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FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
PAYMENT MADE FOR EFFICIENCY INITIATIVE BILLING FROM IMPROPER LINE
ITEM APPROPRIATION
The Agency made payment for
an efficiency initiative billing from an improper line item appropriation
without adequate documentation to support where the Agency could anticipate
savings to occur. Public Act 93-0025,
in part, outlines a program for efficiency initiatives to reorganize,
restructure and reengineer the business processes of the State. The State Finance Act details that the
amount designated as savings from efficiency initiatives implemented by the
Department of Central Management Services (CMS) shall be paid into the
Efficiency Initiatives Revolving Fund.
The Act further requires State agencies to pay these amounts from line
item appropriations where cost savings are anticipated to occur.
The Agency did not receive
guidance or documentation with the billing from CMS detailing from which line
item appropriations savings were anticipated to occur. According to Agency staff, while a memo
from CMS and the Governor's Office of Management and Budget received in
advance of the May 14, 2004 billing indicated 16 vacant positions - it did
not identify what 16 positions the Agency was being billed for. The Agency reported only being able to
identify eight vacant positions, did not investigate the additional eight,
and made the payment to CMS.
Based on our review, we
question whether the appropriate appropriations, as required by the State
Finance Act, were used to pay for the anticipated savings. We found that the Agency delayed making
the payment until August 23, 2004 in order to determine both whether funds
would be available and where the funds would be available. At the end of FY 04 the Agency determined
there were sufficient funds in the Historical Library Division and paid the
entire $19,327 from the salary line of that division. (Finding 1, pages 8-9)
We recommended the Agency
only make payments for efficiency initiative billings from line item
appropriations where savings would be anticipated to occur. Further, the Agency should seek an
explanation from the Department of Central Management Services as to how
savings levels were calculated, or otherwise arrived at, and how savings
achieved or anticipated impact the Agency's budget.
Agency officials concurred
with our finding and stated they did not pay the invoice without first
seeking further explanation, and did delay payment-making it on the last
possible day of the fiscal year and using funds that were going to
expire. If such a transfer request
happens again, the agency stated it would again attempt to receive full
justification of the matter prior to making payment.
DONATIONS NOT DEPOSITED IN STATE TREASURY
One of the Agency's 60
historic sites was not remitting donations collected on-site, to the Agency
for deposit in the State Treasury.
Rather, the donations were evenly divided between the site's two
volunteer groups and used to benefit the historic site.
The State Officers and
Employees Money Disposition Act (30 ILCS 230/2) requires all state agencies
to pay into the State Treasury the gross amount of monies received for or on
behalf of the State. In addition, the
Historic Preservation Agency Act (20 ILCS 3405/16) allows historic sites to
temporarily hold donations in a local bank account. However, these funds must then be forwarded to the Agency for
deposit into the State Treasury. In
discussing this matter with Agency officials, they indicated this site
superintendent was allowed to give the donations to the volunteer groups due
to the small amount collected and in order to reduce the time associated with
the administration of the donation program.
Though complete donation records at the site were not maintained, an
Agency employee estimated the donations in question totaled $531 and $326 in
fiscal year 2003 and 2004, respectively.
(Finding 2, page 10)
We recommended the Agency
instruct site superintendents to remit all donations to the Agency for
deposit into the State Treasury.
Agency officials stated they
implemented written procedures in November 2004 to ensure proper handling of
donations collected at all historic sites.
LACK OF WRITTEN OVERTIME POLICY
A site superintendent at one
of the Agency's 60 historic sites reported a total of 1,327.5 hours of
overtime incurred between January 2001 and March 2004 resulting in total
payments of $31,702 during this time period.
In addition, this site superintendent's overtime records were
improperly maintained. The overtime
hours worked were reported on a weekly basis, rather than daily, and were not
submitted to the Agency on a timely basis.
There was no evidence of supervisory approval prior to the overtime
being incurred. In addition, an
individual description was not provided for each day overtime was incurred.
Agency officials stated
there was no written policy regarding overtime incurred by merit compensation
employees (employees not covered by a collective bargaining unit). The Agency's unwritten overtime policy
required employees fill out an Overtime Authorization Form reporting overtime
in daily increments with an explanation for each occurrence of overtime. This form should have then been approved
and authorized by a supervisor prior to the overtime being worked. Agency officials indicated the lack of
monitoring of this site superintendent's overtime was an oversight. (Finding 3, page 11)
We recommended the Agency
develop and implement a written policy and procedure regarding overtime and
adhere to this policy. Also, all
overtime should be authorized in advance and subjected to an analytical review
to monitor for abuse.
Agency officials stated they
implemented written procedures in November 2004 to ensure proper use and
documentation of overtime.
LACK OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
The Agency did not have a
comprehensive set of policies and procedures and there was no formal process
for implementing new policies and procedures. As issues arose within the Agency, the Accounting Manager would
write policies and procedures to address each issue. These would then be distributed to the
necessary parties via e-mail and the Accounting Manager would maintain a hard
copy. The majority of these policies
and procedures were not approved by management or formally adopted by the
Agency.
This lack of Agency-wide
policies and procedures resulted in the following:
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Divisions
within the Agency processed vouchers differently depending on which division
had initial responsibility.
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The
procedures regarding commodities varied among divisions as each was
responsible for purchasing, maintaining, monitoring and recording their own.
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The Agency
did not comply with its internal bidding policies regarding printing
procurements on all jobs exceeding $500.
A formal process should
exist to ensure policies and procedures are properly developed, implemented
and enforced. Agency officials stated
they were unaware of the importance of maintaining a comprehensive set of
policies and procedures and therefore, a low level of priority was placed on
this duty. The lack of policies and
procedures manuals detrimentally affects the training of employees, guidance
for existing employees, and maintenance of the Agency's internal
control. (Finding 4, pages 12-13)
We recommended the Agency
implement a formal process for developing policies and procedures and prepare
a comprehensive policy and procedure manual for Agency-wide distribution.
Agency officials responded
that their Fiscal Section used 30 ILCS, the SAMS manual, and CMS policies and
procedures to maintain good practices without benefit of an internal
manual. They also said creation of an
internal policy and procedures manual is underway to supplement these
established guidelines.
NONCOMPLIANCE WITH ILLINOIS HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT
The Agency was not in compliance with several areas of the
Illinois Historic Preservation Act.
The Act establishes the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council which
is supposed to be comprised of 15 members appointed by the Director of
Historic Sites and Preservation, consisting of at least three archeologists. We noted the Council only had 14 members,
two of whom are archeologists. In
addition, there are supposed to be two non-voting members, the Director of
the Lincoln Presidential Library and the Director of the Illinois State
Museum. The Council, however, only
had the Director of the Illinois State Museum as a non-voting member.
The Act requires the Agency to establish and maintain an
Illinois Register of Historic Places, consisting of places that have special
historical, architectural, archeological, cultural, or artistic interest or
value. The Agency had not added any
properties to the Illinois Register since 1989. Instead, property owners are encouraged to apply for a listing
in the National Register. The Agency
feels that the National Register provides more benefits, such as federal
grant funds, to the property owners and an Illinois Register would merely
function as a duplicate. (Finding 8,
pages 18-19) This finding was
first reported in 2002.
Agency officials concurred with our finding and stated they
will seek to bring membership up to full strength or will seek legislative
adjustment. They also will initiate
the necessary legislation to repeal the Illinois Register of Historic
Places. (For the previous agency
response, see Digest Footnote #1.)
OTHER FINDINGS
The remaining findings are less significant and are
reportedly being given attention by the Agency. We will review the Agency's progress toward implementation of
our recommendations in our next compliance examination.
Mr. Robert Coomer, Director, provided the Agency's responses.
AUDITORS’ OPINION
We conducted a compliance examination of the Historic
Preservation Agency as required by the Illinois State Auditing Act. We have not audited any financial
statements of the Agency for the purpose of expressing an opinion because the
Agency does not, nor is it required to, prepare financial statements.
____________________________________
WILLIAM G. HOLLAND,
Auditor General
WGH:KMA:pp
SPECIAL ASSISTANT AUDITORS
Our special assistant auditors were Martin & Shadid,
CPAs, P.C.
DIGEST FOOTNOTES
#1: NONCOMPLIANCE WITH
ILLINOIS HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT - Previous Agency Response
2002: IHSAC Appointments
The
Agency concurs in the finding as it relates to IHSAC appointments and the
circumstances explaining the failure to have a fully filled Council are
contained in the finding discussion.
The Agency is willing to seek legislation to reduce the number of
required archaeologists from three to two, as this will still meet the
requirements of the National Register Program. In addition, the Agency plans to fill the other positions
(non-voting) in the near future.
These actions will assure that the Council has a full complement of members.
Illinois
Register of Historic Places
The
Agency concurs and will initiate the necessary legislation to repeal the
Illinois Register of Historic Places.
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