REPORT DIGEST

PROPERTY TAX APPEAL BOARD

COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION
FOR THE TWO YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2024

Release Date:  December 16, 2025

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT: 6

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT – TOTAL
Category 1:  0 -- 2 -- 2
Category 2:  0 -- 4 -- 4
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0
TOTAL:  0 -- 6 -- 6

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 12

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, 400 West
Monroe, Suite 306, Springfield, IL
62704-9849
(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

• (24-01) The Property Tax Appeal Board’s
(Board) internal controls over its voucher
processing function were not operating
effectively during the examination period.

• (24-02) The Board did not allow for the
speedy hearing of all appeals.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

VOUCHER PROCESSING WEAKNESSES

The Property Tax Appeal Board’s (Board)
internal controls over its voucher
processing function were not operating
effectively during the examination period.

Due to our ability to rely upon the
processing integrity of the Enterprise
Resource Planning System (ERP) operated by
the Department of Innovation and Technology
(DoIT), we were able to limit our voucher
testing at the Board to determine whether
certain key attributes were properly
entered by the Board’s staff into the ERP.
In order to determine the operating
effectiveness of the Board’s internal
controls related to voucher processing and
subsequent payment of interest, we selected
a sample of key attributes (attributes) to
determine if the attributes were properly
entered into the State’s Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) System based on
supporting documentation.  The attributes
tested were 1) vendor information, 2)
expenditure amount, 3) object(s) of
expenditure, and 4) the later of the
receipt date of the proper bill or the
receipt date of the goods and/or services.

Our testing noted 5 of 140 (4%) attributes
were not properly entered into the ERP
System. Therefore, the Board’s internal
controls over voucher processing were not
operating effectively.

Due to this condition, we qualified our
opinion because we determined the Board had
not complied, in all material respects,
with applicable laws and regulations,
including the State uniform accounting
system, in its financial and fiscal
operations.

Even given the limitations noted above, we
conducted an analysis of the Board’s
expenditures data for fiscal years 2023 and
2024. We noted the Board did not timely
approve 7 of 451 (2%) vouchers processed
during the examination period, totaling
$1,227. We noted these vouchers were
approved between 33 and 102 days after
receipt of a proper bill or other
obligating document. (Finding 1, pages
9-10)

We recommended the Board design and
maintain internal controls to provide
assurance its data entry of key attributes
into ERP is complete and accurate. Further,
we recommended the Board timely approve
proper bills and obligations due.

The Board accepted the findings and stated
it will work to improve its controls over
the voucher processing system.

TIMELINESS OF HEARINGS

The Board did not allow for the speedy
hearing of all appeals.

During testing, we analyzed 100% of the
cases closed during the examination period
and pending as of June 30, 2024, and noted
the following:

• 61,548 of 100,768 (61%) cases were closed
over two years from the receipt date.

• 34,484 of 105,345 (33%) cases were
pending over two years from the receipt
date. (Finding 2, pages 11-12) This finding
has been repeated since 2004.

We recommended the Board work with the
Governor and the General Assembly to
increase its headcount, which will assist
the Board in providing for the speedy
hearing of all new appeals and decrease the
backlog of appeals.

The Board accepted the finding and stated
it is in the process of hiring additional
staff to decrease the number of pending
appeals.

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining findings pertain to reporting
procedural deficiencies, inadequate control
over personal services, information
security weaknesses, and lack of
interagency agreement with DoIT.  We will
review the Board’s progress towards the
implementation of our recommendations in
our next State compliance examination.

ACCOUNTANT’S OPINION

The accountants conducted a State
compliance examination of the Board for the
two years ended June 30, 2024, as required
by the Illinois State Auditing Act.   The
accountants qualified their report on State
compliance for Findings 2024-001 and
2022-002.  Except for the noncompliance
described in these findings, the
accountants stated the Board complied, in
all material respects, with the
requirements described in the report.

This State compliance examination was
conducted by the Office of the Auditor
General’s staff.

COURTNEY DZIERWA
Division Director

This report is transmitted in accordance
with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State
Auditing Act.

FRANK J. MAUTINO
Auditor General

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