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DRAFT
PRELIMINARY AND TENTATIVE
FOR DISCUSSION
PURPOSES ONLY
Follow-up on
Take-Home District Vehicles Audit
February 11, 2011
Report #2011-02
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PRELIMINARY AND TENTATIVE
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Arthur C. Johnson, Ph.D. *
Superintendent of Schools
School Board Members Audit Committee Members
Frank Barbieri, Jr., Esq. * Cindy Adair, CPA, Chair
Debra Robinson, M.D., Vice Chair Richard Roberts, CPA, Vice Chair
Marcia Andrews Gregory S. Daniel
Monroe Benaim, M.D. Max Davis
Karen Brill Carrie Hill
Jennifer Prior Brown, Esq. * Noah Silver, CPA
Chuck Shaw David Talley
Bruce Harris, Esq. *
Robert Dow *
* Representatives
MISSION STATEMENT
The School Board of Palm Beach County is committed to excellence in education and preparation of all our students with the knowledge, skills, and
ethics required for responsible citizenship and productive employment.
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PRELIMINARY AND TENTATIVE
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Follow-up on
Take-Home District Vehicles Audit
Table of Contents
Page
PURPOSE AND AUTHORITY 1 SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 1 BACKGROUND 2
CONCLUSIONS 1. Vehicle Utilization Logs Not Maintained 2 2. Estimated 99% Utilization Was for Staff Commuting 3
3. Total Costs for Staff Commuting 3
ATTACHMENTS
1. School Board Policy 2.28, School District Owned Vehicles 5
2. Vehicle Utilization Log (PBSD 2040) 6
APPENDIX
Management’s Response 8
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M E M O R A N D U M TO: Honorable Chair and Members of the School Board Arthur C. Johnson, Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools Chair and Members of the Audit Committee FROM: Lung Chiu, CPA, District Auditor DATE: February 11, 2011 SUBJECT: Follow-Up on Take-Home District Vehicles Audit
PURPOSE AND AUTHORITY As requested by the Audit Committee at its December 10, 2010, Meeting, we have completed the Follow-up Audit of the Take-Home District Vehicles, specifically, to include the vehicles assigned to the former Chief Academic Officer (CAO) during his employment with the School District. The primary objective of this follow-up audit was to determine whether the assignment of District take-home vehicles to the former CAO complied with School Board Policies.
SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY
This follow-up audit was performed by Stephanie Steeves, Certified Internal Auditor, in accordance with Government Auditing Standards, during December 16, 2010 through January 4, 2011 and included;
Reviewing related Florida Statutes, School Board Policies, and department procedures.
Reviewing fuel and maintenance records for the assigned vehicles and leave records for the former CAO.
Interviewing staff of former CAO, and Accounting and Transportation Departments.
Draft audit findings were sent to the Superintendent’s Office and Transportation Department for review and comments. Management’s response is included in the Appendix. We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by District staff during the audit. The final draft report was presented to the Audit Committee at its February 11, 2011, meeting.
THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF LUNG CHIU, CPA ARTHUR C. JOHNSON, Ph.D. PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA DISTRICT AUDITOR SUPERINTENDENT OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT AUDITOR 3318 FOREST HILL BLVD., C-306 WEST PALM BEACH, FL 33406 (561) 434-7335 FAX: (561) 434-8652
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BACKGROUND
School Board Policy 2.28, School District Owned Vehicles (Attachment 1), provides that certain employees be assigned the responsibility of driving a District-owned vehicle to their residence after their duty day is concluded. Driving a District-owned vehicle home shall be an employment condition and, the vehicle shall only be driven between the employee’s residence
and a designated work site during non-duty hours. Vehicles furnished to employees are to be used exclusively for District business and shall not be used at any time for personal use or for convenience. School Board Policy 2.28, Section 4, that governs the use of District-owned vehicles, identifies the following criteria for assigning the vehicles:
The employee is on-call and/or has emergency response duties.
The employee is assigned duties at multiple work sites.
If an employee qualifies for either of the above circumstances on a temporary basis, a District vehicle may be assigned on a corresponding temporary basis.
Take-Home District Vehicles Assigned to the Former CAO. Two Take-Home District Vehicles were assigned to the former CAO during his employment with the School District; i.e. during May 4, 2009, through June 30, 2010.
Period Vehicle # Vehicle Description
May 6, 2009 Through
September 29, 2009
713
2003 Chevrolet Trail Blazer
September 29, 2009 Through
June 24, 2010
2039
2009 Ford Escape
CONCLUSIONS
1. Vehicle Utilization Logs Not Maintained
School Board Policy 2.28 states
“Vehicle utilization logs will be maintained by all employees assigned District-owned
vehicles.”
Moreover, as required by the Guidelines of the Vehicle Utilization Log (PBSD 2040),
1. All trips shall be documented.
2. The last day of each month, the driver shall sign the log and deliver it to the appropriate
department head for approval and signature.
3. The log shall be forwarded to the Director of Transportation.
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According to Transportation, neither the Vehicle Utilization Logs for both vehicles were prepared by the former CAO, delivered to the Superintendent for approval and signature, nor forwarded to Transportation during his employment with the School District.
2. Estimated 99% Utilization Was For Staff Commuting
Pursuant to School Board Policy 2.28, Section 2,
“Vehicles utilization logs will be maintained by all employee assigned District owned
vehicles.” However, the former CAO did not maintain the required Vehicle Utilization Logs (Attachment 2) for the two vehicles assigned to him. Consequently, we were unable to determine the extent to which the assigned vehicles were used for District business. As an alternative, based on the PeopleSoft’s Employee Leave Records for the former CAO and
the odometer readings recorded on the fuel logs for the two vehicles, we noted that the two vehicles recorded a total usage of 26,607 miles during May 9, 2009, through May 7, 2010. Please note that May 7, 2010, was the last date that refueling transaction was recorded. Assuming the former CAO drove the assigned vehicles to work from his residence during the days he reported to work, and based on the distance between his residence and his primary work station, we found that an estimated 26,356 miles, or 99% of total 26,607 usage miles were for staff commuting.
Primary Work
Location Period
Number of Days
Reporting to Work *
Daily Commuting Miles
(Round Trip) **
Total
Commuting
Miles
District’s Headquarters
May 6, 2009 Through
December 31, 2009 150 123.7 Miles 18,555 Miles
Lake Worth High School
January 1, 2010 Through
May 7, 2010 66 118.2 Miles 7,801 Miles
Total 26,356 Miles
*Based on PeopleSoft Employee Leave Records and District calendars
** Distance based on Google Map Search calculations
3. Total Costs For Staff Commuting
Total costs to the District to maintain the two assigned vehicles during May 6, 2009, and May 7, 2010, was $3,050; i.e. $1,626 for fuel and maintenance and $1,424 for depreciation. According to Transportation staff, Vehicle #2039 was returned to Transportation on June 24, 2010, and only 151 miles in usage was recorded on the odometer for the period May 7, through June 24, 2010. It appears that the vehicle was not used by the former CAO for commuting during that time.
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Management’s Response: Management agrees with the follow-up audit report on the Chief
Academic Officer’s take home vehicle assigned last fiscal year. Management has submitted its
response to the original audit recommendations and believes that response applies to this
expanded scope report. In that response, management agreed to update policy 2.28, School
District Owned Vehicles, to address the following Audit recommendations:
The level of approval required for authorizing take home vehicles
Acceptable percentage of mileage attributable to commuting and business miles
Frequency of management review of take home vehicle business usage
Annual review of the need for vehicle assignment which includes take home use.
In addition, a review of Form PBSD 2040, Vehicle Utilization Log, for signature compliance will
be addressed.
As stated in response to the original audit, a revised policy will be presented to the Board for
consideration before any new authorization for take home vehicle use is made, excluding School
Police, and not later than the end of the current fiscal year.
(Please see page 8.)
– End of Report –
Attachment 1
School Board Policy 2.28
School District Owned Vehicles
5
Attachment 1
School Board Policy 2.28
School District Owned Vehicles
6
Attachment 2
Vehicle Utilization Log (PBSD 2040)
7
Appendix
Management’s Response
8