Rob Sand, Auditor of the State of Iowa, released findings from their annual Carroll County audit for the Fiscal Year (FY) ending June 30, 2019. It shows revenues up just over 24 percent and a 7.6 percent increase in expenses. These are mainly from Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) contributions to assets and the undertaking of more local road projects. There are no instances of non-compliance, but there were 10 different findings related taxpayer funds. Seven are repeats from the previous year in regard to the ability of select departments to segregate duties and provide oversight controls. The Board of Health, Sheriff, Recorder, Conservation and Extension Offices’ low staffing numbers make it difficult to separate duties and enhance controls. The state has accepted all responses outlining ways employees can work to strengthen oversight. The County Attorney and Sheriff’s Offices do not currently have policies and procedures in place for employees, including those on salary, to prepare and submit time sheets. The Carroll County Board of Supervisors will be working to adopt such a policy. These deficiencies are considered less severe than a finding of a material weakness, of which one was recorded in the audit. Unexplained variances were found by the Carroll County Treasurers Office as they attempted to reconcile ambulance service receipts with collections recorded in the ambulance department’s accounts receivable system. This situation arose because protocols had not been established to prevent documentation errors. A plan of action to adopt new procedures, that has the two departments working closely together to reconcile accounts regularly and includes an independent review to help eradicate errors, was accepted by the state.
