Audit Objective
Determine whether the Village of Ocean Beach (Village) Board of Trustees (Board) ensured that employees appropriately used Village credit cards.
Key Findings
The Board did not ensure that Village employees appropriately used Village credit cards. As a result, employees made questionable purchases on the Village’s credit cards. We reviewed all 3,108 credit card transactions paid during the audit period totaling $371,826 and found that 2,866 transactions totaling $356,610 (92 percent) did not comply with Village policy. Transactions totaling:
- $39,093 did not have any receipts included with the claims packets.
- $317,517 did not have a signed receipt or credit card slip.
Examples of purchases include:
- $134,742 from a home improvement store,
- $85,506 for fuel purchases,
- $25,140 from an online retailer,
- $23,242 for furniture and appliances,
- $16,687 from warehouse clubs and grocery stores,
- $11,595 for television service subscriptions,
- $8,571 from restaurants, and
- $66,343 for other miscellaneous purchases.
Without oversight and itemized receipts, the Board could not determine whether purchased items were appropriate and for Village purposes.
Key Recommendations
- Comply with the Board’s credit card policy and provide guidelines for appropriate use of Village credit cards.
- Thoroughly audit credit card claims, ensuring that documentation to support credit card purchases is intact, before approving claims for payment.
- Seek reimbursement for any charges that are not Village-related.
Village officials disagreed with certain findings in our report. Appendix B includes our comments on issues they raised in their response.