FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
LATE GRANT INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
The Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) did not receive all informational grant
reports from community colleges by the required deadlines. We noted that 78 out of 336
reports in FY 2000 were received late. ICCB staff indicated that many colleges submit
their informational state grant reports along with their audited financial statements,
which have a later due date. (Finding 1, pages 15-16) This finding has been repeated
since 1996.
ICCB officials concurred with our finding and recommendation and stated they will
continue to send reminders to the colleges. They also indicated they are reviewing the
college report deadlines to see if adjustments can be made. (For previous ICCB responses,
see Digest Footnote #1.)
LATE GRANT REFUNDS
Our audit disclosed 5 out of 6 State grant refunds from community colleges were
received late. The late refunds totaled $126,355 and were between 12 and 85 days late. The
Grant Funds Recovery Act requires unused grant funds to be returned within 45 days of the
end of the grant period. (Finding 2, page 17) This finding has been repeated since
1996.
ICCB officials accepted our recommendation to enforce the deadline for submitting
refunds of unexpended grant funds. (For previous ICCB responses, see Digest Footnote #2.)
OTHER FINDINGS
Our report presents no other findings and recommendations. We will review progress
toward implementation of our recommendations during our next audit. Responses were
provided by Dr. Joseph Cipfl Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer.
AUDITORS' OPINION
Our auditors stated that the financial statements of the Illinois Community
College Board's non-shared funds for the year ended June 30, 2000 are fairly presented in
all material respects.
____________________________________
WILLIAM G. HOLLAND, Auditor General
WGH:KMA:pp
SPECIAL ASSISTANT AUDITORS
DeRaimo, Hillger & Ripp were our special assistant auditors for this
engagement.
DIGEST FOOTNOTES
#1 LATE GRANT INFORMATIONAL REPORTS - Previous Board Responses
1999: The Board concurs with the finding and will continue to send our reminders.
College report deadlines will be reviewed to see if adjustments can be made.
1998: The Board concurs with the finding and will continue to send out report deadline
reminders to the colleges. We will also seek a change in the Administrative Rules to
require reports and grant refunds to be due at the same time as the college audits. We
believe this will alleviate some of the late report submissions.
1996: The ICCB will consider, per the audit recommendation, revising the deadlines for
the community colleges' submission of state and federal grant reports, where appropriate.
As noted in the finding, the ICCB does require community colleges to comply with
current reporting requirements. The ICCB documents and publishes required due dates of all
reports due by the colleges to the ICCB. This system wide report is mailed to each
community college president monthly, and due dates are discussed during the official
college recognition visit conducted by the ICCB. Prior to the due date of the annual
restricted grant reports, the ICCB sends out a reminder letter which includes a copy of
the report format. The late receipt of these reports does not have a fiscal impact on the
agency or the grants distributed by the agency.
#2 LATE GRANT REFUNDS - Previous Board Responses
1999: The Board concurs with the finding and will continue to send our
reminders and enforce the deadlines for submitting refunds.
1998: The Board concurs with the finding and will continue to send out reminders and
enforce the deadlines for submitting refunds.
1996: The ICCB will continue to enforce its deadlines for submitting refunds of
unexpended state grant funds by sending timely reminder letters to those colleges from
which refunds are due.
The ICCB currently sends reminder letters each January to those colleges from which
refunds are due to help expedite the collection of these state grant refunds. Until a
college's audited financial statements are prepared and the amount of any refund due is
verified by an independent audit, colleges sometimes delay sending refunds of state grants
back to the ICCB. The ICCB will amend its current procedures to send out reminder letters
immediately upon receipt of the community college's audited financial statements.
