Polygamists submit late school-fund data
 
The Arizona Republic
 
PHOENIX - Officials in charge of public schools in the nation's largest polygamist community have submitted overdue paperwork about their finances and will avoid possible sanctions from the State Board of Education.

Gregg Rickert, accounting services manager with the Arizona Auditor General's Office, said officials of the Colorado City Unified School District submitted the paperwork Sept. 17, nearly six months after the March 31 deadline.

The paperwork, dealing with spending during the last fiscal year, is required under the Uniform System of Financial Records for Arizona School Districts.

State education officials had scheduled a hearing next Monday to consider withholding 10 percent of the public funding for Colorado City's schools as a penalty for failing to comply with the reporting requirements.

Amy Rezzonico, a spokeswoman for the education department, said that hearing has been canceled. Rickert said the Auditor General's Office will examine the paperwork submitted by the Colorado City School District to see whether it meets state and federal requirements.

Colorado City and the neighboring community of Hildale, Utah, are headquarters for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the nation's largest polygamist community with an estimated 10,000 members.
 
azcentral.com
Originally published September 25, 2004
 
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