After audit, port will look at procedures

The Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District Board approved an audit that found problems with accounting practices and submission of federal documentation reports.

Blaine Crochet, a partner with the Darnall, Sikes, Gardes & Frederick accounting firm in Lafayette, presented the report.

According to the report, due to the small number of personnel, the district did not have adequate separation of functions within the accounting system.

Based upon the size of the operation and cost-benefit analysis for additional personnel, the firm recommended it may not be feasible to achieve complete separation of duties.

However, best practices for internal controls over accounting functions requires that adequate segregation of accounting functions be maintained, according to the audit findings report.

The district was found non-compliant with reporting federal financial reports on a quarterly basis. In addition, the district did not submit semi-annual assistance progress reports on time.

These reports are required for the Port Security Grant Program Guidance and Application kits.

The firm recommended that district management should establish and enforce policies to ensure that all required reports outlined in the Port Security Grant Program are submitted on time.

The district board completed the fiscal year ending June 30 with total operating revenues of $899,391. The previous year’s revenue was $757,368.

In the other revenues and expenses category, excess of revenues over expenses without depreciation totaled $4,630,022 for 2015. For 2014, the total was $1,856,610.

Total expense amount for the fiscal year was $2,472,840 in comparison to last year’s total at $1,977,656.

In other news, Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade’s presentation “A New Approach to Maintaining the Atchafalaya Bar Channel” at the Western Dredging Association meeting in New Orleans mid-November earned him an interview to be featured in trade magazine The Waterways Journal.

It’s a weekly maritime publications company that has been in operation since 1887.