REPORT DIGEST LEGISLATIVE ETHICS COMMISSION FINANCIAL AUDIT FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2018 Release Date: January 29, 2018 FINDINGS THIS AUDIT: 2 CATEGORY: NEW -- REPEAT -- TOTAL Category 1: 0 -- 0 -- 0 Category 2: 0 -- 2 -- 2 Category 3: 0 -- 0 -- 0 TOTAL: 0 -- 2 -- 2 FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 2 Category 1: Findings that are material weaknesses in internal control and/or a qualification on compliance with State laws and regulations (material noncompliance). Category 2: Findings that are significant deficiencies in internal control and noncompliance with State laws and regulations. Category 3: Findings that have no internal control issues but are in noncompliance with State laws and regulations. State of Illinois, Office of the Auditor General FRANK J. MAUTINO, AUDITOR GENERAL To obtain a copy of the Report contact: Office of the Auditor General, Iles Park Plaza, 740 E. Ash Street, Springfield, IL 62703 (217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887 This Report Digest and Full Report are also available on the worldwide web at www.auditor.illinois.gov SYNOPSIS • (18-01) The Commission did not comply with certain procedural requirements established by State laws and regulations. FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS PROCEDURAL DEFICIENCIES The Legislative Ethics Commission (Commission) did not comply with certain procedural requirements established by State laws and regulations. During testing, we noted the following: • The Commission was unable to provide signed authorizations for employee payroll deductions, including the Federal/Illinois W-4 Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate. • The Commission did not timely submit its Agency Workforce Report for Fiscal Year 2016 to the Governor and Secretary of State. The Fiscal Year 2016 Agency Workforce Report was submitted to the Governor on January 19, 2017, and the Secretary of State on January 17, 2017, which was 18 days and 16 days late, respectively. • The Commission did not submit its annual equipment inventory certification to the Department of Central Management Services in Fiscal Year 2016 and filed its Fiscal Year 2017 certification 14 days late. (Finding 1, pages 7-8). This finding has been repeated since 2010. We recommended the Commission ensure signed authorization forms for employee payroll deductions are maintained for all personnel, timely file its annual Agency Workforce Report with the Governor and the Secretary of State, and timely submit property inventory certifications to CMS. The Commission accepted our recommendation and indicated corrective action has been or will be taken to address the conditions noted. (For the previous Commission response, see Digest Footnote #1.) OTHER FINDING The remaining finding pertains to an inadequate segregation of duties in the areas of expenditure control and State property. We will review the Commission’s progress towards the implementation of our recommendations in our next compliance examination. ACCOUNTANT’S OPINION The accountants conducted a compliance examination of the Commission for the two years ended June 30, 2018, as required by the Illinois State Auditing Act. The accountants stated the Commission complied, in all material respects, with the requirements described in the report. This compliance examination was conducted by the Office of the Auditor General’s staff. JANE CLARK Division Director This report is transmitted in accordance with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act. FRANK J. MAUTINO Auditor General FJM:cmd DIGEST FOOTNOTES #1 – Procedural Deficiencies – Previous Commission Response 2016: Accepted. The agency’s omission of the FCIAA filing in FY2016 was an oversight, although it should be noted that the report would be unchanged from the prior year. For this reason, the agency has requested that the annual FCIAA filing for the LEC be simplified into a letter that specifies if there are any changes – or none – from the prior year. Over the past several years there have been technical issues surrounding the certification date requested for the agency’s annual property inventory certifications. The agency has documented the eight quarterly inventory certifications provided to the Office of the Comptroller during this time period that there have been no changes to the office inventory during the past 24 months. Agency management will contact property management staff to determine if the annual inventory certification process can be clarified and remedied to ensure compliance during the next audit cycle. Regarding the monthly reconciliations of expenditures with the Comptroller’s SB01 Report, after discussion with OAG staff, agency management better understands and concurs with the purpose, if not the frequency, of monthly reconciliations with Comptroller’s records and will perform such monthly reconciliations in a standardized format going forward.