County of Putnam – Recreation and Golf Course Collections (2024M-50)

Issued Date
September 20, 2024

 [read complete report – pdf] 

Audit Objective 

Determine whether Putnam County (County) Parks and Recreation Department (Department) and Putnam County Golf Course (Golf Course) recorded, deposited, remitted and reported collections accurately and in a timely manner and whether the collections were supported.

Key Findings 

The County’s Department and Golf Course did not always record, deposit, remit documentation and report collections accurately and in a timely manner. As a result, officials do not have assurance that all collections at the Golf Course were properly accounted for and deposited.

  • Officials did not maintain records supporting the Department’s fiscal year 2022 collections. As a result, neither we nor County officials could determine whether all collections were recorded, deposited or remitted.
  • For the 2023 fiscal year, 30 percent of the Golf Course deposits we reviewed were inaccurate. The deposits contained variances totaling $6,180.
  • Ninety-seven percent of the daily Golf Course settlement reports we reviewed were inaccurate.

When collections are not recorded, deposited, remitted and reported accurately and in a timely manner, there is an increased risk that funds may be lost or stolen.

Key Recommendations 

  • Adopt a written collections policy to help ensure adequate controls are in place and documentation is consistently maintained to support collections.
  • Require adequate reconciliations from the vendors’ point of sale (POS) system reports and require approvals or authorization for variances.

County officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they plan to initiate corrective action. Appendix B includes our comment on an issue raised in their response.