News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alpena County Treasurer Kim Ludlow works at her desk on Thursday at the county courthouse in Alpena. The county received a letter from the state requesting a corrective action plan to address inconsistencies found in the county’s latest financial audit.

ALPENA — The state has asked Alpena County for a corrective action plan to address inconsistencies found in the county’s latest financial audit.

The state is concerned because the county has for three consecutive years run a budget deficit, meaning it spent more money than it took in and had to dip into savings to pay its bills.

The state allows local governments to run budget deficits if they have enough money in savings to cover the shortfall.

County Treasurer Kim Ludlow said Thursday the county is not being asked to produce a deficit reduction plan, which could include forced layoffs or other cuts.

Rather, the state wants a plan to address the deficiencies in the audit. She said the state’s letter didn’t make clear what the deficiencies are, but the county’s auditor is working with the state to collect more information.

Ludlow, County Administrator Jesse Osmer, and the auditing firm are working on a response to the state and have 30 days to respond.

“This type of letter is uncommon, and even the auditors thought it was odd and had to reach out to the state to get more clarification as to what they are even looking for,” Ludlow said. “The letter doesn’t even tell us for sure what one of the county funds they are talking about.”

The county has run a large general fund budget shortfall of several years, but has always had enough money in savings to cover it.

Currently, the county projects a budget deficit of about $1.4 million and has a little more than $3 million in savings.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.