Finding Text
Condition: We conducted an audit under the provisions of the Minnesota Legal Compliance Audit Guide for School Districts. This audit for legal compliance requires a review of the District’s claims and disbursements. Our study indicated an instance of non-compliance that we believe should be remedied.
Criteria: Minnesota Statute § 412.271, subd. 1 directs all claims be audited and allowed by the School Board. Meaning all claims paid by the District are required to be approved by the School Board at the District’s monthly meetings. We noted instances throughout the year where there were gaps in the meetings that the School Board was approving claims, thereby not approving claims timely.
Cause: The current process of claims approval is to have the Treasurer review claims before the check register is brought to the School Board resulting in untimely approval.
Effect: This does not permit a clear process to document that all disbursements have been approved by the School Board.
Recommendation: We recommend that monthly check registers are included in each School Board meeting.
Management Response: There is no disagreement with this finding. The District will take action to avoid similar occurrences in the future.