Okaloosa County BOCC — January 20, 2015 — County's Response to Preliminary and Tentative Findings

OKALOOSA COUNTY’S RESPONSE TO THE PRELIMINARY AND TENTATIVE AUDIT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE RESPONSE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, THE CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT AND THE TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL TO AUDITOR GENERAL’S REPORT NO. 2013-085 The Board of County Commissioners is in receipt of the Preliminary and Tentative Audit Findings and Recommendations which may be included in the operational audit of the Auditor General on the extent to which the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners (BCC), Clerk of the Circuit Court (CCC) and Tourist Development Council (TDC) had taken, or were in the process of taking, corrective actions to address the findings included in the Auditor General’s report No. 2013-085. Please find the Response of the BCC, CCC and TDC to the Preliminary and Tentative Findings and Recommendations. Organizational Oversight Finding No. 1: Budget Preparation and Monitoring Previously Reported The BCC did not establish annual budgets for expenditures from restricted resources at the level the resources were restricted, or project budgets for each advertising project and marketing campaign, to ensure that available resources were not overspent. We recommended that the BCC adopt budgets to control expenditures from restricted resources at the level of their restriction and by each specific project funded by these restricted resources; corresponding budgets be incorporated into the accounting records to provide for the effective control of expenditures; the BCC and TDC perform periodic budget-to-actual comparisons; and the CCC reject invoices presented for payment when sufficient authorized funds are not available. Results of Follow-Up Procedures The BCC’s and CCC’s actions corrected this finding. Our review of adopted budgets and accounting records disclosed that budgets for restricted resources were established that correspond to the level of their restriction and to projects funded by BP moneys and tourist development taxes, and that monitoring controls, including budget to actual comparisons, were established to provide for the effective control of expenditures of BP moneys and tourist development taxes. COUNTY RESPONSE: The County concurs with the Results of the Follow-Up Procedures directed to the previous Findings and agrees that the BCC and the CCC have fully and completely addressed and implemented the recommended corrective actions. 1 Finding No. 2: TDC Duties and Responsibilities Previously Reported The TDC and TDC subcommittees performed certain duties that were not of an advisory nature, contrary to law. We recommended that the BCC implement policies and procedures to ensure that the TDC performs only those duties authorized by Section 125.0104(4)(e), Florida Statutes, and County ordinances. Results of Follow-Up Procedures The BCC’s actions corrected this finding. The BCC approved several changes to the Tourist Development Department’s1 (TDD’s) Operations and Procedures Manual designed to ensure that the TDC performed duties only of an advisory nature. Our review of TDC actions taken at TDC meetings, and subsequent actions taken by the BCC, disclosed that the TDC performed only those duties authorized by Section 125.0104(4)(e), Florida Statutes, and County ordinances. COUNTY RESPONSE: The County concurs with the Results of the Follow-Up Procedures directed to the previous Findings and agrees that the BCC and the TDC have fully and completely addressed and implemented the recommended corrective actions. Finding No. 3: TDC Monitoring of Expenditures Previously Reported The TDC did not continuously review all expenditures of tourist development taxes, contrary to law. We recommended that the TDC continue to strengthen its monitoring controls by ensuring that it timely receives and reviews detailed reports of expendi