rate than the employee’s approved pay and was overpaid because his hours were overreported. Auditors found 33 instances where employees didn’t clock out, filling out the timecard by hand instead, it said. 

“The town was unable to provide utility (account) adjustments,” the audit report said. “Without the adjustment reports we were unable to determine if our audit included all adjustments issued to customers,” 

The records that were reviewed had deficiencies, the report said. Of the 64 utility accounts reviewed by the auditors, 17 had meters that didn’t have current meter readings for 2023 through 2025, the report said. In that same timeframe, town employees made about $21,600 in adjustments but lacked proper documentation for about $21,100 of that.  

“The town has not completed back account reconciliation since September 2025, the audit report said. “Without an adequate review of the bank activity, the town cannot detect fraud or loss promptly.” 

Lind town officials said they’ve made a lot of changes to their procedures. 

“We have a new computer and an upgrade with (Lind’s financial software),” town officials wrote in response to the audit findings.  

Town employees are making paper copies of utility bills, payroll records and timecards in addition to the digital backup. Copies of payroll information are stored with employee records, with backup copies placed in a secure location, town officials said.  

Utility bills are reviewed before processing, the town’s response said, and the digital records are supplemented with paper copies. Town officials also said they had implemented procedures to document corrective actions when they occur.  

“Unfortunately, due to the lack of training from the last administration, we are still figuring out the dos and don’ts,” the town’s response said.  

Town employees will receive additional training in using the system, it said.