HomeMy WebLinkAbout2425-1 Follow-Up Facilities and Property Cash Handling (Final 8-12-24)Facilities and Property Cash Handling – 24/25-1 August 2024
Follow-up Report
Facilities and Property
Management Departments–
Cash Handling
(Original report #23/24-2 issued October 2023)
The Office of County Internal Audit:
Elizabeth Pape, CIA, CFE – County Internal Auditor
Aaron Kay – Performance Auditor
Audit committee:
Daryl Parrish, Chair - Public member
Phil Anderson – Public member
Jodi Burch – Public member
Joe Healy - Public member
Summer Sears – Public member
Kristin Toney - Public member
Patti Adair, County Commissioner
Charles Fadeley, Justice of the Peace
Lee Randall, Facilities Director
To request this information in an alternate format, please call (541) 330-4674
or send email to internal.audit@Deschutes.org
Recommendations
4
Facilities and Property Cash Handling – 24/25-1 August 2024
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction ....................................................................................... 1
Background on Departments and Original Audit ....................................................... 1
2. Follow-up Results .............................................................................. 2
3. Appendix A: Updated workplan (status as of August 2024)......... 3
4. Appendix B: Objective, Scope, and Methodology .......................... 4
Objective and Scope ....................................................................................................... 4
Methodology ................................................................................................................... 4
Facilities and Property Cash Handling – 24/25-1 August 2024
Deschutes County Office of the Internal Auditor Page 1 of 4
1. Introduction
The Deschutes County Audit Committee has suggested that
follow-ups occur within nine months of the report. The Audit
Committee would like to make sure departments satisfactorily
address recommendations.
Background on Departments and Original Audit
The Facilities Department (Facilities) oversees County-owned
buildings and facilities. Facilities programs include facility
management, building and grounds maintenance, and custodial
services.
The Property Management Department (Property Management)
manages County-owned real estate, including the acquisition and
disposition of holdings, leasing activity, and project management.
The audit was a periodic review of internal controls over handling
of external customer payments and collections.
Recommendations were developed to help both departments
comply with County policy and follow prudent business practices
for cash handling.
The following areas were identified for further improvement,
including:
• Additional controls within the Facilities department
accounting procedures could improve oversight over
receipts.
• The Property Management department’s accounting
procedures were outdated.
• The Property Management department did not have a
process for when to charge filing and recording fees.
Additionally, a routine disclosure of a potential conflict of interest
in a land sale prompted a review of the County’s conflict of
interest policy. This policy, in contrast to Oregon State law,
restricts the organization's flexibility and its ability to openly
acknowledge such conflicts when they arise.
Facilities and Property Cash Handling – 24/25-1 August 2024
Deschutes County Office of the Internal Auditor Page 2 of 4
2. Follow-up Results
The follow-up included four outstanding recommendations
agreed to by the departments. Figure I provides an overview of
the resolution status of the recommendations.
With this follow-up, seventy five percent
(75%) of the outstanding
recommendations have been fully
addressed. As indicated in the provided
responses, Facilities and Property
Management have implemented
accounting procedures to resolve the
recommendations. Updates to the
Human Resources Personnel Rules are
still planned.
The details of the follow-up are included
at the end of the report in Appendix A.
In interpreting the status, Internal Audit
may sometimes raise or lower the status
provided by the department based on
communication received from the
departments.
Figure I –
How were
recommendations
implemented?
Facilities and Property Cash Handling – 24/25-1 August 2024
Deschutes County Office of the Internal Auditor Page 3 of 4
3. Appendix A: Updated workplan (status as of August 2024)
Recommendation Status Date
Completed
Updated Comment
The Facilities
Department should
complete
documentation of
their accounting
policies and
procedures to
address identified
concerns.
Completed Oct 2023 Written cash handling policies and
procedures have been completed in
response to the audit
recommendation.
The Property
Management
Department should
revise its written
accounting policies
and procedures for
monies collected.
Completed Aug 2024 Written accounting procedures have
been completed in response to the
audit recommendation.
The Property
Management
Department should
document the
process and criteria
for charging filing
and recording fees.
Completed Aug 2024 Written fee schedule procedures have
been completed in response to the
audit recommendation.
The Human
Resources
Department should
align Section 8.020
with State conflict-
of-interest laws and
establish a
standardized
disclosure
procedure.
Planned No updates on resolution from the
prior management comment:
Human Resources agrees with the
auditors’ comments and
recommendation and will work on
updating HR-Personnel Rules to better
establish expectations and
procedures.
Facilities and Property Cash Handling – 24/25-1 August 2024
Deschutes County Office of the Internal Auditor Page 4 of 4
4. Appendix B: Objective, Scope, and Methodology
Objective and Scope
Objective:
The objective was to follow up on recommendations from the
original audit.
Scope and timing:
The follow-up included four recommendations from the internal
audit report for Facilities and Property Management
Departments– Cash Handling 22/23-2 issued in October 2023. The
original internal audit report should be referenced for the full text
of the recommendations and associated discussion. The follow-
up reflects the status as of August 2024.
Methodology
The follow-up report was developed from information provided
by Kristie Bollinger, County Property Manager, and Kathleen
Hinman, Human Resources Director. Follow-ups are, by nature,
subjective. In determining the status of recommendations that
were followed up, we relied on assertions provided by those
involved and did not attempt to independently verify those
assertions. The updates received were included in Appendix A.
Since no substantive audit work was performed, Government
Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the
United States were not followed.
“Audit objectives”
define the goals of
the audit.
Facilities and Property Cash Handling – 24/25-1 August 2024
Deschutes County Office of the Internal Auditor
If you would like to receive future reports and information from Internal Audit or
know someone else who might like to receive our updates, sign up at
http://bit.ly/DCInternalAudit.