Okaloosa County BOCC — April 5, 2016 — JLAC notice 2-16 — reading text

ANDY GARDINER STEVE CRISAFULLI President of the Senate Speaker of the House THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE JOINT LEGISLATIVE AUDITING COMMITTEE Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto Representative Debbie Mayfield Senator Rob Bradley Representative Daniel D. Raulerson, Chair Representative Amanda Murphy Senator Audrey Gibson Senator Joseph Abruzzo, Vice Chair Representative Ray Rodrigues Senator Wilton Simpson Representative Cynthia Stafford February 12, 2016 The Honorable Nathaniel Boyles, Chair Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners 302 N Wilson Street, Suite 302 Crestview, FL 32536 Dear Chair Boyles: Section 218.39(8), Florida Statutes, requires the Auditor General to notify the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee (Committee) when a county entity has failed to correct an audit finding that has been reported in three successive audit reports. The Committee may then require the county entity to provide a written explanation of the status of corrective action that has been taken. If the explanation is either not provided or determined to be not sufficient, the Committee may require the chair of the board of county commissioners to appear before the Committee. On November 30, 2015, the Committee adopted a motion to direct the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners (Commission) to provide a written statement to the Committee explaining why full corrective action has not been taken or, if the governing body intends to take full corrective action, describing the corrective action to be taken and when it will occur, for audit findings that were reported in the FY 2013‐14 fiscal year audit report and also in the two preceding audit reports. Please see the enclosure for the findings that require a response. You may access this audit report from the Auditor General’s website (www.myflorida.com/audgen) under the heading ‘Reports Filed with the Auditor General.’ Hover over ‘Filed Reports,’ select ‘Counties,‘ and then select ‘Okaloosa’ and the report for the ‘FY 2013‐14 Fiscal Year.’ The following guidance is provided to assist you in your response: • If any of the findings have been corrected and were not included in the audit report for the FY 2014‐15 fiscal year, please indicate such in the required statement. • If any of the findings have not been corrected and the previous bullet is not applicable, please explain the corrective action(s) being taken to resolve the audit finding(s). While we understand that the audit report Kathryn H. DuBose, Coordinator 111 West Madison Street, Room 876, Claude Pepper Building, Tallahassee, Florida 32399‐1400 Telephone (850) 487‐4110 Fax (850) 922‐5667 jlac@leg.state.fl.us The Honorable Nathaniel Boyles, Chair Page 2 referenced in this letter contained a written response to the findings included in the audit report, we are requesting an updated status of the corrective action(s) being taken. Please do not provide just a copy of the written response from your audit report, unless it includes details and was provided to the auditor within the past month. Please provide the written statement by April 18, 2016. You may address it to The Honorable Daniel Raulerson, Chair, Joint Legislative Auditing Committee, and send it to the Committee’s office using one of the following methods: E‐mail: jlac@leg.state.fl.us Fax: 850‐922‐5667 Mail: 111 W. Madison St., Rm. 876; Tallahassee, FL 32399‐1400 Please note that your response will be posted on the Committee’s website. Thank you for your cooperation. Best regards, Daniel Raulerson Joseph Abruzzo Chair Vice Chair cc sent by email: Gary Stanford, Director of Finance, Okaloosa County John Hofstad, County Administrator, Okaloosa County The Honorable Nathaniel Boyles, Chair Page 3 Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners CPA Firm Audit Fiscal Year Finding Number/Finding Description/PDF Page Number(s) Audit Report FY 2013‐14 2014‐5 ‐ Year End Close ‐ Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund: A clear and evident plan for communicating responsibilities and expectations of processing financial activity of the Water and Sewer Enterprise operation is not in place. Thoroughly documented accounting procedures and authorization practices, including steps for year‐end closing, are not established in writing. (See PDF Pages 376‐377 of 555) 2014‐6 ‐ Enterprise Risk Management: The Board of County Commissioners assesses risk routinely, but the risk assessment process is not documented or formalized. (See PDF Page 377 of 555)