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Passes not collected
Visitors observed entering without a ticket
Gates understaffed
Contracts with outside vendor
ISF agrees with auditors
Permits not displayed
Spaced sublet to drug company
Rental fees not collected
ISF agrees with auditors
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FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CONTROLS OVER GATE AND PARKING ADMISSIONS NEED IMPROVEMENT The Illinois State Fair (ISF) did not have
adequate control over gate and parking admissions at the Illinois State Fair.
There are nine gates where cash is received
for fair admissions and four of the nine also receive cash for parking. The controls at the gate include a
segregation of duties between the person accepting tickets and the person
collecting the gate receipts. During the gate observations in 2007 and 2006 fair, the following exceptions were noted:
·
Gate volunteers did
not collect non-paid Fair passes;
·
Visitors were
observed entering a gate without having to purchase a ticket or offering the
proper credentials;
·
One gate only had one
volunteer who was acting as the money collector and ticket taker;
ISF
management stated that they do not handle the daily collection of gate and
parking admissions but contract with an outside vendor to oversee this
process. The vendor contract did not provide
specifics as to: 1) how the gates
were to be staffed, or 2) money was to be accounted for.
(Finding 1, pages 9-10) We recommended the ISF work with its
contractor to improve controls over gate and parking revenue by ensuring that
all persons entering the fairgrounds have the proper credentials or pay the
admissions/parking fees.
ISF officials agreed with our recommendation
and stated they would work with the ISF contractor to improve controls over
gate and parking. CONTROLS OVER SPACE RENTAL
CONTRACTS NEED IMPROVEMENT The ISF did not perform adequate procedures
to ensure that all leases for space were properly enforced and that all space
rental permits were properly displayed at the fair.
We toured the fairgrounds and selected a
sample of concessionaires/exhibitors for testing at the 2006 and 2007 Illinois
State Fair. Out of the
concessionaires/exhibitors tested, we found:
·
The space rental
permit was not clearly displayed for 5 out of 50 (10%)
concessionaire/exhibitors examined;
·
For 1 of 30 (3%), a
State agency subleased a portion of its space one day to a drug company to
give out promotional pens, magnets and other items to advertise its product.
·
Two concessionaires
(7%) used more space than what was paid. The total unpaid occupied space
measured 20 feet, which amounts to $1,400 space rental fee.
ISF personnel
stated that the exceptions noted were due to oversight. (Finding 3, pages
12-13)
ISF officials agreed with our recommendation to more closely monitor space
rental contracts to ensure that all concessionaires/exhibitors comply with the
terms of their contracts. OTHER FINDING The remaining finding pertains to improper processing of competitive event entries and is reportedly being given attention by the Department. We will review the Department’s progress toward implementing our recommendations in our next audit. FINANCIAL RESULTS OF THE FAIR Fair expenditures exceed revenues by $3,435,505 and $3,831,495 for the years ended September 30, 2007 and 2006, respectively. (page 17)
ACCOUNTANTS’ REPORT
The auditors applied certain limited procedures to the accompanying supplementary information of the Illinois State Fair, except for information marked “not examined”.
_______________________________________ WILLIAM G. HOLLAND, Auditor General
WGH:JAF:pp
SPECIAL ASSISTANT AUDITORS
McGladrey & Pullen LLP were our special assistant auditors for this examination. |
