Audits

Two audits released this morning on the state legislative auditor’s website show two separate parish entities failed to publish notice of availability of their budgets and the date of a public hearing for the proposed budget, according to the reports.
St. Mary Parish Consolidated Drainage District 2 in Morgan City did not publish the availability of the proposed budget for the year ended Sept. 30, 2013, and did not publish a notice of the time and date of the public hearing to be held on the proposed budget, according to the audit. CPA firm Kolder, Slaven, Champagne & Company performed the audit. Both findings may be in violation of state law, the auditor stated.
The audit found that the district did not publish a public hearing notice at least 10 days prior to the hearing and did not conduct a public hearing prior to adopting proposed budget, the auditor stated. The district also incurred negative budget variances of more than 5 percent in the general fund, according to the audit.
The auditor recommended that the district adopt budgets in which proposed expenditures do not exceed the total of estimated funds available for the fiscal year.
Management’s response to the finding was the failure to publish the notice of availability of the proposed budget and a notice of the time and date of the public hearing was an oversight, according to the report.
St. Mary Parish Recreation District 1 in Amelia also did not publish the availability of the proposed budget for the year ended Sept. 30, 2013, and did not publish a notice of the time and date of the public hearing to be held on the proposed budget, according to the audit. The recreation district’s audit was prepared by the same auditor.
The recreation district’s management response stated that failure to publish the notice of availability of the proposed budget and a notice of the time and date of the public hearing was an oversight.