Illinois Veterans' Home at LaSalle 2000 Audit

REPORT DIGEST

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

ILLINOIS VETERANS’ HOME AT LASALLE

COMPLIANCE AUDIT

For the Two Years Ended:
June 30, 2000

Summary of Findings:

Total this audit 1
Total last audit 1
Repeated from last audit 0

Release Date:
April 26, 2001

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 Home did not approve contracts in a timely manner.

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

LASALLE VETERANS' HOME COMPLIANCE AUDIT
For The Two Years Ended June 30, 2000

EXPENDITURE STATISTICS	FY 2000	FY 1999	FY 1998
Total Expenditures (All Funds)⁽¹⁾	$6,625,933	$6,387,548	$5,992,458
OPERATIONS TOTAL % of Total Expenditures	$6,625,933 100%	$6,387,548 100%	$5,992,458 100%
Personal Services % of Operations Expenditures Average No. of Employees	$4,162,374 62.82% 120	$4,022,200 62.97% 121	$3,828,334 63.88% 114
Other Payroll Costs (FICA, Retirement) % of Operations Expenditures	$868,632 13.11%	$836,479 13.10%	$683,630 11.41%
Contractual Services % of Operations Expenditures	$916,155 13.83%	$860,677 13.47%	$792,120 13.22%
Locally Held Funds % of Operations Expenditures	$63,548 0.96%	$19,161 0.30%	$27,513 0.46%
All Other Operations Items % of Operations Expenditures	$615,224 9.28%	$649,031 10.16%	$660,861 11.03%
Cost of Property and Equipment	$8,790,797	$8,688,316	$8,698,151

SELECTED ACTIVITY MEASURES	FY 2000	FY 1999
Average Number of Employees Average Number of Members Ratio-Average Number of Employees to Members Estimated Cost Per Year Per Member	120 116 1/.967 $26,071	121 117 1/.967 $25,723

HOME ADMINISTRATOR(S)

During Audit Period: Richard A. Cranford (July 1, 1998 - December 31, 1999), James W. Arrington (Acting Administrator - January 1, 2000 - May 15, 2000)
Currently: Richard E. Bateman (effective May 16, 2000)

^{(1)Includes all funds except the Residents' Trust Fund and the
Clearing Account.}

Contracts were approved after contract start date

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

UNTIMELY APPROVAL OF CONTRACTS

The Home did not have its contracts with vendors approved on a timely basis.

Two of the 25 (8%) contracts tested totaling $11,400 were signed for approval after the contract start date. One contract was approved by the Department Director in December 1999, but the contract service term started July 1, 1999. The other contract was signed and approved in May 2000 after the start date of April 1, 2000. (Finding 1, page 12)

We recommended the Home improve its policies and procedures with regards to contract processing and approval. The Home should ensure that contracts are signed prior to their inception. In addition, initial budgetary procedures or steps must be performed prior to the start of the current contract period in order to identify contractual services to be awarded and estimate the amounts involved.

Officials at the Home concurred with our recommendation and stated they will review current policies and procedures governing the processing and approval of contracts.

AUDITORS’ OPINION

We conducted a compliance audit of the Home as required by the Illinois State Auditing Act. We also performed certain agreed-upon procedures with respect to the records of the Home to assist in our financial and compliance audit of the entire Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Financial statements for the Department and are included in the audit report of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs - Central Office.

____________________________________

WILLIAM G. HOLLAND, Auditor General

WGH:GSR:pp

SPECIAL ASSISTANT AUDITORS

Our special assistant auditors for this audit were The Bronner Group, Inc.