Finding 554904 (2024-001)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
P
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2024
Accepted
2025-04-11
Audit: 353467
Organization: Pocomoke City, Maryland (MD)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The City failed to maintain proper documentation for financial transactions and meeting minutes.
  • Impacted Requirements: Documentation standards for financial transactions and meeting records were not met, leading to potential compliance issues.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Establish clear document retention policies and provide training for employees; consider creating a checklist for required documents.

Finding Text

Finding: 2024-001 – The City lacked proper documentation to support certain financial transactions and decisions. Criteria: Proper documentation should be maintained for all financial transactions. In addition, minutes should be taken and kept on file for all meetings of the Mayor and Council and City commissions. Condition: City personnel were unable to locate copies of minutes for all Mayor and Council meeting held during the year and through the completion of our audit work. In addition, the minutes posted to the City’s website were not up-to-date. They were also unable to obtain proper supporting documentation for certain expenditures and employee expense reimbursements. Cause: During the year, the City had numerous changes in accounting and other personnel including the finance director, City manager, and accounts payable clerk. Effect or potential effect: Lack of policies and procedures for filing and document retention may result in lost records, failure to comply with laws, contracts, or grants, and operational inefficiency. Recommendation: The City should establish clear policies and procedures for document retention and ensure all employees are trained on these policies. In addition, a checklist can be developed for required documents for each type of transaction. Responsible Official’s Response: Management will review its procedures and policies related to documentation.

Corrective Action Plan

A new website is under development for Pocomoke City, which will allow for the audio of the Mayor and Council meetings to be immediately uploaded and available for the public viewing. Meeting minutes will be uploaded to the website once they have been approved at the next available Mayor and Council meeting. In addition to the City’s website, meeting minutes will we scanned and archived into the City’s electronic file cabinet ShoreScan. In fiscal year 2025, the finance department has begun using the electronic file cabinet ShoreScan to scan in all expenditures and expense reimbursements with supporting documentation. This will help alleviate misfiled and/or misplaced supporting documentation and expense reports.

Categories

Cash Management

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1131346 2024-001
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
10.760 Water and Waste Disposal Systems for Rural Communities $823,405
21.027 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $584,694
10.766 Community Facilities Loans and Grants $271,000
14.218 Community Development Block Grants/entitlement Grants $16,558
93.366 State Actions to Improve Oral Health Outcomes and Partner Actions to Improve Oral Health Outcomes $5,839