The Auditor General’s Office has “identified an internal control deficiency and an instance of noncompliance over a major federal program by Pima County. In the federal compliance audit, the Auditor General tested seven federal programs and “found that the County did not always have adequate internal controls and did not always comply with federal program requirements for one of those programs.”
The Auditor found:
The County expended approximately $1.7 million of its Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Program monies on salaries and wages. The County charged salaries and wages to the program using estimates based on predetermined distribution percentages. However, the County could not demonstrate that its estimated distribution percentages were reasonable approximations of the actual time and effort employees spent working on the program.
The Auditor General recommended:
The County should prepare and maintain documentation supporting the distribution of salaries and wages to federal programs and ensure that distribution percentages approximate the actual time and effort employees spent working on the program.
According to the Auditor General, Pima County is responsible for preparing annual financial statements and a schedule of expenditures of federal awards, maintaining effective internal controls, and being accountable for its use of public monies. The Auditor General’s Office is responsible for auditing the County’s financial statements, schedule, and major federal programs annually.
While the Auditor General found that the “information in the County’s fiscal year 2014 financial statements and schedule of expenditures of federal awards is reliable,” County insiders report that funds are swept from department to department to balance the books whenever necessary.