MSD Response to State Audit Due Tuesday

The Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District will formally respond to a state audit this week.In December, then-state auditor Crit Luallen released a comprehensive critique of MSD’s managerial and ethical issues. The agency was given 60 days to respond, and that deadline is Tuesday.The agency is required to tell the state auditor’s office what steps it’s already taken to implement the audit’s recommendations.Interim Executive Director Greg Heitzman says the board has already addressed several of the findings—like implementing an ethics policy. Heitzman has set out a 30, 60 and 90 day action plan to address the audit’s recommendations, but realizes some changes might take longer.“My projection is that by January 1 of next year, I think that we’ll be able to sit back with our board, with our senior management team and be able to assure the public that all of the items in the audit have been addressed,” he said.Heitzman says there are over 150 recommendations to address, but MSD isn’t required to follow the auditor’s advice.“So what will happen is, we will address every audit finding but it will not necessarily mean that we take and put into action every recommendation of the audit,” he said.Instead, MSD can use discretion to put a more appropriate practice in place.