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Support for
accounts receivable not provided to auditors
Court requested Cook County
to return funds
Court disagrees
with Auditors
Position of Court
is unreasonable, incorrect and illogical
Court reported the
$602,000 Accounts Receivable to the State Comptroller in FY08 and FY09
Failure of the
Court to provide information is noncompliance with State law and impedes
public accountability
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FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE INFORMATION NOT PROVIDED TO AUDITORS
The Illinois Supreme Court refused to
provide any support to the auditors for their accounts receivable amount
reported to the Illinois State Comptroller during the examination
period. The accounts receivable amount
over one year totaled $605,053 and $602,265 in FY08 and FY09
respectively.
The
accounts receivable amount was reportedly determined based on an internal
audit performed by the Supreme Court.
According to the Supreme Court Internal Auditor, the Supreme Court was
mistakenly given a State grant for $1,500,000 in either FY02 or FY03 that
should have gone to the Department of Corrections. Instead of allowing the money to lapse, an
agreement was made with the Cook
County Juvenile
Detention Center. The Cook County
Juvenile Detention
Center had two years to
expend the State grant money. At the
end of the two years, the full $1,500,000 million was not expended but there
was uncertainty over how much was not expended. The internal audit concluded $602,000 of
the original $1,500,000 was not validated and therefore the Supreme Court
questioned these costs. The Supreme
Court then requested the Cook
County Juvenile
Detention Center
to return these funds. The Cook County
Juvenile Detention
Center disputed the
questioned costs and the funds are still being disputed. (Finding 1, pages 10-12)
We recommended the Supreme
Court maintain and provide support for the accounts receivable amount
reported to the State Comptroller’s Office as required by State law.
Agency officials
disagreed with the finding and responded that the audit finding notes that
the Illinois
State Auditing Act (30 ILCS 5/3-12) requires all State agencies to make
available any record or information requested by the Office of the Auditor
General (OAG) which is related to or within the scope of any audit under the
Act. The scope of this audit, as
determined by the OAG, encompasses the two fiscal years ended June 30, 2009. Agency officials also stated the requested
records encompass activities prior to the current audit scope and were
previously audited as part of the OAG’s Compliance Audits for the two fiscal
years ended June 30, 2003 and for the two fiscal years ended June 30, 2005
and that the Supreme Court Internal Audit has timely provided all records
related to the compliance assertion within the scope of the compliance
audit.
In an auditors’ comment we stated while being both unreasonable and
incorrect, the Court’s position is illogical.
It is not unusual for accounts receivable to extend beyond the audit
period in question. It is the
auditors’ absolute responsibility to ask questions about such records. If the auditor did not, then effectively a
statute of limitations would be placed on the pursuit of accountability. Further, the Court’s management assertion
letter and the auditors’ report on State Compliance and Internal Control
address compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including the State
Uniform Accounting System, in the Court’s financial and fiscal operations. The $602,000 accounts receivable was
reported to the Office of the State Comptroller in both FY08 and FY09 and was
included in the Court’s analysis of Accounts Receivable. Clearly, there are remaining questions
regarding this grant awarded by the Court to Cook County. In
conclusion, the Court’s position that the accounts receivable information is
not within the scope of our State Compliance Attestation examination for the
two years ended June 30, 2009 and its failure to provide this information is
noncompliance with State statutes and impedes public accountability.
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:JSC:pp
SPECIAL ASSISTANT AUDITORS
Our
Special Assistant Auditors were E.C. Ortiz & Co., LLP.
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