OKLAHOMA CITY – State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd chided the Lone Wolf and Hobart 522 School District Emergency Medical Service District for assigning too many tasks to one person.
State audits of district operations in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 revealed that the district “did not have an adequate segregation of duties” to ensure that responsibilities are performed in a manner that “would not allow one individual to control both the recording function and the procedures relative to processing a transaction.”
The district board secretary performed “the following duties of the collection process,” Byrd noted in her report on both audits delivered April 18:
Ÿ received mail, including ad valorem tax from the Kiowa County treasurer, utility fees from the Town of Lone Wolf, and utility fees and sales tax from the City of Hobart.
Ÿ prepared and delivered the deposit to the bank.
Ÿ maintained the district financial ledger; and
Ÿ performed bank account reconciliations.
Also, the board received a verbal financial report from the board secretary “but no formal written monthly financial report was presented for the board to review and approve” in the board meeting.
Bank statements showed the district made one deposit near the end of the month. However, documentation from Kiowa County, Lone Wolf and Hobart “reflected the date of issuance for ad valorem taxes, utilities fees and sales tax was made on various dates early in the month,” proving that deposits were not made the day of receipt or the next business day.
Title 62, Section 517.3 of the State Statutes, Byrd noted, decrees that, “The treasurer of every public entity shall deposit daily, not later than the immediately next banking day, all funds and monies of whatsoever kind that shall come into” his/her possession “by virtue of the office, in one or more financial institutions that have been designated as either state or county depositories, or both…”
Subsequently the district’s management informed the State Auditor that the district chairman “now receives the bank statement and reconciliation and reviews and approves the documents.” Also, the board “now reviews and approves the financial documentation reported at the Board meetings, including the depositing of funds” from Hobart, Lone Wolf and Kiowa County and “will ensure” that funds are deposited in the bank in a timely manner.
On a positive note, the state audits showed that the district’s beginning cash balance almost doubled between July 1, 2019, when it stood at $188,772, and June 30, 2021, when it totaled $378,422.
Title X of the Oklahoma Constitution allows for establishment of an ambulance service district, also referred to as a “522” EMS district after the state question that brought the issue to a statewide vote in 1976.