REPORT DIGEST

ILLINOIS COURT OF CLAIMS
FINANCIAL AND COMPLIANCE AUDIT

For the Two Years Ended:
June 30, 2001

Summary of Findings:

Total this audit 3
Total last audit 4
Repeated from last audit 2

Release Date:
April 10, 2002

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State of Illinois
Office of the Auditor General

WILLIAM G. HOLLAND

AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report contact:
Office of the Auditor General
Attn: Records Manager
Iles Park Plaza
740 E. Ash Street
Springfield, IL 62703

(217)782-6046 or TDD (217) 524-4646

This Report Digest is also available on
the worldwide web at
http://www.state.il.us/auditor

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

 
  • The Court did not prepare complete attendance records or performance evaluations of employees.
  • The Court did not have adequate controls over cash receipts and refunds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

{Expenditures and Activity Measures are summarized on the reverse page.}

 

 

ILLINOIS COURT OF CLAIMS
FINANCIAL AND COMPLIANCE AUDIT
For The Two Years Ended June 30, 2001

EXPENDITURE STATISTICS

FY 2001

FY 2000

FY 1999

Total Expenditures (All Funds)

$44,471,520

$48,692,852

$35,380,510
OPERATIONS TOTAL
% of Total Expenditures

$1,350,437
3.0%

$1,225,688
2.5%

$1,136,801
3.2%
Personal Services
% of Operations Expenditures
Average No. of Employees
Part-time (including 7 judges not paid from the Court’s appropriation)
Full-time

$873,401
64.7%

42
5

$843,782
68.9%


43
5

$784,304
69.0%


42
5
Other Payroll Costs (FICA, Retirement)
% of Operations Expenditures

$179,964
13.3%

$174,195
14.2%

$159,382
14.0%
Contractual Services
% of Operations Expenditures

$20,362
1.5%

$23,660
1.9%

$33,510
3.0%
Lump Sum and Other Purposes
% of Operations Expenditures

$242,622
18.0%

$152,332
12.4%

$124,035
10.9%
All Other Operations Items
% of Operations Expenditures

$34,088
2.5%

$31,719
2.6%

$35,570
3.1%
AWARDS AND GRANTS TOTAL
% of Total Expenditures

$43,121,083
97.0%

$47,467,164
97.5%

$34,243,709
96.8%

Cost of Property and Equipment

$144,145

$119,812

$115,465
SELECTED ACTIVITY MEASURES

FY 2001

FY 2000

FY 1999

Filing Fees Collected

$9,494

$8,135

$6,490

Total Claims Awarded

8,315

7,435

6,537

Total Claims Denied

1,077

1,674

1,995

Total Claims Dismissed

1,225

1,854

1,715
ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY HEADS

During Audit Period: Matt Finnell, Court Administrator
Ellen Schanzle-Haskins, Deputy Clerk
Currently: Matt Finnell, Court Administrator
Ellen Schanzle-Haskins, Deputy Clerk
 

 

 

 

 

Attendance and payroll records were not reconciled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Controls over cash receipts and refunds needed improvement

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

INADEQUATE CONTROLS OVER PERSONAL SERVICES

The Court of Claims (Court) did not prepare and maintain complete attendance records for three of five (60%) employees during FY01. Further, attendance and payroll records were not reconciled to ensure employees were not paid for unearned leave time. In addition, the Court did not prepare and submit the FY01 Compensated Absences (SCO-580) report to the Comptroller’s Office.

We also noted that the Court did not conduct or document performance evaluations of five full-time employees. (Finding 1, Pages 11-12)

We recommended that the Court:
  • Timely prepare and maintain all attendance records.
  • Routinely compare accrued leave balances to payroll expenditures.
  • Annually prepare and submit the SCO-580 report.
  • Conduct and document annual performance evaluations of all full-time employees.

The Court agreed with the recommendations.

WEAKNESSES OVER CASH RECEIPTS AND REFUNDS

The Court collected cash receipts and refunds totaling $314,857 during the audit period. We noted the following control deficiencies:
  • No initial listing of refunds received was maintained. Although refunds were recorded in a ledger, these checks were handled by up to three employees prior to recording.
  • Checks were not immediately restrictively endorsed upon receipt.
  • We could not determine the timeliness of deposit for 8 of 34 (24%) refunds tested because documentation of the date of receipt was not maintained. (Finding 2, Pages 13-14)

We recommended that the Court prepare and reconcile an initial listing of receipts to deposits to ensure all refunds are deposited. We further recommended the Court immediately restrictively endorse all checks received and ensure cash receipt dates are properly documented and maintained.

Management agreed with the finding and stated the recommendation has been implemented.

OTHER FINDING

The other finding was less significant and officials have responded that appropriate corrective action is in progress. We will review progress toward implementing all recommendations in our next audit.

AUDITORS’ OPINION

We have stated the Court’s nonshared fund financial statements as of June 30, 2001 and June 30, 2000 and for the years then ended are fairly presented in all material respects.

____________________________________

WILLIAM G. HOLLAND, Auditor General

WGH:LKW:pp

AUDITORS ASSIGNED

This audit was conducted by staff of the Office of the Auditor General.