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The city’s auditor has been contracted to conduct an audit of the Asbury Park Enterprise Zone Development Corporation, otherwise known as the UEZ.

Members of the Asbury Park City Council voted to authorize David Kaplan’s firm DAK CPA to conduct an audit of the UEZ program from June 30, 2008 up to the present. Kaplan’s firm also conducts annual audits of the city’s finances.

The firm will be compensated $13,500 for the services, which will come from $119,472.17 in UEZ funds reserved for an LED Street Lighting project, according to a resolution passed at Wednesday’s council meeting.

Three years ago, the state stopped providing funds for local UEZ programs, according to Tom Gilmour, the city’s director of commerce and executive director of the city’s UEZ corporation.

Now that the city is no longer receiving funds, the audit will determine the future of the corporation, he said.

Auditing is a “normal procedure that has not been done” in the history of the program, according to Gilmour. It will determine the future of the corporation, he said.

The remaining UEZ funds will be turned over to the city, Gilmour said.

Between 2008 and today, the city was able to use UEZ funds for debt financing, the purchase of new fire trucks, façade improvements for local businesses, a marketing program for the city and an initial city website as well as other programs, said Gilmour.

Most recently, the City Council voted to accept $33,613.61 in UEZ funds into the municipal budget to pay for website design, development and maintenance services, according to a resolution adopted Oct. 2.

The last year the program was fully funded the state granted Asbury Park $820,000, Gilmour said.

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