Tuolumne County 2000-2001 - California Grand Jury Reports

2000-2001 Grand Jury Report*

53 páginas 9 hallazgos 11 recomendaciones

Hallazgos & Recomendaciones 9 hallazgos

F1: Finally on May 31, 2001 the audit of the county and the hospital for the fiscal year ended 6/30/99 was finished. That was 23 months after the end of the period being audited and 17 months later than a reasonable target of six months for the audit. A copy of the "Report on Internal Control" for 1999 was given to the grand jury on May 31, 2001. This report is a follow up of the 1998 report on the same subject. Both reports report significant discrepancies between the county financial records and those maintained at Tuolumne General Hospital. The 1999 report emphasizes the loss of "experienced hospital management and staff" in addition to "untimely and incomplete financial information". It is difficult to access the current situation with statements two years old. Interim statements or even year-end unaudited statements are much more prone to error. They are not subject to the disciplines and checks of audited statements.

F2: Some quotes from this 6/30/99 report will illustrate that the auditors found no progress from 6/30/98 and a deterioration of the situation in areas such as loss of experienced management and employees: "Although the hospital accounts for the major portion of the delays in finalizing the audit, the lack of administrative and accounting leadership at the controllers office was a contributing factor." "Significant inefficiencies in the financial reporting and audit process as a result of untimely and incomplete financial information." "...financial reports and reconciliation are not being produced in a timely manner despite the recent implementation of new general ledger and patient billing systems." "...recent turnover of experienced hospital management and staff has not allowed the Hospital to fully benefit from these resources" "We further recommend that the hospital administration ensure that there is proper communication and coordination with the County Auditor-Controller's office as this office administers the centralized general ledger system..." The 1999 report further states: "A formal repayment plan is not yet in place due to the uncertainty of the hospital's future cash flows. Inconsistent repayment or nonpayment of these advances may adversely affect the Tuolumne County Workers' Compensation Fund's ability to meet the obligations of the program for which it was established."

F3: A slowly changing economic foundation has resulted in many "blue-collar" workers seeking employment out of the county. This socio-economic portion of the population is the most vital reservoir of volunteers. 4. "Two-in-Two-Out" will place demands on the system for more efficient response from the volunteer force. The present ability to adjust to the new demand is questionable.

F4: The continuing borrowing from the county which was $2.3 million at June 30, 1999 now has increased to $5.29 million as of March 31, 2001.

F5: While the problems at the hospital were the major factor in the delay of the public audit, communication with and arranging of the audit schedule with the auditor/controller's office were cited as problems. The auditor's experience was that most facts had to be obtained or verified through the assistant auditor/controller. This has a bottleneck effect and may be an indicator of too little depth in the department that could cause a dangerous loss of control with the loss of a single employee. This problem is even further emphasized when the assistant auditor/controller had to personally go to Tuolumne General Hospital to aide in the hospital's audit due to the recent turnover of hospital management and staff.

F6: The conversion to new computer software, the loss of experienced personnel, and changes in funding Medicare patients brought about by the Balanced Budget Act of July 98 have been the major challenges during this timeframe.

F7: The audit agreement for the year ended 6/30/00 was not signed by the county until 5/22/01, eleven months after the year end and already five months behind the auditor/controller's goal of completing audits by December or 6 months after the close of the fiscal year.

F8: Whether by design or by error, the clause specifying the participation of the grand jury in the selection of the audit company and the grand jury's participation in monthly audit progress meetings was omitted from the new agreement signed 5/22/01 covering the year 1999/2000. The omitted clause was clause "G" in the previous audit agreement. The grand jury has historically been a party at these meetings.

F9: In interviews with the grand jury, former employees of Tuolumne General Hospital finance expressed, among many other relevant comments, a strong loyalty to the hospital and its previous management. They felt that the hospital and its management had been downgraded as an institution to "just another county department". They stated that county services had been forced on them replacing less costly services that had been previously contracted by the hospital. They also stated that county finance and administrative personnel frequently excluded them from direct communication regarding hospital matters with the board of supervisors. They resigned as their final comment. The resulting loss of experience, commented on by the auditors in their report, was a high cost to pay for an obvious lack of communication and poor handling by county financial management. They felt forced to accept the new county general ledger system which was interpreted as another loss of control by the hospital. It would seem that rather than being made part of the decision it was imposed on them. The loss of these personnel and the failure to replace them to this date, other than by much higher paid consultants, suggests a weakness in the county financial management. It may also suggest an over delegation of authority by the auditor controller.

Recomendaciones adicionales 11

No vinculadas a hallazgos específicos.

R1: Prioritize the replacement of top level management and financial personnel at Tuolumne General Hospital.

R2: The Tuolumne County Auditor/Controller should review his department to guarantee that enough depth is available to insure smooth continuity in the event a key employee leaves the department.

R3: The outside auditors should be given the assignment of reporting on the various systems of internal controls in all areas of the county that handle cash to insure that proper safeguards are in place to prevent improper recording or misappropriation of county deposits.

R4: Amend the current audit agreement to reinstall the definition of attendees in the audit/finance committee to include the grand jury. Notification of the time and date of the meetings should also be sent out to insure full attendance.

R5: Publish the public auditor's recommendations and "Report on Internal Control" to those who need to know and should implement the recommendations.

R6: Public audits should be done in a timely manner. We agree with the Tuolumne County Auditor/Controller's internal target of completing the audit in six months after the year-end.

R7: The Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors should review the auditor/controller's office to assure the degree of delegation of authority is appropriate and the interface with the public auditors and the hospital management is efficient and supportive. TUOLUMNE COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT REASON FOR INVESTIGATION The Tuolumne County Grand Jury is charged with periodic review of all county departments. The jury, while visiting past reports, noted that it had been a number of years since a review of such an essential service, fire, had taken place. This report is not intended to be a total analysis of fire protection, but rather a review of only the Tuolumne County Fire Department (TCFD) operations and management and issues concerning it.

R8: Improve recruitment through the creation of an organized recruitment program.

R9: Actively pursue the availability of grants to generate income to support TCFD.

R10: We recommend the volunteers meet every six months with the board of supervisors.

R11: Upgrade the compliment of ladders to include at least one more 35' ladder. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW The Community Development Department was created in 1998 to consolidate several county departments with related functions under one department. Building and Safety, Code Compliance, Fire Prevention, and Planning now fall under the responsibility of the Community Development Department hereafter referred to as the CDD. The CDD's Mission Statement cites the Tuolumne County General Plan as the "County's constitution for growth and its blueprint for future development". In its 1999 and 2000 annual reports, the CDD states its commitment "to fulfilling our mission to provide service of the highest quality at all times, to assist land owners with achieving their desires for their property, to guard and promote the safety and welfare of the public, and to protect the County's cultural assets and environment for the enjoyment of current and future residents." REASON FOR INVESTIGATION The Tuolumne County Grand Jury is charged with periodically reviewing county departments. The CDD has not had a review since its inception.

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.