FINDINGS,
CONCLUSIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
INADEQUATE MONITORING OF FEDERAL GRANTS
The Board did not have adequate procedures for
monitoring federal grants. We noted the following:
- The Board did not maintain adequate records for
the Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform
Safety Act. The Board could not provide detailed
accounting records for FY 95 and the accounting
records provided for FY 96 were not complete.
In addition, the Board did not adequately monitor
the allocation of program expenditures under the
Illinois Criminal Justice Authority. Untimely
revisions were made for five different grants to
reclassify funds between federal expenditures and
match fund expenditures.
- The Board was 51 days late in submitting the
Fiscal Year 1996 final report for the State and
Community Highway Safety Grant and for the
Alcohol Traffic Safety and Drunk Driving
Prevention Incentive Grant. (Finding 6, page 29)
We recommended the Board strengthen its policies and
procedures for monitoring federal grants by maintaining
complete and accurate records, coordinating with the
Authority to limit the need for revisions, and submitting
reports by the established date.
The Board accepted our recommendation.
NEED TO FURTHER IMPROVE PROCEDURES FOR MONITORING
REVENUES
The Board needs to further improve its procedures for
monitoring the surcharge fees received from Circuit
Clerks to determine if the monies received are properly
assessed, collected, and remitted timely to the State
Treasurer. We noted the following weaknesses:
- The Board did not have fully adequate procedures
for analyzing reasonableness of receipts and
investigating unusual trends. These procedures
would assist the Board in its efforts to
determine whether all surcharge fees are
assessed, collected, and timely remitted to the
State Treasurer.
- The Board needs to improve its existing follow-up
procedures for investigating missing and
delinquent payments by Circuit Clerks. The Board
conducted analysis for delinquent payments;
however, the Board could not provide explanations
for 14 payments which were not received from 2
counties.
- The Board has not yet requested Circuit Clerks to
submit, directly to the Board, a report of the
amount of funds remitted to the State Treasurer
during the preceding calendar year. A
reconciliation between the report and Board's
records would aid in detecting errors and
irregularities.
In June, 1996, the Circuit Clerk Audit Guidelines
Committee released a report recommending annual audits of
Illinois Circuit Clerks which would include reviews of
remittances submitted to State and local entities.
Although annual audits of Circuit Clerk disbursements
would not relieve the Board of its responsibility to
monitor receipts, the audit reports could assist the
Board in reconciling annual remittances received to
amounts reported by Circuit Clerks. (Finding 1, page 19)
We recommended the Board enhance its existing controls
over fees received from Circuit Clerks by requesting
directly from the Circuit Clerks a report of the amount
of funds remitted to the State Treasurer during the
preceding calendar year and reconciling these reports to
Board records. Further, the Board should periodically
analyze remittances from Circuit Clerks and investigate
unusual trends and fluctuations.
The Board accepted the recommendations and stated the
Executive Director served on the Circuit Clerk Audit
Guidelines Committee, whose report and recommendations
will be introduced as proposed legislation in the 90th
General Assembly. The Board will coordinate future
activities with the results of the proposed legislation.
INADEQUATE CONTROLS OVER FUNDS GRANTED TO LOCAL
ORGANIZATIONS
The Board did not have adequate controls over funds it
granted to Mobile Team Units (MTUs) throughout the State.
MTUs are organizations formed by a combination of
units of local governments which provide in-service
training to law enforcement officers at scheduled times
and sites. During the audit period, the Board allowed
MTUs to keep unexpended grant funds at the end of the
grant period which ends at the same time as the fiscal
year. The MTUs held $29,620 in funds at the end of Fiscal
Year 1995 and $17,654 at the end of Fiscal Year 1996.
In addition, Affidavits of Excess Funds were not filed
by MTUs in a timely manner as required by the Board. One
of 17 (6%) MTUs did not submit an affidavit in FY 95. Six
of 17 (35%) MTUS submitted affidavits 4 to 46 days late.
(Finding 2, page 22)
We recommended the Board comply with the Illinois
Grant Funds Recovery Act, recover all improperly held
grant funds, and enforce procedures to ensure all MTUs
file timely affidavits of excess funds.
The Board accepted the recommendation and has
contracted with an accounting firm to develop a procedure
to comply with the Grant Funds Recovery Act.
OTHER FINDINGS
The remaining findings were less significant and
officials have responded that appropriate corrective
action is in progress. We will review the Board's
progress towards implementing our recommendations during
the next audit.
Thomas J. Jurkanin, Ph.D., Executive Director,
provided responses to our findings and recommendations.
AUDITORS' OPINION
We have stated the financial statements of the Board
as of and for the years ended June 30, 1996 and 1995 are
fairly presented.
___________________________________
WILLIAM G. HOLLAND, Auditor General
WGH:GSR:pp
SPECIAL ASSISTANT AUDITORS
The audit was performed by the Auditor General's
staff.
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