REPORT DIGEST

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION
FOR THE TWO YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2025

Release Date:  June 30, 2026

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT: 16

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT – TOTAL
Category 1:  0 -- 0 -- 0
Category 2:  0 -- 0 -- 0
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0
TOTAL:  0 -- 0 -- 0

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 17

State of Illinois, Office of the Auditor
General
CHRISTOPHER B. MEISTER, AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report contact:
Office of the Auditor General, 400 West
Monroe, Suite 306, Springfield, IL
62704-9849
(217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887

This Report Digest and Full Report are
also available on the worldwide web at
www.auditor.illinois.gov

SYNOPSIS

• (25-02) The Department of Agriculture
(Department) did not exercise adequate
controls over State property.

• (25-04) The Department’s internal
controls over its receipt processing
function were not operating effectively
during the examination period.

• (25-08) The Department did not timely
submit its vouchers for payment to the
Office of the Comptroller during the
examination period.

• (25-12) The Department had weaknesses in
its administration of locally   held
funds.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

INADEQUATE CONTROLS OVER STATE PROPERTY

The Department did not exercise adequate
controls over State property.

The following exceptions were identified
from our detailed testing of the
Department’s State property records:

• During our list to floor testing of 60
Department property items, we noted the
following:

-- 20 (33%) items, totaling $163,352, were
not properly tagged.
-- Four (7%) items, totaling $9,177, were
not located during the testing.
-- One (2%) item, amounting to $2,635, was
surplused, but was still on the Department
records.

• During our floor to list testing of 60
Department property items, we noted the
following:

-- Three (5%) items of undetermined value
were not properly tagged.
-- Two (3%) items of undetermined value
were physically identified but not
included in the Department’s property
records.

•	During our testing of 60 property
additions, we noted the following:

-- Four (7%) additions, totaling $86,002,
were recorded in the Department’s property
records ranging from 36 to 40 days late.

• During our testing of 60 property
deletions, we noted the following:

-- Ten (17%) deletions, totaling $191,932,
were removed from the Department’s
property
records ranging from 678 to 2,449 days
late.

• During our testing of annual
certification of inventory, we noted the
following:

-- One of two (50%) annual certifications
of inventory was inaccurate. The
Department
reported 0.94% of the items unlocated,
representing 0.53% of the total dollar
amount of
all reportable inventories for calendar
year 2024. However, our review determined
that the correct percentages are 0.79%
unlocated items, representing 0.31% of the
total dollar value of all reportable
inventories, resulting in an overstatement
of 0.15% for unlocated items and 0.22% for
associated dollar amounts.

In addition, we  noted 125 of 258 (48%)
reviewed  Office of the State Fire Marshal
inspection reports of the Department’s
buildings and grounds indicated a result
of “Fail” in one or more circumstances.
Examples of failed inspections included,
but were not limited to, violations of
electrical systems, fire alarm systems,
replacement of combustible items, portable
fire extinguishers, and barn safety.
(Finding 2, pages 13-16) This finding was
first reported in 2007.

We recommended the Department strengthen
its procedures over property and equipment
to ensure accurate and timely
recordkeeping and accountability for all
State assets. We also recommended the
Department obtain the resources necessary
to address the safety conditions noted by
the Office of the State Fire Marshal on
Department grounds.

The Department agreed with this finding
and recommendation.

RECEIPT PROCESSING INTERNAL CONTROLS NOT
OPERATING EFFECTIVELY

The Department’s internal controls overs
its receipt processing function were not
operating effectively during the
examination period.

Our testing noted four of 140 (3%)
attributes were not properly entered into
the ERP. Therefore, the Department’s
internal controls over receipt processing
were not operating effectively.

Even given the limitations noted above, we
conducted an analysis of the Department’s
receipts data for Fiscal Years 2024 and
2025 to determine compliance with the Act.
We noted:

• The Department had 2 receipt items where
the receipt date was later than the
deposit date.
• The Department had 45 receipt items
which had erroneous receipt dates entered
into the ERP.
• The Department did not deposit 242
receipt items, $10,000 or more, on the day
received.
• The Department did not deposit 2,292
receipt items, exceeding $500 but less
than $10,000, within 48 hours.
• The Department did not deposit 2,774
receipt items, less than $500, on the 1st
or 15th of the month, whichever was
earlier. (Finding 4, pages 19-21) This
finding was first reported in 2017.

We recommended the Department design and
maintain internal controls to provide
assurance its data entry of key attributes
into the ERP is complete and accurate.
Further, we recommended the Department
timely deposit receipts into the State’s
treasury.

The Department agreed with this finding
and recommendation.

VOUCHER PROCESSING INTERNAL CONTROLS NOT
OPERATING EFFECTIVELY

The Department did not timely submit its
vouchers for payment to the Office of the
Comptroller during the examination period.

The Department did not timely approve
2,959 of 19,461 (15%) vouchers processed
during the examination period, totaling
$20,420,596. We noted these vouchers were
approved between 31 and 358 days after
receipt of a proper bill or other
obligating document. (Finding 8, pages
28-29)  This finding was first reported in
2019.

We recommended the Department approve
proper bills within 30 days of receipt,
conduct staff training on accurate
information to enter into the ERP, and
remind staff of the importance of
timeliness in voucher processing.

The Department agreed with this finding
and recommendation.

WEAKNESSES IN ADMINISTRATION OF LOCALLY
HELD FUNDS

The Department had weaknesses in its
administration of locally-held funds.

• During our review of the Form C-17 for
the nine locally held funds for Fiscal
Years 2024 and
2025, we noted the following:

-- One (11%) locally held fund was not
properly reconciled with the balance
reported in Form C-17, resulting in an
understatement of $1,498 in Fiscal Year
2025.

• During our review of the 280 bank
reconciliations for the nine locally held
funds for Fiscal Years
2024 and 2025, we noted the following:

-- For 26 (9%) bank reconciliations, the
reconciliations did not contain the
reviewer’s signature and/or signed date;
therefore, we were unable to test for
timeliness of review.  (Finding 12, pages
34-35) This finding was first noted in
2011.

We recommended the Department ensure
reconciliations for locally held funds are
properly performed and the review of the
bank reconciliation be performed timely
and properly documented.

The Department agreed with this finding
and recommendation.

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining findings are purportedly
being given attention by Department
personnel.  We will review the
Department’s progress towards the
implementation of our recommendations in
our next State compliance examination.

ACCOUNTANT’S OPINION

The accountants conducted a State
compliance examination of the Department
for the two years ended June 30, 2025, as
required by the Illinois State Auditing
Act.  The accountants qualified their
report on State compliance for Findings
2025-001 to 2025-004. Except for the
noncompliance described in these finding,
the accountants stated the Department
complied, in all material respects, with
the requirements described in the report.

This State compliance examination was
conducted by Adelfia LLC.

COURTNEY DZIERWA
Deputy Auditor General

This report is transmitted in accordance
with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State
Auditing Act.

CHRISTOPHER B. MEISTER
Auditor General

CBM:emo