THE
STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT /
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF |
TO: |
The Honorable the Members of the Board of RegentsSubcommittee on Audits
|
FROM: |
Theresa E. Savo
|
SUBJECT: |
Board of Regents Oversight – Financial
Accountability |
DATE: |
|
STRATEGIC
GOAL: |
Goal
5 |
AUTHORIZATION(S): |
|
Issues for
Discussion
Three items are presented for
discussion with the Members of the Subcommittee on Audits
including:
1.
Statement on the Governance Role of a
Trustee or Board Member
2.
Types of Audit Reports Presented to the
Regents Subcommittee on Audits
3.
Completed Audits
Update on
Activities
Proposed
Handling
Discussion and
Guidance
Procedural
History
The information is provided to assist the Subcommittee in carrying out its oversight responsibilities related to audits of financial and reporting practices; performance audits or reviews; ethical conduct issues arising from audits; internal controls; and compliance with laws, regulations, and policies.
1.
Statement on the Governance Role
of a Trustee or Board Member – Department staff will brief the Members on a
revised document. The original was
issued in November of 2001. Recent
changes have been made to update its content. (see separate Regents item)
2.
Types of Audit Reports Presented to the
Regents Subcommittee on Audits – Staff will brief the Members on
the different types of audits that are presented to them for review. The different audit groups will be
described as well as report release processes. (Attachment II)
3.
Completed Audits
Reports are provided as
follows:
Office of Audit Services
Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES
Office of the
State Comptroller
State Education Department, NYC Department of Education Administration of Payments for Preschool-Related Services and Special Education Itinerant Teachers (Follow-up Report) 2006-F-18
Greater
Chazy Central
Rural
Roslyn Union
Free
For item one (Statement on the Governance Role of a
Trustee or Board Member), Member advice and input is sought. For item two (Types of Audit Reports
Presented to the Regents Subcommittee on Audits) and item three (Completed
Audits), no further action is recommended.
N/A
The following materials are
attached:
·
Roadmap
·
Minutes of the December Meeting (Attachment
I)
·
Draft Statement on the Governance Role of a
Trustee or Board Member (separate item)
·
Audit Report Process (Attachment
II)
·
Audit Report Abstracts (Attachment
III)
REGENTS SUBCOMMITTEE ON AUDITS MEETING
ROADMAP
|
Date: January 2007
Time: TBD Location: TBD | ||
TOPIC |
OUTCOME |
WHO |
MINUTES |
Opening Remarks |
|
Chair |
2 |
Review Agenda/Minutes (Attachment I) |
Approval |
|
1 |
Statement on the Governance Role of a Trustee or Board Member |
Update |
Staff |
15 |
Types of Audit Reports Presented to the Regents Subcommittee on Audits (Attachment II) |
Update |
Spring |
15 |
Audit Report Abstracts (Attachment III) |
Questions Addressed |
SED and OSC Staff |
25 |
Next Session |
Preview |
Staff |
2 |
Subcommittee Members in
Attendance:
Regent Geraldine D. Chapey,
Chair
Regent Joseph E. Bowman, Vice
Chair
Regent John
Brademas
Regent Arnold
Regent Chapey opened the meeting by noting
that she, as well as Department staff participated in a forum held in
Regent Chapey announced the Department’s new
Director of Audit Services, James Conway.
The Members of the Subcommittee (Members)
were informed that the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and
Secondary Education has issued program determinations on two audits conducted by
the Office of the Inspector General that were previously presented to the
Subcommittee. The audits are of the
The Members discussed the overlapping role of
audit organizations, observing that these two schools had been audited many
times. Staff responded that the audit organizations frequently focus on
different topics in defining the scope of audits. Staff did observe that
cooperation among audit units can help to eliminate the appearance of duplicate
audit effort.
The Commissioner stated the Department has
requested 24 auditors for the Department. He believes the Department as well as
other organizations need audit capacity to focus on critical accountability
issues in school districts.
Staff
briefed the Members on activities related to the Violent and Disruptive Incident
Reporting System. Since the release
of the Comptrollers audit in June of 2006, over 100 Department and BOCES staff
visited 25 schools to assess the reliability of the data. The Department
recently provided training to over 1,500 school district personnel from over 600
districts and will visit an additional 75 schools prior to the end of the school
year.
Finally,
staff briefed the Members on the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of
Inspector General’s (OIG) audit of the Department administration of the Reading
First Program. The audit was discussed by the Members as well as Commissioner
Mills. The audit examined the award of over $215 million in Reading First funds
to school districts across the State. The specific findings contained in the
audit, as well as the Department’s response to each, were discussed with EMSC
staff. The next step in the process will be a determination by the U.S.
Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary
Education.
Attachment
II
Regents Subcommittee on
Audits
December 2006
Meeting
Audit Report
Process
The Regents Subcommittee on Audits (RSOA)
receives audit reports from numerous audit organizations examining USNY
institutions. The audit organizations follow auditing standards and the
reporting processes are similar. However, some differences exist. Below is a
discussion of the four sources of audit reports that are received by the
RSOA.
New York State Education Department – Office
of Audit Services (OAS)
Three types of
audits:
Reporting process - standard process of
preliminary findings, draft to auditee for comments, and final report including
response to the draft. OAS requests
the written status of recommendations 90 days after issuance of final report.
There is no process to prepare a press release upon final
audit.
Office of the State Comptroller
(OSC)
Division of State Services – State Audit
Bureau
Several types of audits are provided to the
RSOA including:
Reporting process – standard for SED program
and grants, as well as TAP.
Preliminary findings, draft report for comments and final report
including the response to the draft. Normally, they are issued by some type of
press release depending on the nature of the
audit.
Follow-up audits – compressed time period.
The OSC issues a discussion document to auditee and then a final report without
the response to the draft attached.
The release of these audits is often
accompanied by a press notification or release.
Local Government Services and Economic
Development
Local Government Services and Economic
Development - responsible for audits of municipalities of all types.
Audits presented to the RSOA would include
audits of school districts and BOCES. This Office follows the preliminary,
draft, final report process, with the response to the draft attached to the
final.
The release of these audits is often
accompanied by a press notification or release.
United States Department of Education –
Office of Inspector General
This Office of Inspector General has
conducted audits of the Department’s administration of federal grant programs as
well as individual school districts compliance with grant requirements. The
audit process follows the preliminary, draft, final process, with the response
to the draft being included as part of the final. However, the final resolution of the
audit is referred back to the federal program office and not handled by the
Office of Inspector General. There is a press release which announces the
issuance of the audit.
Any entity which expends over $500,000 in
federal grants must have a Single Audit conducted in accordance with the Federal
Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Circular A-133. Findings must be included in the report,
and the entity must prepare a corrective action plan. The specific findings
related to the State Education Department are presented to the RSOA.
Attachment
III
Audit Report
Abstracts
Regents Subcommittee on
Audits
January
2007
Office
of Audit Services | ||||
Audit |
Major
Finding(s) |
Recommendation/Response
| ||
FW-1205-3
9th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found a lack of controls over
the time and attendance of certain District employees.
|
2
recommendations The report recommends that the District
formally define the required workday for all
employees. The report also recommends that the
District develop a time and attendance process, which accounts for the
daily attendance of all staff, with consideration given to the methods
described in the OSC guide. The District officials indicated they
plan to work with the teachers bargaining unit to implement the
recommenda-tions. | ||
Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES
BOC-0104-01 6th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found weaknesses in controls
including the submission of incomplete budget status reports to the Board,
failure to appoint certain individuals with fiscal responsibilities, lack
of policies and procedures in certain areas, and poor accounting controls
in the Career and Technical Education area. The report also found a lack of
documentation of Employ-ment Preparation Education (EPE) classroom
hours. The audit also found control weaknesses
related to invoicing procedures, and the integrated accounting system.
Finally, the audit also found weak
controls over outstanding payroll checks, treasurer’s duplicate receipt
books, maintaining accurate and complete inventory records and access to
fuel pumps. |
18
recommendations The report recommends that a complete
budget status report be provided to the Board at least quarterly and that
certain positions be filled to enhance
control. The report also recommends improvements
in invoicing procedures, developing an integrated accounting system, and
improved documentation of EPE hours. Further, the report recommends improved
controls related to outstanding payroll checks and the treasurer duplicate
receipt book. In addition,
recommenda-tions are made to maintain accurate and complete inventory
records and restrict access to fuel
pumps. Finally, the report recommends
appointing an individual responsible for maintaining the attendance
register. BOCES officials agree
with the recommendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Office
of State Controller | ||||
Audit |
Major
Finding(s) |
Recommendation/Response
| ||
State
Education Department (SED), New York City Department of Education, and
Administration of Payments for
Preschool-Related Services and Special Education Itinerant Teachers
(Follow-Up Report) 2006-F-18 1st Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment This report is a follow up on an audit
of the Administration of
Payments for Preschool Related Services and Special Education Itinerant
Teachers (Report 2003-S-39). The original audit found that the
New York City Department of Education (Department) overpaid providers by
$731,000 because it used the wrong rates. In addition, the Department and
The report contained 11
recommendations. The follow-up audit found that SED, the Department and
|
SED – four partially implemented and
two not implemented The report recommended SED provide
direction to municipalities that restate Manual and payment guidelines,
direct municipalities to develop a means of monitoring providers
compliance with Manual requirements and billing guidelines, remind
municipalities that SEIT sessions should include the starting and ending
times of sessions, and provide formal direction to municipalities to
ensure that related service providers are only paid for services provided.
These recommendations have been partially implemented by SED. SED
Officials have drafted a technical assistance memorandum concerning SEIT
and related services addressing the audit
issues. The report recommends SED require that
municipality’s contracts with service providers include a requirement that
providers must notify the municipality when a student is illegally absent
for 5 consecutive days and formally assess the propriety of paying SEIT
services on an enrollment versus attendance-based system. The SED has not
yet implemented these
recom-mendations. | ||
New York State Education Department
Use of Technology for Professional
Licensing and Renewal Report
2006-S-22 |
$0
adjustments The audit found
that the State Education Department (SED) initiated the Online Licensing
Project (Project) to expand its use of technology for the application and
registration renewal processes for professional licenses. However,
progress on the Project has been limited because there were problems with
contractor performance and because SED did not consistently follow
standard project management guidelines. The Project is currently more than
four years late based on an original contract completion estimate of
December 31, 2001. Consequently, SED has not optimized the use of
information technology to reduce the processing costs and times for people
to apply for and renew professional licenses.
The audit also
found that since the Project was initiated, SED had five contracts with
four vendors. SED cancelled two of these contracts with two vendors. Two
other contracts have been completed by one vendor, and the remaining
contract has been placed on hold. As of June 2006, SED has spent $2.4
million on vendor contracts for the Project. The audit also stated that the Office
is financially self-sufficient, in compliance with State Law, and fees
collected for license applications and renewals are used solely for Office
operations. |
5 recommendations
The audit
recommends that project management standards be followed, such as those
outlined in the Office for Technology’s Guidebook or other project
management tools, to ensure the Project is concluded in a timely,
efficient and economical manner. The audit
recommends that the need and feasibility of establishing a Project
Manage-ment Office (or an office with equivalent capabilities and
responsibilities) be formally assessed, to help ensure that major IT and
other program projects are administered efficiently and effectively.
The audit also
recommends that periodic data on the number of license applications and
renewals pending approval or other disposition is maintained and that data
is analyzed to determine if there are significant changes in backlogs that
may require corrective actions by management.
The audit
recommends that plans for an imaging system be completed to ensure an
easier and more efficient access to applicant data by Office staff.
The audit also
recommends that the Office’s system be updated to allow professionals to
update information, such as address changes, online.
State officials generally agree with
the recommendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
2006M-145 4th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found purchases made on
non-approved credit cards; purchases not supported by itemized receipts;
and meal and conference costs that were not approved or properly
documented. As a result, the District may have paid for excessive or
inappro-priate costs. The audit found that the District did
not have a credit card policy for the District’s retail store cards.
Issuing a credit card or charge card without specific Board authorization
limits account-ability for District purchases and increases the risk of
inappropriate purchases. The audit found that two credit card
meal charges, totaling $95.48, were not supported by itemized receipts.
The District paid these costs even though the Internal Claims Auditor had
not ensured charges complied with the policy.
The audit tested payments for meals and
refreshments provided at six separate meetings or events during the
2005-2006 school year. Four of these six had receipts, totaling $1,306,
that did not show the purpose of the meeting or event, and two receipts
did not identify the group that attended.
The audit reviewed six travel and
conference vouchers and found the Internal Claims Auditor approved payment
for three of the six payments without the required
documentation. |
4 recommendations
The report recommends that the
District’s Internal Claims Auditor conduct a proper audit of claims to
verify that claims are supported by the documentation required by District
policies and regulations before they are approved for payment.
The report also recommends that the
Board and District officials monitor and enforce compliance with adopted
policies, such as those relating to charge card use, meals and
refreshments, and travel and conferences.
The report recommends that the Board
amend the District’s credit card policy to provide clear guidelines on the
use of District credit and purchase cards. The policy should identify the
types of cards, who is authorized to use the cards, and the documentation
required to support the charges. Finally, the report recommends that the
Board consider amending the meals and refreshments policy to require that
receipts identify the individuals who attended the meeting or event, and
the reason meals or refreshments were needed to conduct District
business. District officials generally agree with
the recommendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
|
$0
adjustment The audit found that payments made to school
resource officers (SROs) were not properly supported or accurate and that
the Board does not have an adequate service contract with the
SROs. The audit also found that the Board has
not established adequately designed internal controls over the audit
processing and payment of claims. In addition incompatible duties are not
sufficiently segre-gated and the purchase order system is not operating
effectively. |
9
recommendations The claims
auditor should ensure that every claim contains adequate itemization and
documentation to demonstrate that it is a proper District charge, approved
by the department, certified as received, and complies with District
policies, including prior authorization by the Purchasing Agent.
The Board
should monitor the activities of the claims auditor to ensure that she
complies with Board policies and procedures, statutory requirements and
good internal control. The Treasurer
should not pay claims prior to audit by the claims auditor.
The Board
should clearly define its policy regarding the use of confirming purchase
orders. The District officials generally agree
with the recommenda-tions and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
3rd Judicial
District |
$35,000
adjustment The audit found that the District
overpaid certain employees by paying them at their new contract rates even
though the payroll included days worked in the previous contract
year. The District also
awarded and paid unauthorized vacation and sick days, compensated an
employee for two different positions covering the same time period and
inconsistently calculated leave buyout payments in the amount of $35,000.
The audit also found that District
officials do not follow the written policy that addresses the maintenance
of capital asset records, they have not appointed a property control
manager to track capital assets, certain items on the inventory listings
could not be found and several items that were not on the inventory
listings were found. |
10 recommendations
The report recommends that an employment agreement be
prepared for all employees not covered under a collective bargaining
agreement, and that there be an independent review and verification of
payroll calculations involving payments to employees for accumulated
unused vacation and sick
leave. The report recommends that the Board seek to recover leave
buyout payments made to the former Treasurer, Superin-tendent’s secretary
and Business Manager for unused
leave. The report also recommends that when a pay period
encompasses two fiscal years, either a year-end payroll should be
calculated, or the proper payroll expense should be accrued and paid at
the proper rates in effect at the time service is
rendered. In addition, the report recommends
that payroll related
duties be assigned so that the work of one individual independently
verifies another’s in the course of their regular duties and that at a
minimum, the duties of payroll processing should be separate from entering
new employee information into the
system. The District officials agree with the
recommendations, except for the payments of current earned and unused
vacation leave at the conclusion of
employment. | ||
Greater 2006M-130 4th Judicial
District |
$32,385 adjustment The audit found that 56 percent of sampled
computers and electronic equipment listed on the Business Office records
and 22 percent of sampled computers on Information Technology Department
records could not be located.
The computers had a value of
$32,385. |
4 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board establish procedures
to ensure that the District’s fixed asset policy is adhered to, that
District officials complete and maintain a comprehensive inventory of
capital assets, that physical inventories be conducted periodically and
any differences between the records and inventory results be promptly
investigated and
resolved. The report also recommends that the District establish policies
and procedures to ensure that all computer storage facilities and labs be
locked and properly secured when
unattended. 1 In addition the report recommends that
District officials investigate the unaccounted for equipment and take
steps to recover these assets. The District officials generally agree
with the recommendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Chazy Central Rural School District
Internal Controls Over Capital Assets
2006M-138 4th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that a 2005-2006
inventory had not been
completed. Identifi-cation tags were not affixed to all inventory items
and purchase information was used to update the capital asset
records. |
3 recommendations
The report recommends that District officials designate a
property control manager to be responsible for tracking capital assets and
ensuring the accuracy and usefulness of the District’s asset
records. 99 The report recommends that an identification number be
assigned and affixed on individual
assets. The report also recommends that the Board enforce the written
guidelines governing the disposal of the District’s capital
assets. The District officials generally agree
with the recommend- ations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
2006M-126 4th Judicial
District |
$4,596
adjustment The audit found that the District
levied taxes in excess of the amount needed to fund the budget approved by
District voters. The audit found that there were
weaknesses in the District’s controls over the tracking and accounting of
capital assets, a fixed asset inventory was not maintained in a timely
manner, the Board had not adopted an adequate fixed asset policy and the
Board did not follow the asset disposal policy.
The audit found School officials were
not able to locate six computers, worth approximately $5,000.
The audit also found that the District
had no formal written policy covering the processing of payroll, that
there were instances where unauthorized leave time was taken and that some
employees were paid in excess of contractual allowances. For example,
former Associate Superin-tendent for Operations, Finance, and Management
was paid for 12 days of compensatory time off, a total of $4,596, although
there was nothing in his contract that allows for the accrual of
compensatory leave. The audit found that there is no
segregation of duties for processing payroll and until recently, there was
no separate review of payroll performed by someone independent of the
payroll preparation process. |
12 recommendations
The report recommends the Board ensure that the
amount approved by District voters is the amount levied and any excess
levied should be reflected in the subsequent year’s
budget. The report also recommends the Board establish and
implement an adequate fixed asset policy for the District’s capital
assets, which properly addresses the accounting and safeguarding of the
District’s computers and computer-related
equipment. The report recommends the Board designate a property
manager to be responsible for implementing the District’s fixed asset
policy, that identification numbers be affixed to capital assets, require
that a comprehensive inventory record of capital assets be completed and
updated, and any discrepancies be investigated and
resolved. The report also recommends the Board review the policy for
the disposal of District capital assets and require that sufficient
documentation is maintained when disposing of capital
assets. The report also recommends the Board establish written
policies and procedures as guidance for the District employees
re-sponsible for the processing and distribution of payrolls and that
employees are paid and receive benefits only as provided for in a
collective bargaining agreement or other employment contract,
The report recommends the Board determine whether the
payment to the former Associate Superintendent was appropriate, if the
Board determines the payment was unauthorized and thus inappropriate, the
Board should seek
repayment. The report also recommends that someone independent of the
payroll process review finalized payrolls to verify that they are based on
actual hours or days worked, or authorized leave time charged; verify that
the hourly rates or annual salaries used are as authorized; compare net
payroll checks to the payroll journals; and review the payroll for overall
reasonableness. The report also recommends the Board assign payroll duties
to employees in such a manner that the work of one individual
independently verifies another’s in the course of their regular duties.
The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Oswego City School District Financial
Condition and Internal Controls Over Financial
Operations 2006M-85 5th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that the District
relied heavily on the use of the fund balance to finance operations and
that the District’s general fund unreserved, unappropriated fund balance
exceeded the statutory limit at the end of fiscal years 2000-2001 and
2001-2002. The audit also found that by the end of
the 2004-2005 fiscal year, the District’s fund balance was about
one-fourth of what it had been at the end of the 2001-2002 and at the same
time, reserves, excluding the reserve for encumbrances, were over half of
what they were three years prior. The audit found that with declining
revenues and generally rising expend-itures, the Board took steps toward
developing a multi-year financial plan to address its long-range operating
and capital asset needs. The audit found
that employee benefit costs in the 2004-2005 budget were estimated at 10
percent less than the actual costs incurred in 2003-2004 and 23 percent
less than the actual costs for 2004-2005. The audit found health
insurance costs projections were estimated at just under $6 million for
2004-2005 after the District ex-perienced costs of nearly $7.4 million in
2003-2004 and $6.7 million in 2002-2003. The actual cost of health
insurance rose to nearly $7.9 million in 2004-2005, or almost $1.9 million
more than had been budgeted. The audit found that the Board
did not always receive timely financial information with which to
effectively monitor the District’s finances, budget transfers were not
always approved and documented, budget transfer reports were not always
complete and the District inappropriately encumbered funds at year-end to
increase appro-priations in various other accounts in the following year.
The audit found that the
Claims Auditor has another District job, which is not compatible and did
not compare the audited claims with the warrant and checks prepared by the
Treasurer. The audit also found that the Payroll
Clerk and the Deputy Treasurer have computer access rights that are not
compatible with other payroll duties they perform.
|
17 recommendations
The report recommends the Board require timely and
complete financial and budgetary information, that the Board and District
managers comply with the adopted policies and procedures for amending the
budget, and that the Board ensures accurate estimates of employee benefit
costs are included in the District’s annual
budget. The report also recommends that year-end encumbrances only be
established for valid commitments of specific future expenditures, that
the Board review and comply with the statutory requirements regarding the
creation and use of reserve funds, and moneys that exist in the District’s
invalid “insurance reserve” either be returned to unreserved fund balance
or be used to create a legal
reserve. The report recommends the District continue long-term
financial planning for future operational and capital requirements, that
multi-year financial plans be updated annually and reviewed/ evaluated by
the Board, that the Board modify plans and projections as necessary and
that the Board use plans and projections to measure the District’s
progress toward achieving and sustaining fiscal
stability. The report also recommends that the Payroll Clerk and the
Deputy Treasurer not have computer access rights that allow them to
activate or deactivate employees in the payroll system and that the
District’s computer system automatically record and report when changes
are made. The report recommends the Board take steps to ensure that
the District’s capital asset policies are complied with, that all capital
assets included in the District’s inventory are tagged and if District
officials decide that the use of blanket purchase orders is appropriate,
their use should be strictly controlled with established limits, rules and
procedures set forth in the District’s procurement
policy. The report also recommends the Board consider adopting
specific written rules and procedures for the use of confirming purchase
orders. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Candor Central School District Internal
Controls Over Capital Assets and Computerized
Data 2006M-133 6th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that the Board has not
monitored compliance with its adopted capital assets policies. The
District has no formal schedule of asset acquisi-tions or asset
dispositions to provide to the private company that prepares the updated
inventory record. The inventory records that are kept by the information
technology and trans-portation departments are not compared to the capital
asset listing provided by the outside
company. 8 The audit showed that 6 of the 62 items on the asset listing
could not be accounted
for. The audit found that data stored on computers and
servers were not backed up on a routine basis. A formal plan is needed to
recover lost data in the event of a disaster.
The audit also found that there are six actively
assigned computer user accounts but only three active users.
|
3 recommendations
The report recommends the Board require District
officials to account for missing assets and monitor compliance with the
District’s current policies and procedures relating to capital asset
management. The report recommends the Board adopt policies and
procedures to strengthen internal controls relating to computer data
backup and disaster recovery and adopt policies and procedures to restrict
the number of computer user accounts to only authorized individuals based
on job responsibilities. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
LeRoy
Central School District Fuel Inventory
Controls 2006M-184 3rd Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found weak-nesses with segregation
of duties and a lack of perpetual inventory records over fuel
use. The audit identified control weaknesses regarding the
assignment of duties for the Fuel System Software Operator (System
Operator) and Head Mechanic.
The audit also determined that the District
was not maintaining perpetual inven-tory records and billing the Town and
Village in a timely manner and there was no regular procedure in place to
assess the reason-ableness of total fuel purchased as compared to total
fuel dispensed. |
4 recommendations
The report recommends that the District, Town and the
Village define responsibilities related to the operations of the fuel
storage and pumping facility and that the District segregate the duties of
those employees involved with the fuel depot.
The report also recommends that duties of Village employees
working with the District should not include pumping fuel, editing
consumption records and initializing fuel usage cards. In addition, the
same individual should not receive fuel deliveries, take the physical
inventory or maintain the periodic physical inventory
log. The report recommends that the District maintain perpetual
inventory records that identify the quantities purchased, delivered and
dispensed and reconcile these records to the periodic physical
inventories. The report also recommends that the District bill the Town and
Village for current usage on a timely basis and require appropriate
billing within the one-week
criteria. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action | ||
Clyde-Savannah Central School
District Separation
Payments and Capital
Assets 2006M-99 7th Judicial
District |
$14,000
Adjustment The audit found that the District does
not have adequate internal controls over separation payments, which
resulted in the Superintendent being inappropriately paid $14,000 when he
left employment. The audit also found a lack of
segregation of duties and weak internal controls over capital
assets. |
7 recommendations
The report recommends the Board take the appropriate
steps to recover the improper payments and monitor separation payments to
ensure that the District’s policies and procedures are
followed. The report recommends the Board ensure that separation
payments made to District officials and employees comply with the
provisions of their employment contracts or applicable Board policy and/or
resolutions. The report also recommends the Board ensure that a complete
physical inventory of capital assets is taken; that acquisitions,
dispositions, and transfers of assets are recorded, that moveable capital
assets are tagged; that periodic physical inventories are taken with
discrepancies resolved. The District officials agree with most
recommendations, how-ever, they are still reviewing some
recommendations. | ||
Owego
Apalachian Central School
District Internal Controls
Over Capital
Assets 2006M-135 6th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found the District’s internal
control policies and practices relating to capital assets do not provide
for a comprehensive system to track and account for capital asset
acquisitions, dis-positions or
transfers. The audit found that the District contracts with
BOCES to maintain a listing of the District’s capital assets but the
District has not verified this list. The audit also found
that employees of the
District’s Information Technology, Music, and Buildings and Grounds
Departments also maintain an asset listing which is also not verified or
reconciled to the other asset
listing. The audit also found that the Board appointed an
employee of the Broome-Tioga BOCES Central Business Office to serve as its
Claims Auditor for the 2005-2006 fiscal year. This arrangement is
currently specifically prohibited by SED
regulations. |
3 recommendations
The report recommends the Board adopt and implement a
written comprehensive capital asset policy and should ensure that a
physical inventory count of assets is conducted at least annually with
discrepancies investigated and
resolved. The report also recommends the Board ensure that its
appointment of the District’s Claim Auditor is in accordance with SED
regulations. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and plan to take appropriate actions, though
they disagree with the finding concerning the appointment of a BOCES
employee as the Internal Claims
Auditor. | ||
Roslyn Union Free School District
Anatomy of a Scandal Follow-Up
Audit 2006M-70 10th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that 12 of the 27
recommendations made in the previous audit report were fully im-plemented;
that 10 of the 27 were partially implemented; and 5 of the 27 were not
implemented. The Board did not take action to
effectively implement these 5 recommendations:
1. District personnel are not following
the Board adopted travel policies. 2. District officials did not adopt a
policy to ensure that all public disclosure requirements of Education Law,
Section 1716 were met for the Superintendent and any Assistant
Superin-tendent. 3.District officials did not ensure
that all amendments to contracts and copies of payroll action sheets,
supporting Board-approved changes in the terms and conditions of
employment for contractual employees, were filed with the District Clerk.
The District Clerk maintained only the Superintendent’s contract and
amendments to his contract, and her own
contract. 4. District officials have not created
any written policies or procedures that list employee job descriptions and
assign computer system user permissions to match those job functions. Four
business office employees inappropriately have permission to access the
Treasurer’s check signature disk on the computer, which is a serious
internal control weakness. 5. District officials did not establish
any policy or procedure to review computer system user permissions on an
ongoing basis. |
37 recommendations
The report recommends the Board establish written
policies for cash receipts and revenue collection; cash disbursements and
accounts payable; payroll; accounting and auditing of extra-classroom
activity funds; bank and account recon-ciliations; travel; credit cards;
checks; signature plates/disks; cellular phones; fixed assets; and petty
cash. The report recommends an annual evaluation of District
policies and procedures by the Board and that the District’s policy on
budget transfers and budget monitoring be brought into compliance with
laws, rules and regulations.
. The report recommends that the Treasurer present an analysis
of the Budget Status Report at least quarterly at a public meeting and
that the Board routinely review District financial information and
reports, including the Budget Status Report on a monthly
basis. The report recommends that the Board establish an audit
committee and that Board members are adequately trained in areas covering
the basics of financial oversight, account-ability and fiduciary
respon-sibilities. The report recommends that press-numbered purchase orders
be used to help guarantee that purchase orders are not duplicated, the
sequence is intact and outstanding purchase orders are easily identified
and accounted for. The report recommends that District policies clearly
state the circumstances under which District employees may receive
reimbursements, specify the circumstances under which employees may
travel, require government rates for lodging, and apply the government per
diem rates for meal
allowances. The report recommends computer user
permissions match job functions and that some functions involved in processing transactions
need to be separated among different individuals to reduce the risk of
fraudulent activities. . The report recommends that a procedure be established to
review computer system user permissions on an ongoing basis, ensure that
each computer user is set up with a unique user account and permission
level, establish a standard procedure with the Finance Manager software
company for remotely accessing the District’s network for upgrades to the
Finance Manager software package and institute controls over the software
company’s network user account, as well as with all District employees’
user accounts, that would limit unauthorized access to the District’s
computerized records. The report also recommends that the Board and other management
personnel set a good control environment by establishing and effectively
communicating their code of ethics and written policies and procedures;
and behave in an ethical manner and observe the same rules that they
expect everyone else to
observe. The report recommends that all payroll-related changes
should be supported by adequate written documentation and that the Board
adopt a policy requiring that the District complies with all of the public
disclosure requirements of Education
Law. The Board should adopt a policy
requiring that payroll action sheets be prepared and signed by the Board,
that all amendments to contracts and copies of the action sheets be filed
with the District Clerk, and
that employee contracts clearly specify the benefits
that they are willing to provide. The report recommends the District designate an
individual to approve all journal entries, or journal entries above a
certain amount, that the mail be opened by an individual who is not
involved in the accounting process, and a listing of mail received should
be forwarded to the Accounting Supervisor, Treasurer, Deputy Treasurer, or
other appropriate accounting
personnel. The report recommends that duplicate deposit slips contain
additional information such as check numbers or individuals’ names and
that journal entry capability should be given only to those employees
whose job specifications require that they perform this
function. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and plan to take appropriate actions, however,
they disagree that District personnel continue to circumvent the Internal
Claims Audit process by making payments before the Internal Claims Auditor
reviews and approves warrants. | ||
Broadalbin-Perth Central School
District Internal Controls Over Online Banking Transactions and
Purchasing 2006M-120 4th Judicial
District
|
$0
adjustment The audit found that the Board has not established written
policies and procedures for online banking transactions and that the
District Treasurer can make transfers between District accounts within the
same bank and make transfers between District and non-District accounts
without any approval process.
The audit also found that the Board has not
established a limit on amounts that can be transferred to non-District
accounts, does not require a monthly report of all online banking
transactions or a reconciliation of such a report with the monthly bank
statement. |
3 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board establish a
com-prehensive online banking policy that adequately addresses the duties,
records, and procedures required to implement effective controls over the
District’s online banking transactions and that District officials establish
appropriate online banking limits specifically addressing the District
Treasurer’s ability to transfer money from District to non-District bank
accounts. The report also recommends that District officials require a
monthly report that lists all online banking transactions for the period
and have someone independent of the online banking process reconcile this
report with the monthly bank
statement. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Canajoharie
Central
School District Internal Controls Over Electronic Equipment
Inventories
and
Employee Reim-bursements 2006M-110 4th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that the most recent physical
inventory did not capture all the information needed to provide for an
adequate accountability over the District’s electronic
equip-ment. The audit also found that the Board has not developed formal
policies and District employees do not have clear standards upon which to
base their decisions and actions for travel, meals and other
expenses. |
6 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board establish a
compre-hensive inventory policy, that physical inventories should be
conducted periodically and differences resolved, that assets be tagged,
and that procedures for disposing of old electronic equipment be
established. The report recommends that the Board establish a policy
governing reimbursements of expenses incurred by employees and require
that all submittals for reimbursement be accompanied by the appropriate
documentation, including itemized
receipts. The District officials agree with the
recommendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Cincinnatus
Central School
District Internal
Controls 2006M-116 6th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found the Board appointed an employee
from the Broome-Tioga BOCES Central Business Office to serve as its Claims
Auditor for the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 fiscal years. This arrangement currently
is specifically prohibited by SED
regulations. |
1
recommendation The report recommends that the Board ensure that its
appointment of the District’s Claims Auditor is in accordance with SED
regulations. The District officials agree with the
recommendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Corinth Central School District
Internal Controls Over Selected Financial
Activities 2006M-103 4th Judicial
District |
$6,244
adjustment The audit found that the Board
and Superintendent failed to establish adequate internal controls over
cash disbursements for the Reading First grant. The District’s elementary
school principal who served as the Reading First coordinator was a
recipient of the grant money and was allowed to administer the
grant. The audit also found that the
Board did not approve the appointment of the principal as the Reading
First coordinator or the reading teacher as the coach, nor did the Board
set salaries for these positions. As a result, we cannot determine the
propriety of over $36,000 in salaries paid to the principal and the coach.
In addition to travel reimbursements and other money they received under
the grant, the principal and coach were each paid $2,500 stipends that
they were not entitled to for administering the grant. Finally, the
principal and coach billed the school for $1,244 in excess travel expenses
incurred while attending the national Reading First conventions in July of
2004 and 2005. The audit found that the Board
has not adopted a capital asset policy. |
7 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board seek recovery of the
excess payments to the principal and the reading coach and that the Board
approve all appointments to positions established under grants.
The report also recommends that a grant administrator be someone
other than the individual(s) receiving extra pay, benefits or
reimbursements for services provided in the performance of the
grant. The report recommends the District ensure that employee
travel expenses are kept to the minimum amount necessary and unnecessary
costs are avoided. The report recommends the Board establish written
policies to address when and at what rate teachers are eligible to be paid
for attending training. The report also recommends that District officials develop a
comprehensive capital asset policy, tag assets and require a physical
inventory count of assets be conducted at least annually, with
discrepancies resolved. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Coxsackie-Athens Central School
District Internal Controls
Over Selected Financial
Activities 2006M-65 3rd Judicial
District |
$26,262
adjustment The audit found that the
District inappropriately paid the former Superintendent a total of $20,820
for vacation days that were not available and for unused vacation days
exceeding the contractual annual limit of 12 days. Additionally, the
District inappropriately paid the former Director of Technology $5,442,
upon retirement, for 22 unused vacation days.
The audit also found that the
District made payments totaling $168,522 for physical therapy,
occupa-tional services, and computer consulting ser-vices during the
2004-2005 and 2005-2006 fiscal years without the solicitation of requests
for proposals as required by their pro-curement policy.
The audit found that the
District has not established adequate controls over claims processing, to
determine if the charges were legitimate, reasonable, and proper charges.
The audit also found that
District officials have not established adequate con-trols to protect
capital assets and found that 18 of 65 items tested, with a value of over
$24,000, were missing. |
14 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board establish policies and
procedures to ensure that all payments for unused leave time are made in
accordance with employment agreements and are supported by accurate
records of unused leave time.
Also, the Board should establish policies prohibiting District
officials from authorizing payments to
themselves. The report recommends that the Board require all District
employees to submit docu-mentation of leave time taken and the Board
should further investigate and take appropriate actions to recover
overpayments to former
administrators. The report also recommends that Board and District managers
establish procedures to ensure that leave time provided to District
employees is accurately recorded in accordance with negotiated contracts,
that leave usage is accurately charged against leave accruals and that
District officials enforce their policy requiring employees to use the
Request for Leave/Report of Absence forms to request leave time.
The report recommends that the Board and District managers
comply with the District procurement policy by periodically soliciting
RFPs as a basis for awarding contracts for professional services, and that
the Board and District managers monitor and enforce compliance with
adopted policies for travel and credit card
use. The report also recommends that
the Board consider
establishing reasonable maximum rates for lodging which cannot be exceeded
without approval, and ensure that the Internal Claims Auditor is aware of
all Board policies regarding the audit of claims, and conducts a proper
and thorough audit of claims in accordance with
laws. The report also recommends that the
Board adopt a comprehensive capital asset policy, designate a property
control manager, tag assets, require a physical inventory and investigate
discrepancies. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations. | ||
Inlet
Common School
District Internal Controls Over
Purchasing 2006M-104 4th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that the Board has not adopted a Code
of Ethics to provide guidance on the standards of conduct reasonably
expected of its officers and
employees. The audit also found that the District made
payments for electrical and heating work completed at the school to a
business owned by a Board member and her husband.
|
5 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board adopt a purchasing policy
in accordance with General Municipal Law Section 104-b, competitively bid
transportation contracts and require that a contract be signed detailing
the transportation services and associated
costs. The report also recommends that the
Board adopt a code of
ethics and review pertinent sections of Article 18 of the General
Municipal Law to avoid transactions that may constitute prohibited
conflicts of interest. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Laurens Central School District
Internal Controls Over Purchasing and Capital
Assets 2006M-113 6th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that the Board adopted a pro-curement
policy that was not always operating effectively because District staff
made purchases without adhering to the procurement
policy. The audit found that certain claims were not audited
and approved by the District’s claims auditor. For example all special aid fund
disbursements totaling $249,750 (excluding payroll) and disbursements from
two trust and agency funds entitled “Pouring Rights” and “Pepsi Fund”
totaling $1,813 and $2,434, respectively, were not audited and approved by
the claims auditor. The audit also found that vouchers were approved for
payment without docu-mentation of compliance with the procurement
policy. |
4 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board ensure that all District
staff involved in the purchasing function are aware of the requirements of
District’s procurement policy and comply with them.
The report recommends the Board ensures that the claims
auditor is auditing all special aid fund claims, that Pouring Rights and
Pepsi Fund revenues should be recorded in the general fund (and be subject
to the budgetary process) and the claims auditor not approve payments
unless in compliance with Board
policy. The report also recommends the Board enhance their capital
assets internal control policies and procedures to ensure that they
include guidance on when capital assets should be appropriately recorded.
In addition, the policy should require periodic (annual) inventories and
that disposal of capital assets be completely
addressed. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Wells Central School District Internal
Controls Over Payroll 2006M-131 4th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that the District had no
written policies and payroll procedures which resulted in the Treasurer
developing informal procedures.
There were several instances where employees’ pay and leave
accruals were inconsistent with their employment contracts.
The audit also found a lack of management oversight
and no segregation of duties in the District’s business office which
allowed errors and irregularities to occur and go
undetected. The audit found that the Board failed to
provide specific guidance through well developed policies and
procedures. The audit found that the Superintendent
approved additional payments to the Treasurer for $2,800 and $3,000,
respectively, for the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 fiscal years as
com-pensation for monitoring a Federal grant. However, no documentation
existed to substantiate this approval. The Treasurer was also allowed to
receive a payment for five vacation days that were not used during the
fiscal year ended June 30, 2005. Although these payments were approved in
writing by the Superintendent, they were made without evidence of the
Board’s approval or any supporting written employ-ment
contract. The audit also found that six employees’ leave
accruals did not conform to the benefits authorized in either an employee
contract or collective bargaining agreement which represent significant
weaknesses in internal controls over payroll processing.
|
5 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board adopt written policies
and procedures as guidance for the employees responsible for processing
and distributing payroll, and ensure that employees are paid and receive
benefits only as authorized by and provided for in its collective
bargaining agreements or other employment
contracts. The report recommends the Board ensure that District
personnel calculate leave records accurately for all officers and
employees who are entitled to leave benefits and the Board determines the
propriety of 16 additional leave days to
teachers. The report also recommends that someone independent of
the payroll process review final payrolls to verify that they are based on
actual hours or days worked, or authorized leave charged; check that the
hourly rates or annual salaries paid were authorized; compare net payroll
checks to the payroll journals; and review the payroll for overall
reasonableness. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Mount
Vernon City School
District Internal Controls
Over Purchasing and Assets
2006M-29 9th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that the Board
adopted a bond resolution which authorized the issuance of serial bonds
aggregating $100 million, but should have adopted and submitted for voter
approval two separate bond resolutions. Change orders for the construction
projects totaling $827,817 could not be located by District staff.
Subsequently, District offi-cials provided OSC with documentation showing
that $185,372 of these change orders were proposed but never approved or
paid. The audit found significant
weaknesses in internal controls over purchasing practices. The District
did not seek bids for $378,522 of purchases and public works contracts
that were subject to competitive bidding. Also, the District paid four
professionals $836,988 when their contracts did not contain a clear
understanding of the amount of compensation they were entitled
to. The audit found internal
controls over the District’s assets were weak. In one instance a $941,709
transfer was made to the wrong account. In two other unrelated instances,
it resulted in the overpayment and underpayment of withholding taxes.
The audit found that the Board
assigned conflicting duties to three key members of its management team,
the District Treasurer, Internal Auditor and Purchasing
Agent. The audit also found that bank
reconciliations are not completed timely and there is a lack of oversight
of the extra classroom accounts. |
10 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board adopt amended bond
resolutions to effect any changes to the purposes of original resolutions.
The Board should not adopt a bond resolution authorizing the issuance of
bonds for more than one purpose unless the adoption of such a resolution
is authorized by section 31.00(d) of the Local Finance Law.
The report recommends that the District ensure that
docu-mentation is available to support the District’s expenditures for all
capital projects and ensure that all change orders and final cost reports
are submitted to the SED in the most efficient manner to obtain timely
State aid
reimbursements. The report recommends that the District ensure that all items
which exceed the bidding thresholds are competitively bid and ensure that
all purchasing officials and department heads are properly trained in
bidding laws and the use of State
contracts. The report also recommends the District ensure that written
agreements with all professionals clearly define the amount of
compensation and the duration of work to be
performed. The report recommends the Treasurer review all payroll
tax computations and wire transfer documentations before allowing clerks
to execute wire transfers. The report also recommends the Board review the
scope of duties of the District Treasurer, Internal Auditor and Purchasing
Agent, separating the incom-patible functions or imple-menting
compensating controls. Finally, the report also recommends
the Assistant
Superintendent of Business ensure that all bank accounts are reconciled on
a monthly basis and differences
resolved. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Yonkers City School District Internal
Controls Over Selected Financial
Operations 2006M-79 9th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found instances in
which the Board had either not established critical internal controls or
had not provided adequate oversight to ensure that controls were
implemented and operating effectively. The audit identified 162 employees
who were paid $692,648 in excess of the Board-established overtime caps
and without sufficient detail to substantiate the hours worked during the
2004-2005 fiscal year. Four employees were provided higher salaries than
they were entitled to by Board-policy or negotiated contracts, resulting
in overpayments of $134,840. In addition, the District paid five other
employees for sick leave they were not entitled to while they were
receiving worker’s compensation benefits. The audit found that the
District paid claims totaling about $154.7 million without an audit by the
Board or an internal claims auditor. The District also contracted for
various professional ser-vices without seeking quotes from other
vendors. The audit also found that the
Board and District management had not adequately protected or accounted
for District cash receipts and disbursements. Audit testing determined
that the District had not identified $3.3 million in duplicate checks; had
not deposited more than $927,000 in checks on a timely basis; had not
adequately tracked out-standing and voided checks; and had not accounted
for the purchase and sale of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of
school bus stickers and passes. The audit attributes the problems found to
the District’s failure to segregate critical financial duties or perform
regular reconciliations, and to the Board’s failure to adopt and monitor
compliance with policies. |
16 recommendations
The report recommends that District officials take steps
to enforce compliance with existing payroll and overtime provisions
contained in resolutions, policies and negotiated employee contracts and
that the Board periodically review payroll related expenditures such as
overtime to monitor and assess the reasonableness of such
costs. The report recommends that District officials provide
written pre-approval for all overtime for administrators, schedule staff
to minimize the
use of overtime in after-school programs, itemize overtime records to
include date, time of day and the specific purpose of overtime and that
the Board
authorize total compensation for new employees, and stipulate the
employee’s base pay and amount of prior service credit in the
minutes. The report recommends that all District employees be paid
according to the terms of their contracts or as approved by Board
resolution and that District officials ensure that future “sick bank”
compensation claims are verified with the Worker’s Compensation Board
prior to payment. The report recommends that the Board audit all claims against
the District, or appoint an independent internal claims auditor to perform
this function, and amend the District’s procurement policy to provide
additional guidance for procuring professional services, including
requiring the use of RFPs and documentation of the contract award
process. The report recommends that the Director of Finance segregate
duties in the Finance office so that the work of one individual will be
independently verified by another, review bank recon-ciliations monthly,
follow up on long-term outstanding checks and investigate and correct any
discrepancies. The report recommends that the Board adopt a cash receipt
policy which establishes the number of days in which cash should be
deposited. In addition, the
Board and District officials should develop and implement policies and
procedures for purchasing, distributing, selling and accounting for school
bus passes and stickers. The report recommends that the Director should develop a
system to account for school bus stickers and passes in accordance with
District policies and procedures and the Director or Finance Department
personnel should periodically reconcile cash receipts from the schools to
the total passes given to the schools and any unsold
passes. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Voorheesville Central School District
Payments for Employee Benefits and Former Admin-istrators’
Claims 2006M-59 3rd Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that the
District inappropriately paid the current Assistant Superintendent (former
Treasurer) $8,425 and $5,575 for unused leave and tuition reimbursement,
respectively, and the District also paid the Superin-tendent $2,105 for
unused leave to which he was not entitled. The audit found that the Board
did not have an adequate system of internal controls in place to ensure
that payments for employee benefits were authorized and accurate, and did
not authorize tuition reim-bursement for management/ confidential
employees in any approved employment contract or policy.
The audit found that the
former Superintendent was able to override or disregard existing internal
controls and provide benefits to employees without proper authorization
from the Board. The audit also found that the
District’s internal controls over the former administrator’s expense
claims also were not effective. The former Superintendent charged at least
$11,500 in various personal expenses to the District for hotels
(out-of-town and local), entertainment, meals and alcohol, gifts, and
donations and only reimbursed the District for $611 of the personal
expenses charged. The audit found that the
District’s travel policy in effect during the audit period was vague and
non-specific. The audit also found that the
Supervisor received an improper gift when a school bus vendor provided an
all expense paid, two-day trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma to tour a bus
manufacturing facility. Subsequent to the trip, the District purchased
three busses at a cost of $208,000 through a state contract from the
vendor, giving rise to a question of impropriety.
|
12 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board review the payments
provided to the current Assistant Superintendent and Superin-tendent to
which they were not entitled and then take appropriate formal action based
on the results of their
review. The report recommends that the Board should either ratify the
half-day Fridays benefit extended to business office employees in the
summer or end the practice and that the Board should ensure all employee
benefits are authorized in
writing. The report recommends that the Board and District officials
establish a system of checks and balances over employee leave records to
reduce errors and irregularities, and the Board should pursue collection
of the personal expenses that the former Superintendent has not already
reimbursed. The report also recommends the Board provide the Claims
Auditor with detailed guidance about its expectations for the function.
Included in this guidance should be information about how to conduct an
audit of claims and what to do when questions arise about questionable or
undocumented expenses. The Claims Auditor should ensure that that all
officials submit the Conference & Workshop Request, Approval and
Expense Voucher form for conference-related travel and credit card
expenses. The report recommends that the Board establish reasonable
maximum rates that it will reimburse employees for lodging, and require
all employees to provide detailed travel itinerary information (i.e.,
destinations and times) to support claimed mileage and other
expenses. The report recommends that the claims auditor ensure that
all travel-related expenses sub- mitted by officials are supported with
adequate documentation and are for District purposes.
The report also recommends that the
Board ensure that
District officials and employees do not accept gifts that are prohibited
by law and that District officials do not accept gifts from vendors which
they currently or will potentially conduct business to avoid the
perception of impropriety. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||
Hinsdale Central School District
Employee Separation Compensation and Claims
Processing 2006M-82 8th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that the
District’s controls over employee separation compensation were not
operating effectively and that the Board paid the Superintendent $40,000
in additional separation com-pensation without justifying these payments.
The audit found the Board
accepted the Superin-tendent’s retirement and agreed to changes in his
contract which increased the Superintendent’s salary by $15,000 and
allowed him to remain on the payroll while out sick. The Superin-tendent
did not provide a medical reason for his use of 124 sick days, and the
District could not provide adequate records to support the 124 days of
sick leave benefit. However, even if the stated leave balance was
accurate, the Board paid the Superintendent about $25,000 more than
necessary for these leave days. The audit found the Board has
not adequately designed internal controls over claims processing and as a
result, the District may have paid for unnecessary or inappropriate
expenses. The audit found that the claims
processing function did not effectively control payments because the
claims auditor was not independent of other District business functions,
and reported directly to the Superintendent.
|
5 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board establish procedures for
tracking administrators’ leave time accruals and usage and adopt a policy,
or include a clause in individual admin-istrative contracts, to delineate
the proper use of leave by the administrative staff covered by such
contracts. The report recommends that the Board appoint a claims auditor
who is independent of District business functions and who is not directly
supervised by top District
administrators. The report recommends that the Board establish comprehensive
written policies and monitoring procedures to ensure that expenses for
meals and lodging are reasonable; the claims auditor requires that every
claim contains enough itemization and supporting documentation to indicate
that it is a proper District charge and it complies with District policies
including those for travel and credit card use; the claims auditor reviews
and signs the warrant to ensure that only those claims approved for
payment are listed in the amounts approved; and no money is paid out by
the District treasurer, except where statutorily allowed, unless the
treasurer receives a signed warrant from the claims
auditor. The report also recommends that the
Board should seek to
recover any payments made for other than appropriate District
purposes. The District officials generally agree
with the recom- mendations. | ||
Evans-Brant Central School
District Administrative
Compensation and Benefits, Claims
Processing and
Inventories 2006M-54 8th Judicial
District |
$0
adjustment The audit found that the District
overpaid certain former and current administrators because the Board did
not provide for the establishment of policies and procedures to ensure
administrative employees are compensated only for authorized salary,
benefits and related separation payments. The District inappropriately
paid the former Superintendent $60,885 in salary and benefits, in excess
of his employment contracts. The former Assistant Superin-tendent, former
Business Administrator, and former Crew Chief also received compensation
in excess of their contracts of approx-imately $1,600, $6,300, and
$12,000, respectively. In addition, the Treasurer paid herself a $2,000
stipend without Board authorization. The audit also found that District
officials do not effectively control the processing and payment of claims,
the Claims Auditor’s duties were not adequately segregated from the
business operations, the former Superintendent served as the Claims
Auditor in addition to his duties initiating certain purchases and
approving claims as Superintendent. The audit found deficiencies in
departmental approval, purchasing agent authori-zation, and itemization in
claims. The audit found that current Board
policies concerning travel do not establish limits on lodging expenses
incurred while traveling. The audit also found that several
assets listed on the inventory asset records could not be located.
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15 recommendations
The report recommends that the Board assume greater governance
responsibilities by establishing and maintaining a control environment
that supports ethical behavior and conformance to controls, and take
appropriate steps to recover improper payments made to prior
employees. The report recommends that the Board ensure that employee
compensation is based on properly authorized employee contracts,
collective bargaining agreements or Board policies; adopt a policy for
verifying and approving administrative payroll and separation payments;
and ensure that the Superintendent, or his/her designee, develops adequate
procedures to implement the
policy. The report also recommends that the
Board periodically
monitor employee compensation and benefit payments to ensure that they are
consistent with applicable Board policies, employment contracts and/or
collective bargaining
agree-ments. The report recommends that District officials restrict the
treasurer’s access to the payroll program and develop a compensating
control procedure to verify that all payroll changes are authorized and
properly documented. The report recommends that with certain exceptions, the
treasurer should pay only those claims that have been audited and
authorized for payment, and are listed on a warrant signed by the claims
auditor. The report recommends that the Board adopt more
com-prehensive written inventory policies to properly safeguard assets and
monitor compliance with these policies; and that District officials
establish procedures to ensure complete and accurate inventory records are
maintained and periodic physical inventories are conducted.
The report recommends that District officials ensure that
assets are physically secured and safeguarded, establish and maintain
perpetual inventory records for central supply items, reconcile the
perpetual inventory records periodically to a physical inventory and
follow-up on any material
differences. The report also recommends that the Business Administrator
perform analytical reviews of financial data to help reveal unusual items
or trends requiring further
investigation. The District officials generally agree
with the recom-mendations and indicated they plan to take corrective
action. | ||