GROVE CITY — Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV officials are looking into a budget discrepancy uncovered by a recent audit.

An audit completed last month of the IU's 2015-16 finances revealed that there was almost $2 million less than anticipated in its fund balance at the end of the fiscal year, said Wayde Killmeyer, executive director.

The Intermediate Unit IV serves 27 school district and three vocational technical schools in Butler, Mercer and Lawrence counties, all of which contribute to its budget. In Butler County, it serves the Butler, South Butler, Karns City, Moniteau, Mars, Seneca Valley and Slippery Rock districts and the Butler County Vocational Technical School.

The IU has a budget of about $100 million and has an audit done every year. In light of this year's audit, the IU plans to have a third-party auditing firm that does not already do business with the IU look into the discrepancy, Killmeyer said.

“When this large change in fund balance was reported to us, we determined that we would continue to have our books examined until we found the reason for the change,” he said.

The IU is governed by a 13-person board of directors, which will have its next monthly meeting on Oct. 25.

At the meeting, the board will be presented with several options for additional auditing services including a conventional audit, or a forensic audit, Killmeyer said.

Bill Halle, a Butler school member who also serves on the IU board, said Monday that he is pushing for the forensic audit and believes that the board will agree with him.

A forensic audit is much more detailed and will give the board a “definitive” answer about what happened to create the discrepancy, he said.

“We're uncomfortable with the fact that that amount of money was missed,” Halle said.

However, Halle said he does not believe there is any fraud or criminal activity involved. It is more likely a result of accounting practices, Halle said, noting that some of the business staff at the IU have changed within the last two years. The new staff have made necessary corrections with finances and accounting, he said.

The IU, which has its headquarters on Maple Street in Grove City, provides educational and administrative leadership, programs, services and resources to its members, according to its website.

This is not the first time in recent years that the IU has run into trouble with its finances.

Cecelia Yauger, the Intermediate Unit's former executive director, resigned in 2013 and was accused of charging personal items using an IU credit card.

In 2014, she pleaded guilty to one count of theft and admitted stealing more than $5,500. She was sentenced to three years of probation by a federal judge.