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Why It Matters
A rare state audit of Kamiah has exposed significant problems in how the city managed public money over a four-year period, raising questions about accountability and oversight in local government. The findings have prompted Idaho’s chief legal officer to review the report, and the city has since replaced key leadership and overhauled its financial practices.
What Happened
Idaho state auditors completed a comprehensive review of Kamiah’s financial activity spanning 2020 through 2024, identifying widespread documentation failures and questionable spending decisions. The audit report, running 30 pages, details undocumented employee pay raises, vendor payments lacking proper justification, and a failed pool renovation project that consumed over half a million dollars with little to show for it.
The most troubling finding involved the city’s contract with Idaho Stage Construction for a pool renovation. What began as a $43,700 project in October 2020 ballooned to $498,453.22 paid to the contractor, representing a nearly $455,000 overspend. Additional payments of roughly $54,600 went to two other vendors on the same project, pushing total spending above $500,000. Despite the expense, the pool remains inoperable.
The audit identified multiple change orders on the pool contract, attributed partly to COVID-19 complications, and documented approximately $40,000 paid to close out the contract with no supporting documentation for services rendered. Idaho Stage Construction is no longer in business, complicating efforts to recover funds. City leadership concluded that pursuing overpayments would prove more costly than walking away.
Beyond the pool project, auditors found that the City Council exercised little to no oversight of many expenditures. A review of 59 credit card purchases totaling nearly $36,000 between 2021 and 2024 revealed transactions lacking clear business purpose documentation, including payments for candy.
Employee compensation decisions also lacked formal approval processes. Most long-term city employees received undocumented $2-per-hour pay raises in 2021, followed by a $1-per-hour cost-of-living adjustment in 2022. Two employees received additional $2-per-hour adjustments that same year, all without apparent City Council authorization or written justification.
The broader financial picture painted a troubling portrait: Kamiah’s cash reserves and investments declined 94 percent between 2020 and 2023, leaving the city in a severely weakened fiscal position.
By The Numbers
- Nearly $455,000 overspend on the pool renovation contract
- $498,453.22 total paid to Idaho Stage Construction against a $43,700 original contract
- $500,000+ combined total spent on pool project, which remains inoperable
- $1.5 million estimated cost to repair the pool correctly, with repairs taking up to two years
- 94% decline in city cash and investments from 2020 to 2023
- $35,994 in credit card charges reviewed across 59 transactions with incomplete documentation
State Response and City Reform
The severity of the findings prompted state auditors to refer the report to Idaho’s chief legal officer for review. State Auditor April Renfro emphasized the seriousness of missing financial documentation, noting that expenditures without supporting evidence raise questions about whether public funds were misappropriated or illegally used.
Current Mayor Genese Simler and legal counsel Geoffrey Schroeder, both appointed after the audit period ended, have begun correcting course. The city voted to remove the prior city clerk and hired an accounting firm to reconcile the treasurer’s records. These steps suggest acknowledgment of past failures and intent to restore financial discipline.
Former deputy city clerk Mike Tornatore, in remarks cited in the audit, stated that restoring the pool to working condition would require $1.5 million and as much as two years of work—a cost and timeline the city is unlikely to absorb given its depleted cash reserves.
Looking Ahead
Kamiah faces a difficult fiscal recovery. With cash reserves severely diminished and a major capital project abandoned, the city must rebuild its financial foundation while implementing stronger controls over spending and employment decisions. The appointment of new leadership and engagement of professional accounting services represent important first steps, though the city’s long-term viability will depend on sustained commitment to transparency and accountability.
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