Act 774 Requirements Result in Enhanced Oversight for 74 St. Tammany Governmental Entities

Seventy-four St. Tammany Parish governmental entities required additional audit procedures under the provisions of Act 774, the Legislative Auditor said in a report released today. The most common deficiencies identified in the additional audit procedures were a lack of written policies and control procedures, a lack of documentation for credit card purchases, and a lack of written supervisory review or approval of documents.

The Act, which was passed in 2014, provides for enhanced oversight by the state auditor and authorizes him to establish criteria for procedures to be performed in addition to the entities’ annual financial reporting requirements. The Act applies only to those St. Tammany Parish entities that have annual revenues of $75,000 or more. The report released today summarizes the results of the second year of implementation of the Act.

Overall, LLA auditors and independent CPAs issued 66 reports for these entities that examined such areas as payroll and personnel, board oversight, ethics, capital assets, travel and expense reimbursement, and several other aspects of their internal financial operations.

Among the 74 entities evaluated by auditors were 26 that had exceptions identified in their 2016 report. For 2017, auditors found that nine of the 26 made changes to correct one or more of the identified exceptions. However, 17 entities did not.

Those entities that failed to resolve any of the deficiencies found by auditors in 2016 and that had repeat findings for 2017 were: the City of Slidell; the Judges and Lawyers’ Assistance Program, Inc.; the Public Defender for the 22nd Judicial District; St. Tammany Parish Fire Protection Districts 1, 2, 5, 6, 11, and 12; the St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District; St. Tammany Parish Recreation Districts 4, 6, and 14; the Town of Abita Springs; the Town of Madisonville; the Town of Pearl River; and the Village of Folsom.

“This process was constructed to rebuild the accountability infrastructure of St. Tammany government,” Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera said. “It does no good if these governments fail to make the needed changes.”