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MANATEE COUNTY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
DEVELOPMENTS OF REGIONAL IMPACT PROCESS
A U D I T R E P O R T
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTERNAL
AUDIT REPORT
A. Background; Purpose/Objectives; Scope.................................................................2
B. Methodology; Irregularities, Abuse, or
Illegal Acts;
Test of Compliance; Statement
of Internal Control Structure........
..........
...3
C.
Management
Team and Management Action Plan;
Management Summary..
.
4
D.
Audit Report
Authorization...........................................
.............
..
5
E.
Areas of Improvement
and Managements Action Plan...........
....
..6 - 7
MANATEE COUNTY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
DEVELOPMENTS OF REGIONAL IMPACT PROCESS
A U D I T R E P O R T
The Internal Audit Department conducted an audit of
the Developments of Regional Impact (DRI) process under the Planning
Department for the audit period April 1, 1999 through May 31, 2000. The audit was performed in accordance with
Generally Accepted Governmental Auditing Standards,
issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; and the Standards for the Professional Practice of
Internal Auditing, issued by the Institute of Internal Auditors.
BACKGROUND:
The Planning
Department provides a review, compliance, and coordination function
for the DRI process to provide assurance to the public and the Board
of County Commissioners of the developers' conformance to Manatee County's
Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code.
The Planning Department is authorized by resolution to charge
the DRI developers for work performed by County employees, the County
Attorney's Office, and to be reimbursed for consultants' fees.
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:
The audit
objectives included, but were not limited to the following:
Ψ
Determine whether deposits and other fees paid by the DRI
developers are controlled, accurate and deposited timely.
Ψ
Determine whether chargeable amounts billed to the DRI developers
by the Planning Department staff and the County Attorney's Office are
accurate, authorized, timely billed, and timely collected.
Ψ
Determine whether consultants' billings are accurate, complete,
and billed timely to the DRI developers for recovery of the County's
disbursements.
SCOPE:
The scope
of the audit included examining evidence supporting billings and collections
of charges in compliance with the Board of County Commissioners' approved
resolution for the period ending May 31, 2000. Controls over accuracy and timeliness of
billings and collections were also reviewed.
METHODOLOGY:
Internal control evaluations were accomplished by flow
charting the key operations of this specified area, discussions with
management and staff, observations, and analytical and substantive testing
of individual internal controls. Risk
analysis was used to establish priorities of audit objectives.
IRREGULARITIES, ABUSE, OR ILLEGAL ACTS:
No indications of irregularities, abuse, or illegal
acts were discovered during the audit for the period ending May 31,
2000 in the audit of the Developments of Regional Impact Process.
TEST OF COMPLIANCE:
Internal Audit tested compliance with certain laws
and regulations, obtained an understanding of internal controls and
assessed control risk. Tests
performed were limited to the specific areas included in the Purpose/Objective
section of this report and appeared to provide sufficient evidence to
support an opinion on compliance and internal controls for the areas
tested.
Except as noted in our audit report, tested items were
in compliance with ordinances, resolutions, and other policies established
by the Planning Department relating to the Developments of Regional
Impact process.
STATEMENT ON INTERNAL CONTROL STRUCTURE:
In planning and performing the audit of the Developments
of Regional Impact process under the Planning Department for the period
ending May 31, 2000, the internal control structure was considered in
order to determine the auditing procedures for the purpose of this report. As a result, we noted in the audit report matters
involving the internal control structure and its operations that are
considered reportable conditions under standards established by the
U.S. General Accounting Office, Government
Auditing Standards. Reportable
conditions involve matters relating to deficiencies in the design or
operation of the internal control structure, that in our judgment, could
adversely affect the organization's ability to record, process, summarize
and report on data consistent with managements intentions.
Our consideration of the internal control structure
would not necessarily disclose all matters in the internal control structure
that might be reportable conditions, as defined above. In addition, because of the inherent limitations
in any internal control structure, deficiencies in the design or operation
of the internal control structure may exist and not be detected. We believe the conditions identified in our
audit report constitute reportable conditions as previously defined.
MANAGEMENT
TEAM AND MANAGEMENT ACTION PLAN:
A Management Action Plan will be used for each Area of Improvement reported. Management Action Plans are corrective actions with implementation dates developed in cooperation with the Departments Director and the Internal Audit Department.
MANAGEMENT SUMMARY:
The Planning Department is staffed
by dedicated, professional individuals who ensure that developers are
in compliance with Manatee County's Comprehensive Plan and Land Development
Code through the DRI process. Resolution
R-93-276 requires that services performed by Manatee County be billed
to the DRI applicants. Based
on the audit performed, it appears the Planning Department has been
accurately charging customers for DRI charges in compliance with the
Board of County Commissioners' approved fee schedule.
The audit identified several areas where improvements can be
made relating to the billing and collections of DRI charges. These improvements and Management's Action
Plan are summarized below:
·
The Planning
Department bills DRI developers for services performed by Manatee County
employees directly and reasonably attributed to the review of a DRI
application. Stronger controls
are needed to ensure that the County Planner's time sheets include all
billable activities that could have been billed and that these charges
are billed to the DRI applicants timely.
The Management Team through its Management Action Plan will present
to the Board of County Commissioners an amendment to their fee schedule
to include a flat fee and a deposit for consulting services that will
be collected in advance for DRI charges.
(See Area for Improvement
#1 on page 6.)
·
The Planning
Department contracts, pays, and subsequently charges the DRI applicants
for consulting services. Stronger
controls are needed to ensure the County is billing DRI developers timely
for consulting services paid by Manatee County and that the consulting
firms are billing Manatee County timely for services rendered. The Management
Team through its Management Action Plan will implement procedures using
the Manatee County Finance Computer System that will automatically create
a bill when Manatee County pays the consultants' invoices. Bills will be mailed to the DRI applicants
within 45 days from the County's payment date.
Consulting firms will also be encouraged to submit complete and
accurate invoices every thirty days.
(See
Area for Improvement #2 on page 6.)
·
The Planning
Department's Fiscal Section is responsible for collection of all outstanding
accounts. The Fiscal Section
has not formalized procedures to ensure adequate and timely collections
of DRI developers' accounts. The
Management Team through its Management Action Plan will develop procedures
to include the review and documentation of all outstanding accounts
every thirty days, mailing of second notices on past due accounts, and
restricting the DRI from proceeding to the next level of development
until payment has been received. (See Area for Improvement #3 on page 7.)
We appreciate the efforts of the
Planning Departments management in timely addressing the issues raised
during the audit and aggressively seeking solutions to these matters. We believe through the implementation of the
Management Action Plans included in this report, controls will be strengthened,
improving billings and collections of DRI accounts. We commend the Planning
Department for providing a valuable service to Manatee County.
AUDIT REPORT AUTHORIZATION:
This audit report has been reviewed and authorized
by:
____________________________________ ___________________________________
Richard
J. Orienti, CIA, CFE
R. B. "Chips"
Shore
Director of Internal Audit Clerk of the
Circuit Court and Comptroller
AREA FOR IMPROVEMENT #1
Subject: Completeness and Timeliness of DRI Billings
Resolution R-93-276 requires all work performed by Manatee County employees
directly and reasonably attributed to the review of a DRI application
shall be paid by the applicant. DRI
charges primarily consist of direct time spent on the DRIs from the
County Planners, the County Attorneys and contracted consultants. The County Planners, as well as the County
Attorney's Office, are responsible for forwarding billable documentation
to the Planning Department's Fiscal Section for billing. The Fiscal
Section compiles all these charges and bills the applicant on a periodic
basis.
For the audit period April 1, 1999 through May 31, 2000, all of the bills
invoiced were accurately calculated in compliance with the Board of
County Commissioners' approved fee schedule.
Testing revealed, however, that the County Planners' time sheets
did not include all activities that could have been billed. In addition,
it was noted that DRI developer charges are not always billed timely.
Procedures are not currently in place to require the County Planners
and the County Attorney's Office to submit chargeable time on a timely
basis.
Management Action Plan:
Ψ
Management is in the process of changing DRI charges to a flat fee
plus consulting fees. A deposit
will be established and required on those DRIs requiring consulting
services. The flat fee will be based either by type or
size of the DRI application. This fee will be collected in advance,
eliminating the need for tracking and compiling employees' billable
charges and time associated with the DRI developer.
Management intends to present this amendment to their fee schedule
for Board of County Commissioners' approval by November 30, 2000.
AREA FOR IMPROVEMENT #2
Subject: Timeliness in the Charging of Consulting Invoices
to DRI Applicants
The Planning Department contracts
with consultants as part of the DRI process. Manatee County pays for the consultants' services
and subsequently charges the DRI applicants for the amount paid. Testwork revealed that the County is not billing
DRI developers timely for consulting services paid by Manatee County.
In addition, consulting firms are not billing Manatee County
timely for services rendered.
AREA FOR IMPROVEMENT #2
...
Continued
Management Action Plan:
Ψ
Management is in the process of implementing procedures using the
Manatee County's Finance Computer System that will automatically create
a bill to the DRI applicants when Manatee County pays the consultants'
invoices. The Planning Department will mail the bills to the DRI applicant
within 45 days from the County's payment date.
Management intends to develop these procedures by November 30,
2000.
Ψ
Management will develop procedures
that will encourage consulting firms to submit invoices timely by including
language in their contract requiring the submission of complete and
accurate invoices every thirty days. Additional language on all future
consulting contracts will begin on October 31, 2000.
AREA FOR IMPROVEMENT #3
Subject: Timeliness of Collection Efforts on Outstanding
DRI Balances
The Planning Department's Fiscal Section is
responsible for collection of all outstanding accounts. The Fiscal Section has not formalized procedures
to ensure adequate and timely collections of DRI developers' accounts.
Management Action Plan:
Ψ
With the implementation of
a flat fee that will be collected in advance, Management anticipates
this will limit the number of outstanding new accounts.
In addition, procedures are being developed to include the review
and documentation of all outstanding accounts every thirty days, mailing
of second notices on past due accounts, and restricting the DRI from
proceeding to the next level of development until payment has been received. Implementation is expected by November 30,
2000, upon the Board of County Commissioners' approval of the amended
fee schedule.
