RESOLUTION NO. 110
Presented by ___________________
WHEREAS, the State Comptroller
administers a system for intercepting payments to State
employees, tax refund recipients, and State vendors on account,
of debts owed to the State of Illinois, which is known as the
Comptroller’s Offset System; and
WHEREAS, under current law, pursuant
to Section 5 of the State Collections Act of 1986, State agencies
are required to submit accounts to the Comptroller’s Offset
System which are more than one year past due and greater than
$1,000;
WHEREAS, the most recent reports of
Accounts Receivable identifies that 54% of the gross receivables
(excluding long-term loan balances) are more than one year past
due, an amount of $2.4 billion;
WHEREAS, the reports of State
agencies regarding the amount of debt more than one year past due
does not correlate to the amount of claims submitted by those
agencies for offset;
WHEREAS, the existence of the
discrepancy between the amount of debt more than one year past
due with the agencies and the amount of debt within the
Comptroller’s Offset System warrants additional
investigation to ensure compliance with the State Collections Act
of 1986;
WHEREAS, the confidentiality
requirements of State and federal law, in many instances, prevent
the Comptroller from independently reviewing records necessary to
ensure compliance with the State Collections Act in regard to tax
collections, child support, and public assistance, among others;
and
WHEREAS, the Legislative Audit
Commission can direct the Auditor General to review pertinent
records, and remain within the scope of these confidentiality
requirements; therefore be it
RESOLVED, BY THE LEGISLATIVE AUDIT
COMMISSION that the Auditor General is directed to conduct a
special audit of the 10 agencies which have the largest amount of
net receivables, as identified in the Comptroller’s
Receivables Report for 1996, to determine whether all eligible
debts have been placed in the Comptroller’s Offset System,
as required by law; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the various State
agencies and other entities which may have information relevant
to this audit shall cooperate fully and promptly with the Office
of the Auditor General in the conduct of this audit; and be it
further
RESOLVED, that the Auditor General
commence this audit as soon as possible and report his findings
and recommendations upon completion to the Legislative Audit
Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Illinois
State Auditing Act.
Adopted this ________ day of
_______________, 1997.
___________________________________
Senator Thomas J. Walsh
Cochairman
__________________________________
Representative Terry W. Deering
Cochairman