Audit Committee

MINUTES Audit Committee of Roanoke City Council Location: Council Conference Room Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building, Room 451 South Date: December 13, 2017 Time: 4:01 p.m. to 4:22 p.m. Attendees: Audit Committee Member Present (Y/N) William Bestpitch (Chair) Y Anita Price (Vice-Chair) N Michelle Dykstra (Member) Y Sherman Lea (Ex-Officio) N Tasha Burkett, Information Systems Auditor Dan Callaghan, City Attorney Drew Harmon, Municipal Auditor Bob Cowell, City Manager Dawn Hope Mullins, Assistant Municipal Auditor Wayne Parker, Senior Auditor Emma Coole, Senior Auditor Amelia Merchant, Director of Finance Paul Workman, Acting Accounting Supervisor Andrea Trent, Manager of Retirement Services Cari Spichek, Senior Auditor Sherman Stovall, Assistant City Manager for Operations Brian Townsend, Assistant City Manager for Community Development Rob Churchman, Partner, Cherry Bekaert 1. Call to Order: Mr. Bestpitch called the meeting to order at 4:01 p.m. 2. Approval of the Minutes from the September 6th Meeting: Mr. Bestpitch asked if there were any corrections to the minutes. Hearing none, the minutes were received and filed as written. 3. Presentation of Audit Results for the June 30, 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports: December 13, 2017 Page 2 of 3 Mr. Churchman stated that there were no results to present at this time. Everyone involved is working diligently to complete the audit. Mr. Bestpitch asked if there is an expected date for the audit to be completed. Mr. Churchman would only say that his firm is working to complete the audit by the GFOA (Government Finance Officers Association) deadline of December 31, 2017. Mr. Harmon noted that December 31 falls on Sunday this year. Finance will be talking with GFOA about the deadline in view of the calendar and potentially having until January 2, 2018 to submit the City’s CAFR. Mr. Bestpitch thanked Mr. Churchman for his briefing and asked if there were any questions from other members of the committee. There were no further questions or discussion. 4. Police Cash and Fees – CY 16: Mr. Harmon presented the audit, noting that it is performed annually and covers the calendar year. This year’s work was performed later than usual in part due to issues that took time to address in the prior year’s audit. The audit of calendar year 2017 will be performed in the coming Spring. This year’s audit included looking at the regional Collision Reporting Center (CRC). Mr. Harmon briefly discussed the CRC as well as the agreement with Appriss (now Lexis Nexis) to sell accident reports on- line. He noted that there were some issues raised with both the CRC and the online reporting. Mr. Harmon referred the committee to page 17 of the report, which shows the number of accident reports uploaded to Lexis Nexis system became erratic and dropped dramatically around the time the CRC began operation. However, the CRC operation should not have affected the number of reports uploaded to the Lexis Nexis system. There was also an upgrade to the Police Department’s system during this period but no clear connection could be established between the problem and the upgrade. The Police Department is required to upload all accident reports to the Lexis Nexis system based on the original contract. The original contract is several years old and was written before the existence of the CRC. The Police Department is working with the City Attorney’s Office to review the contract for necessary revisions. Mr. Bestpitch asked if the issue with uploaded reports has been resolved. Mr. Harmon responded that a follow up audit has not yet been performed. Mr. Bestpitch asked that the status be checked on as soon as possible rather than waiting until follow up. Mr. Bestpitch also noted the observations related to closing the Chief’s Emergency Fund. He asked how the funds had been used in the past. Mr. Harmon responded that it was for unexpected events such as the need to fly to another city to extradite a prisoner on short notice. It would not be possible to have a check issued through Finance on weekends. Mr. Bestpitch asked what changed to eliminate the need for ready access to funds. Mr. Townsend responded that purchasing cards can now be used for these type of expenses. December 13, 2017 Page 3 of 3 Mr. Bestpitch asked about the fees on page 14 of the report. Mr. Harmon responded that some of the larger fees, such as alarms and off duty billings were complex and would require separate audits. Mr. Harmon also discussed the merits of a revenue compendium that was maintained by Finance at one time but is no longer published. Auditing has recommended that the revenue compendium be reconstituted and maintained. Mr. Bestpitch asked if there was concern about some duties being too concentrated. Mr. Harmon explained the process of in-person requests for accident verification reports. The employee at the window controls the whole transaction, providing the report, taking the payment, and filing the paper work. There are no pre-numbered forms to enable management to verify the number of reports provided agrees with the payments deposited. The Chief agreed with this observation and plans to begin using pre-numbered request forms. Mr. Bestpitch asked if there were any other questions or comments from the committee. Hearing none, the report was received and filed. 5. Other Business: Mr. Harmon noted that the Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) reported the results of their annual audit of local elected officials who collect state funds. The APA report did not cite any findings this year. Issues with timely remittance of certain fees last year were resolved. Mr. Harmon asked members of the committee if they might be available on December 27 or 28 for the auditors to present the audited financial reports. Mr. Bestpitch and Ms. Dykstra stated that they would be available on those dates. Mr. Bestpitch reminded the committee that the next regularly scheduled meeting is March 7, 2018. 6. Adjournment: Mr. Bestpitch adjourned the meeting at 4:22 p.m.