FAIRHOPE, Ala. - The police bank account that sparked an ethics investigation has carried a city tax ID number since 2007 but never been reported in municipal financial statements or included in Fairhope’s required annual audit of its books, according to city officials.

The Friends of Fairhope Police Department bank account’s connection to the city was discovered in 2009 by one or more city officials; however, the account was never reported on the city’s financial books or audited after its discovery.

“For the audit of FY 2010, the auditors were made aware of the account and my efforts to get it closed as soon as possible,” City Treasurer Nancy Wilson stated in a March 31 email to The Fairhope Courier.

She added that the city’s accounting firm, after being informed in January 2010 of the account’s connection to the city, determined not to report the account on the city’s books or include it in the audit process that occurred later that year.

Police Chief Bill Press revealed at the March 28 City Council meeting that an ethics investigation into his use of the account had been initiated by Mayor Tim Kant. He denied any wrongdoing in a three-page letter delivered to the council that night.

"We have and will continue to cooperate with the Alabama Ethics Commission, District Attorney's Office, Internal Revenue Service, and any other investigate entity in fulfilling the needs of the community with total transparency," he stated in his March 28 letter to the council.

Press stated in that letter that he learned, shortly after he was hired in July 2009, that "the account, from October 2007 through December 2009, was improperly using the City tax ID number to purchase items such as alcohol for city employee parties."

Press and Wilson disagree about who first sought to correct the city tax ID problem of the police bank account, as will be reported in the April 1 edition of The Fairhope Courier.

Editor’s note: See article in next week’s edition of The Courier for full coverage of this developing story. Also follow www.baldwincountynow.com for updates to this report.