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Mayor: Draft of Winter Springs audit released is misleading

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. — The Winter Springs mayor said the results of an audit released by the county last week should not have been made public.

Mayor Kevin McCann said the comptroller’s office should never have released the audit since it wasn’t the final version.

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The audit by Seminole County said Winter Springs may have misspent penny sales tax money. But McCann said the draft audit was misleading.

McCann wouldn’t address what was misleading about the audit, only saying that to release the draft version goes against state statute since the city hasn’t had the opportunity to respond. The county comptroller said the draft was public record and so they released it to Channel 9 through a public records request.

Read: Audit to look deeper into spending of Winter Springs’ infrastructure improvement funds

The draft audit that was released showed $2 million used to supplement the city’s water utility and tens of thousands of dollars in operational expenses. The comptroller said those items don’t pass the sniff test and they will ask the city to return the money.

County Comptroller Grant Maloy said the audit, even a draft, is public record.

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“The fact is we completed our audit, we released the draft audit,” Maloy said. “We didn’t release previous drafts. This was our final version, the city is more than welcome to comment, they are more than welcome to point out why our findings are not accurate. They have that right to do it.”

McCann said he will only comment on the audit when it is finalized, but he believes the city has not misspent any of penny sales tax money.

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Jeff Levkulich

Jeff Levkulich, WFTV.com

Jeff Levkulich joined the Eyewitness News team as a reporter in June 2015.

Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.

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