Dade County audit released

State Auditor Susan Montee released an audit of Dade County today revealing a number of problems in the county's government. Following is the audit's cover letter:

The County Commission entered into a 10 year loan agreement for $32,500 with an interest rate of 4 percent with the former Prosecuting Attorney in January 2009, for the purchase of her office building. It is unclear why the County Commission entered into this loan agreement given the cash balance and projected cash balance of the General Revenue Fund. In addition, the County Commission purchased this building without obtaining an independent appraisal of the property. The county has not entered into a formal written contract with the Local Emergency Planning Commission Director who serves as a contract employee, timesheets or other records documenting work performed were not prepared by the Director, the mileage rate paid to the Director did not agree with the county's mileage rate, and some fees for administering Public Assistance Grants were not paid to the Director during the same year services were incurred and grant funds were received. The county did not solicit bids or document sole source providers for some purchases, and adequate supporting documentation was not obtained or retained for some disbursements. Mileage and fuel use logs were not retained for the Sheriff and his chief deputy during 2008, and fuel use is not reconciled to fuel purchases. In addition, some county patrol cars were used to transport passengers for unofficial business.

Improvement is needed over payroll policies and procedures. Centralized records of leave balances and leave used and earned are not maintained, and compensatory time (overtime) is not always earned and paid in accordance with the county's personnel policy. Timesheets are not prepared by the chief deputy in the Sheriff's office, and timesheets submitted by employees of the Sheriff's office were not signed by the employee or the Sheriff. Payroll tax forms were not filed timely with the IRS.

The County Commission and County Clerk do not adequately review the activities of the County Collector-Treasurer, and controls and procedures over property tax additions and abatements need improvement.

The County Collector-Treasurer's annual settlements did not include the balances of certificates of deposits (CDs) in the General Revenue Fund and Special Road and Bridge Fund totaling $165,697 and $206,443, respectively. In addition, the county's budgets prepared by the County Clerk for the General Revenue Fund and Special Road and Bridge Fund did not include the accumulated interest earned on the CDs of $6,443 and $65,697, respectively.

The Sheriff maintained a bank account for the deposit of conceal and carry permit fees outside the county treasury, and there is no statutory authority allowing the Sheriff to hold this account outside the county treasury. A deputy was paid for overtime from this bank account, and as a result, this payment was not processed through the county's payroll system, subjected to payroll tax withholdings, or reported on the employee's W-2 form. In addition, monthly bank reconciliations are not prepared and most bank statements were unopened for this account. Accounting duties of the Sheriff's office are not adequately segregated. Controls over monies collected in the Sheriff's office need improvement, and significant weaknesses were identified with the Sheriff's reconciliation procedures. Bank reconciliations are not prepared for the Sheriff's civil fee and bond bank accounts and most bank statements were unopened. Monthly lists of liabilities are not prepared, and consequently, liabilities are not reconciled with cash balances. The Sheriff's office has not entered into written agreements with surrounding counties and cities for the board of prisoners.

Accounting duties in the Prosecuting Attorney's office are not adequately segregated. Bank reconciliations are not prepared for the Prosecuting Attorney's bad check fee and restitution bank account. In addition, monthly lists of liabilities are not prepared, and consequently, liabilities are not reconciled with cash balances. Also, the Prosecuting Attorney has not established procedures to routinely follow up on old outstanding checks.

Monthly bank reconciliations are not prepared by the Recorder of Deeds, and she does not maintain a running balance in her checkbook register. Monthly lists of liabilities are not prepared, and consequently, liabilities are not reconciled with cash balances. Copy fees received are held and used for petty cash disbursements, and as a result, the petty cash fund is not maintained on an imprest basis. A petty cash ledger or proper documentation to support the receipts and disbursements of the petty cash fund is not maintained. Also, petty cash fund disbursements were not supported by vendor invoices.

Other findings in the audit report relate to capital asset records and procedures, election services bank account controls and procedures, and the Emergency 911 Board.