Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to assess internal controls over tax receipts and over-the-counter cash receipts for the period July 1, 2012 through August 31, 2013.

Background

The Oswego School District Public Library is located in Oswego County, and is part of the North Country Library System. It is governed by a seven-member Board of Trustees who are elected by Oswego City School District residents. The Library’s operating expenditures were approximately $1.2 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013.

Key Findings

• The School District has been reducing the amount of money paid to the Library when there are refunds in property assessments due to tax certiorari judgments. However, there is no authority for a school district to chargeback any portion of a tax certiorari refund to a school district public library.
• The Board has not established adequate internal controls for over-the-counter receipts. The Library does not have procedures in place to record all receipts at the time of collection and there are no procedures to ensure individual accountability.

Key Recommendations

• Implement procedures that establish controls over receiving and recording of tax revenues to ensure that all real property taxes are received. The Library Fiscal Officer or Treasurer should periodically reconcile tax receipts to the to the budgeted tax levy for each fiscal year. Library officials should confer with their legal counsel regarding the recovery of tax revenue withheld by the District for tax certiorari refunds.
• Implement policies and procedures to account for all over-the-counter cash receipt collections.