State Controller Releases Montebello Review, Hercules Audit Still Underway

After completing audits of cities Bell and Montebello, California State Controller John Chiang’s office is set to release its review of Hercules next.

Hercules is third in line, following Bell and Montebello for a financial review. Chiang’s office released its audit of the City of Montebello Wednesday.

In its review, Chiang’s office said it “found significant weaknesses with the City of Montebello’s administrative and internal accounting control system…(and)as a result of the significant control deficiencies, the potential for waste, fraud, and abuse of public resources is extremely high…”

The state controller’s office said its review of Montebello was performed “to assess the adequacy of the city’s controls to safeguard public assets and to ensure proper use of public funds.”

In August, Chiang's office notified Hercules city staff that it would conduct an audit of the city and its redevelopment agency, saying that it had “serious concerns about the reliability and accuracy” of information in financial reports issued by the city and RDA. That audit is currently underway.

Chiang released a statement last month that said his audit findings through state and local investigations total more than $3 billion since 2007.

Hercules Patch’s coverage of the State Controller’s Hercules audits: