SHOSHONE — An auditor told the Shoshone City Council on Tuesday the city is in good financial health, but delinquent property taxes are on the rise.

Raymond Ware, of Ware & Associates CPAs, of Twin Falls, said Shoshone currently has $42,000 in delinquent property taxes. Unpaid taxes have increased from 8 to 12 percent in the past two to three years.

“Delinquent property taxes are going up and they typically do in hard economic times,” Ware said.

Ware told the council the city’s internal controls are sound and in place.

“There are no violations of Idaho code and everything looked pretty good,” he said.

However, Ware said, he noted material weaknesses that include that City Clerk Mary Kay Bennett is not a certified public accountant and does not hold a master’s degree in business administration. He said new state regulations require him to “put the public on notice” of anything that might fall under a legal definition of a material weakness, which includes a lack of segregation of duties. A material weakness is defined as one or more significant deficiencies related to financial controls.

Ware said the situation is common for small cities because they can’t afford additional employees to take on various financial duties.

Ware said the city is carrying about seven months of operating funds in the general fund. He said he likes to see a prudent reserve of at least three to four months.

“There were no budget violations to speak of, so you’ve done a good job of governing the city,” Ware told the council.

John Plestina may be reached at jplestina@magicvalley.com or 208-358-7062.