TMCnet News
State Auditors Office wants 100% accounting of all Jackson County assets [The Sun Herald](Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 23--PASCAGOULA -- The State Auditor's Office has finished a review of Jackson County's annual audit and reiterated things the county's private audit firm found: Inventory control still needs to improve and the Grants Department needs to keep more consistent track of all federal grants. The audit is for the fiscal year ending in September 2013 and, according to the State Auditor's Office, serves as a management tool to identify problems so the county can make necessary changes. The audit found the county's capital-asset control procedures last year were inadequate for keeping up with all the county's land and assets. It is an ongoing audit issue for the county that is steadily improving, county Comptroller Josh Eldridge told the Sun Herald on Wednesday. The county has $275 million in assets, which includes buildings, land the size of small right-of-way easements, furniture, equipment and roads. There are more than 15,000 items, he said. The county's inventory clerk has been going back through the years making corrections -- a 1980s building that was torn down but remained on the list, a patrol car that was wrecked but overlooked years ago. Eldridge said county inventory control has been a weak point for years, but made a major leap when the county hired a second person for the department. The county has completed a 100 percent inventory of the Sheriff's Department, is working on a 100 percent audit of the Fire Department and will tackle the Roads Department next, he said. A 100 percent audit means every item is inventoried and gets a sticker. Eldridge said there's a good chance the inventory issues will be eliminated in the next annual audit. And though the Grants Department was flagged, it also has made major improvements, he said. Eldridge and County Administrator Brian Fulton said each county department can apply for specialty grants, but keeping up with the total list, $25 million in federal grants this year, is up to the Grants Department. That schedule still had holes, according to auditors, but was much improved, county officials said. The 2013 audit was completed by Wright, Ward, Hatten & Guel of Gulfport. ___ (c)2014 The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.) Visit The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.) at www.sunherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |