Review of Pearl River's Financial Operations Finds Lack of Written Policies, Other Areas of Concern

Auditors who examined the Town of Pearl River’s 2017 financial operations as part of the requirements of Act 774 found several areas of concern, including some that were repeated from last year. Act 774, which was passed by the Legislature in 2014, provides for enhanced oversight of certain St. Tammany Parish governmental entities by the Legislative Auditor.

For the second year, auditors found that Pearl River officials had no written policies or procedures in place for managing receipts, payroll and personnel, contracting, ethics, debt service, and traffic tickets.

Auditors also said they could find no indication in the minutes of monthly town council meetings that officials discussed the Town’s key budgetary information, such as actual vs. budgeted spending. In addition, they could not find any documentation that monthly bank reconciliations were reviewed by management, and they noted that collection job duties were not properly segregated among staff.

Among other areas of concern were:

· Disbursements – Lack of documentation and written approval for some disbursements;
· Credit cards and fuel cards – Lack of review of credit card statements, past-due balances for two credit card accounts, no competitive bids sought for annual fuel purchases, and lack of adequate documentation for some credit card and fuel card charges;
· Travel and expense reimbursements – Lack of adequate documentation to show approval of travel by officials or to pay mileage reimbursements, as well as an overpayment of $414.72 to the mayor;
· Contracts – No evidence that competitive quotes were sought for professional service contracts or that the amount paid to two attorneys representing the Town resulted in services of equivalent value;
· Payroll and personnel – The town clerk did not fill out time sheets;
· Ethics – Lack of documentation to show one alderman and one employee completed the required annual training;
· Required notices – Failure of the Town to post statutorily required notice related to reporting of misappropriation, fraud, waste, or abuse of public funds.
For more information contact:

Legislative Auditor
225.339.3800