Numerous recommendations made in the prior audit report were not implemented and are included in this report. The county made little effort to implement many of the prior recommendations.
Actual disbursements exceeded budgeted amounts for several funds and 2006 amendments of the COPS Universal Hiring Grant Fund and Sheriff Special Equipment Fund resulted in deficit budgeted fund balances.
The county and health center do not have adequate procedures in place to track federal awards for the preparation of the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA), and expenditures were overstated by approximately $246,000 and $72,000 for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005, respectively.
The 911 Emergency Service Board did not always document the evaluation of bid proposals and the basis and justification for awarding bids for the purchase of equipment funded through the State Domestic Preparedness Equipment Support Program. In addition, a final report for the grant program was not filed with the Department of Public Safety, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), administering agency.
The poor financial condition of the General Revenue Fund, which was noted in our prior report, has continued to deteriorate. In addition, the cash balance of the Special Road and Bridge Fund has declined significantly since 2005 and is also in weak financial condition. The 2007 budget reflects projected ending fund balances of $29 and $-0- for the General Revenue Fund and Special Road and Bridge Fund, respectively. The County Commission indicated that various events in 2007 will provide new or additional revenues that were not anticipated.
The county solicited bids for numerous items; however, they did not always document the evaluation of bid proposals and the basis and justification for awarding bids. Examples noted for which the justification for awarding bids was not documented include the purchase of two motor graders with a total cost of $353,748, a skid loader costing $25,000, and interior painting of the courthouse costing $75,680.
Timesheets and accumulated leave balances are not submitted to the County Clerk for Sheriff department employees. The Sheriff provides a summary report to the County Clerk’s office indicating salaries of full-time employees and number of hours worked and hourly rates for part-time employees. In addition, the vacation leave policy followed by the Sheriff's office is different from the leave policy in the County Personnel Policies Manual for law enforcement personnel.
Concerns were noted related to the monitoring of property taxes. The delinquent tax books are printed by the County Collector, and the County Clerk does not perform tests to verify the totals of the delinquent tax book. In addition, although the County Clerk maintains an account book that summarizes the County Collector's financial information, discrepancies between the account book and the annual settlements were not documented or investigated.
Recordkeeping and disposal of property obtained through the Department of Defense (DOD) Excess Property Program did not appear to be in accordance with DOD procedures. Also, the county does not have a written policy and effective monitoring procedures regarding vehicle usage.
Numerous concerns were noted with the former County Collector’s accounting controls and procedures. Inadequate controls over monies received included failure to reconcile receipts to deposits, deposit monies intact, and perform a documented review of reversing entries. In addition, the former County Collector did not prepare formal bank reconciliations, reconcile liabilities to cash balances, or resolve old outstanding checks. There were errors and inconsistencies in amounts reported on the annual settlements. Prior audits of the County Collector's office have noted similar weaknesses in the internal control and record keeping procedures.
The report also includes comments related to the County Assessor’s and former County Collector’s salaries, computer security and the lack of an emergency contingency plan for computers, and the County Treasurer’s, Public Administrator’s, Prosecuting Attorney’s, Sheriff’s, Assessor’s, and 911 Emergency Service Board’s accounting controls and procedures.
Complete Audit Report |
