Parish gov audit faults computer expense, finds all but one fund with positive balance

By Claudette Olivier
The Church Point News
OPELOUSAS — There were seven issues reported in an audit of St. Landry Parish Government including one involving a computer data server with multiple failures to follow procedure.
The 2017 audit was presented by Steven Moosa, CPA, with Darnall, Sikes & Frederick, at Wednesday’s St. Landry Parish Council meeting.
Every fund except the airport maintenance fund showed a positive balance. The airport fund showed a $59,000 deficit, down from $100,000 the previous year.
Moosa said, “Total revenues were almost $24 million, and that includes just over $6 million in federal grants coming into the parish.”
He continued, “The expenditures were $32.6 million, so that’s $8.7 million more dollars than taken in in the current year, however, if you take a look at your road district construction fund, we spent almost $10 million on the road project from which the bond monies were issued in prior years. We are now spending some of the final monies of that bond issuance. If you take that almost $10 million out of the equation, of the $8.7 million excess spending, we were okay for the year.”
There were seven issues in the financial statement audit: safeguarding of assets; facility usage agreements; sales tax dedication; sales tax remittance; budget variance; Telecommunication and Data Processing Procurement Law; State bond commission approval; data server procurement; and cash collections.
Parish government failed to follow bid law when it entered into a lease or purchased data servers, Moosa said. “Based on the dollar amount, we should have procured those just like a bid law. That was not done when this lease was entered into.”
Fontenot said, “We did report it. We self-reported to the legislative auditor, and we were under the understanding that it was procured with an RFP.”
Moosa said, “There was no documentation maintained to show that the procurement has occurred.”
The lease agreement was for five years and that requires state bond commission approval, Moosa said.
“It came to our attention during the audit that part of that contract was paid for by another government agency, and therefore that should have been reflected in the lease agreement contract, but it was not noted there,” Moosa said. “In the findings, the lease of about $265,000, about $64,000 was previously paid by another government agency, and it appears that there may be some duplications in expenditures.”
“We are two years into that lease, so all monies have not been expended yet, but this needs to be addressed before that contract is cleared,” he said.
A related finding recommended that the parish go through the state bond commission as with any lease agreement unless the leases have a non-appropriated clause.
Council member Harold Taylor questioned Fontenot over the data server procurement
“We failed to get an RFP,” Taylor said. “We failed to report a long term debt to the bond commission. We failed to get council approval, and we bought a $259,000 server. Mr. Fontenot can you add a little color to how this happened?”
Fontenot said. “I welcome an investigation. First of all, you bring it here to go to the bond commission, if you have certain criteria in the transaction. When I signed it, I was under the impression that it had an RFP done because we had a third party working for us to do that.”
“Also, every move that was made on this expenditure, because it was a big expenditure, was met on by those who were going to be benefitting from the server, and I knew that we were not going to use as much of the server as the other. I did know we would have to pay it because it would be a mandated expense.”
Fontenot said the recommendation was made to buy the particular server and after several meetings and presentations, the decision was made to split the cost of the server among a few areas of St. Landry Parish government.
Fontenot said he then signed what he thought was a lease agreement or rental agreement with no interest.
“I felt it was a personal service procurement and not something that was bond commission business because I had no sheet in there that said anything about interest,” Fontenot said. “The contract was basically a legal contract that said I was renting for so many years.”
Fontenot added, “I realized we should have had an RFP, and the third party said, yes, he was getting quotes.”
Taylor then asked if the council attorney had read the lease, and Fontenot said he was not aware and did not recall if the attorney had.
Taylor said, “I hope we have learned something from this, and we need to get professional assistance, like an attorney reading the lease.”
Other findings were:
— Less than $500 was stolen from Public Works and Animal Control.
“We suggest management take action to stiffen up the controls to protect the assets of the parish,” he added.
Council member Jerry Red voiced his opinion on the animal shelter theft, and he recommended that cameras be put up at the facility.
“This is the second year in a row that we are dealing with the animal shelter and theft,” Red said.
— Rental agreements for the Delta Grand were not all available.
“We need to have that documented on file to make sure everyone is being treated fairly and equally in accordance to council’s recommendation on fee structure. Without written contracts in place for each rental, it is hard for us to identify if all that is being complied with,” Moosa said.
— Some money transferred to the Delta Grand and Old City Hall Market for specific tourism and historical development purposes was not supported by documentation. About $115,000 was transferred to be reimbursed, but only $85,000 was supported.
“So we had about $24,000 that could not be supported that was transferred, (and) we recommend that money be returned to the historical district or the Delta Grand to use it for the purpose that it was received for,” he said.
Moosa said the issue has been addressed.
Fontenot said, “That doesn’t mean the money is missing, we just spent it on something else.”
— The Airport failed to remit sales tax money in a timely manner, which risks paying late fees to the state.
— A federal grant for an expenditure in 2017 was overlooked in the budget.
— The audit recommended all cash collections within the parish be deposited in the bank within a week.
“We noticed in some locations, in the permit office and in our health units, they are collecting some dollars throughout the day and the months, and they are holding that money in their safe or on the premisses for an excessive period of time,” Moosa said.
“We have addressed this with the parish president and treasurer, and they are addressing all these matters (the financial statement audit issues) currently,” Moosa said.
Additional Council business included:
— Accepted a contract with Civic Source.
— Accepted an opioids litigation contract with Morrow, Morrow, Ryan, Bassett and Haik.
— Appointed The Eunice News as the official journal for the St. Landry Parish Government.
—Authorized the parish president to sign a contract with Progressive Construction Company for Taxiway Rehabilitation at the St. Landry Parish Airport.
—Authorized the parish president to sign an agreement to allow ankle bracelets for juvenile offenders.
— Authorized the parish president to contact the Municipal Association to request assistance with paying the Office of Emergency Preparedness expense.
* Authorized the parish president to do analysis on consolidating drainage districts in the parish.
— Reappointed Brenda Hardy to Hospital District No. 1 for a six year term.