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FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
EXCESSIVE MEAL COSTS
The Illinois Supreme Court (Court)
incurred food and beverage costs while hosting conferences and seminars for
judges that exceed the travel reimbursement rates for individual meals. The cost per meal paid from the General
Revenue Fund for three conferences held in Chicago ranged from $20.69 to
$41.04.
The
Judicial Branch Travel Reimbursement for Judges (Guidelines) establishes a
rate of $8.00 for breakfast and $8.00 for lunch for reimbursement for meal
costs to judges in Chicago. Although
these rates apply only to reimbursements to judges and the Guidelines do not
set rates for Court sponsored conferences and seminars, these are reasonable
guidelines for the cost of meals.
(Finding 1, pages 10-12)
We recommended the
Court hold conferences and seminars at sites which can provide meals at rates
comparable to those established by the Judicial Branch Travel Reimbursement
for Judges (Guidelines).
Agency officials
disagreed with the finding and responded that they determined that the
Court’s expenditure of funds associated with judicial conferences and
seminars are in compliance with State requirements, namely, the Judicial
Branch Procurement Code.
FAILURE
TO ADEQUATELY MONITOR REAL PROPERTY LEASE UTILITIES
The Court was unable to document the reasonableness of gas utility
expenses during the examination period for a real property lease contract.
During our testing, we noted that the Court did not sufficiently
monitor the real property lease for the building at 6801 Spring Creek Road in
Rockford to determine that it has been paying the proper amount for gas
expenses. The original lease
agreement states that the tenant’s monthly pro-rata share of the gas bill shall
be .5484 or $560.70 per month for 2002 and 2003.
The lease agreement requires the landlord to provide to the tenant
(the Court) a “written statement confirming Tenant’s Proportionate Share of
gas expenses” within 120 days following the end of each calendar year. The Court did not receive a statement from
the landlord confirming the Court’s share of gas expenses for any year under
the lease. The original estimate of
$560.70 per month was paid by the Court for gas expenses without an
adjustment at the end of the year, as required by the lease agreement. (Finding 2, pages 13-14)
We recommended the Court obtain the “written statement confirming
Tenant’s Proportionate Share of gas expenses” from the landlord for the lease
period to date, determine the correct amount, and ensure that the landlord
has applied or will apply an adjustment based on the difference between
estimated and actual gas expense costs.
We further recommended that the Court actively monitor all
landlord-determined expense estimates in its real property leases.
Agency officials agreed with the finding and stated that corrective
action has been taken. A detailed
tracking system of similar lease provisions is being developed to avoid any
future occurrence.
OTHER FINDING
The remaining finding is less significant. We will review implementation of our recommendation during our
next examination.
Mr. John
Bracco, Chief Internal Auditor provided the responses to our recommendations
on March 6, 2006.
AUDITORS’ OPINION
We conducted a
compliance examination of the Illinois Supreme Court as required by the
Illinois State Auditing Act. We have
not audited any financial statements of the Court 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:GSR
SPECIAL ASSISTANT AUDITORS
Our
Special Assistant Auditors were Sikich, LLP
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