HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/24/1981 FC Tax Levy & Audit ReportVillage of Mount Prospect
Mount Prospect, Illinois
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO: MAYOR AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES
FROM: FINANCE COMMISSION
DATE: NOVEMBER 24, 1981
SUBJECT: TAX LEVY AND AUDITOR'S REPORT
1. TAX LEVY
The Commission makes no recommendation for reducing the 1981
Tax Levy.
2. AUDITOR'S REPORT
The Commission met with three members of Lester Witte and
Company, the Village aditors, to review the contents of the
management letter prepared in conjunction with the annual
audit. Following are the Comm1s,sion's comments and recommenda-
tions relating to the report.
The Commission noted that the report does not contain a
qualified opinion which had been included in the report last
year. This was due to the cooperation of Library personnel
and removes an unnecessary, undesirable comment.
The very late completion of the Audit was discussed by the
Commission and there was agreement that this was largely due
to delays by the Village in providing necessary information
because of problems caused by the failure to promptly reconcile
bank accounts. At a Commission meeting three years ago, it
had been generally agreed that the audit should be available
around September 1 each year in order to more fully serve
its intended purpose.
Action has reportedly already been taken to correct some of
the weaknesses in procedures outlined by the auditor and one
or two of the comments seemed to be of relatively minor
significance. The Commission did, however, strongly support
the auditor's recommendations regarding the following:
A. ACCOUNT RECONCILIATION
The accountants considered the failure to promptly
reconcile bank accounts to be an important matter.
The Commission concurs with this view and repeats
this recommendation contained in a report to the
Board last October.
The Commission agrees with the accountant's
recommendation that reconciliations be done promptly.
The Commission recommends that arrangements be made
with the bank to provide a sort and listing of checks
for all higher volume accounts in order to reduce the
amount of staff time required and speed up the process.
This can be secured at minimal cost and eliminates
considerable activity which can better be done by
machines.
B. CASH COLLECTIONS
The Commission agrees with the auditor's views about
the desirability of prompt deposit of cash and checks
received by the Village and repeats the following
recommendation contained in its report to the Board
last October.
The Commission strongly endorses the accountant's
recommendation that the one -day delay in depositing
of receipts be eliminated. Aside from good accounting,
the desirability of increasing the investable funds
is obvious. This also applied to the comment regarding
depositing vehicle and liquor license receipts when
received rather than waiting until the beginning of
the fiscal year. These simple procedures could increase
investment yield by several hundred dollars annually.
We believe that they should be implemented promptly
without waiting for the completion of the installation
of the computer system.
C. CONTRACTORS' SURETY FUND AND ESCROW DEPOSIT FUND
The auditors reported as follows:
"Numerous old deposits held in trust in both the
contractors' surety fund and the escrow deposit fund
should be reviewed to determine if any amounts should
be refunded.-"
The Commission suggests expanding this recommendation
to include making a special effort to refund these
deposits, changing the present ordinance to enable
any unclaimed deposits to be deposited in the General
Fund after a reasonable time has elapsed and, if
legal and otherwise feasible, immediately transfer
the very old, unclaimed funds into the General Fund.
D. INVENTORY CONTROL
The auditor's recommendation is:
"The Water Parts fiscal inventory account should be
completed as near as possible to the fiscal year
end and differences investiaged."
The Commission would broaden this recommendation by
suggesting that a simile inventory control system for
the more valuable tools, parts and supplies (brass
valves, etc.) throughout the Village be established
and maintained. Without such a perpetual inventory
system, the inventory count at year end is relatively
useless as a control mechanism. The Commission does
not envision an involved or extensive system, but
rather one which provides some measure of control
with a minimum of effort in order to help reduce the
possibility of loss.
JACK RONCHETTO
Chairman
JR/rcw