Delinquent recommendation decreased by 43% as of December 31, 2003
(September 8, 2004)
OPA released its semi-annual Audit Recommendations Tracking Report for the period ending December 31, 2003. For the year 2003, OPA issued 5 audit reports, two of which w ere to the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, one to the Northern Marianas College, one to the Attorney General’s Office and one to the Senate which set forth a total of 29 recommendations added into the tracking system. The 29 recommendations were in addition to the 81 recommendations outstanding at the beginning of the year, making a total of 110 recommendations tracked for the year. Of the 110 audit recomm endations, 43 were closed and 67 rem ained either open or resolved. Of the 67 open or resolved recommendations, 32 were considered delinquent.
An analysis of the 43 closed recommendations for the year 2003 showed that most were closed because agencies acted by implementing OPA recommendations, establishing policies and procedures, and by issuing memoranda and directives to reemphasize the need to comply with existing laws and regulations. OPA was also informed of alternative actions taken to sufficiently close nine recomm endations.
OPA’s follow-up on outstanding audit recommendations and the response letters received from various government agencies also encouraged agency action on delinquent recommendations. The number of delinquent recommendation decreased by 43% from 56 in 2002 to 32 as of December 31, 2003.
Recommendations issued by private CPA firms are also included in OPA’s audit recommendations tracking report. OPA is not responsible for tracking the implementation of these recommendations, however, they are included in the audit tracking report for information purposes. Based on th e c lassification follow ed by private CPA firms, a recomm endation is described as either resolved or unresolved. OPA has included in the tracking report a total of 92 recommendations in 8 recent audit reports issued by private CPA firms under contract by OPA.
OPA would like to recognize several government agencies, namely the Northern Mariana Island s Retiremen t Fund ,Norther nMarian a Islands Group Health Life Insurance Trust Fund, Workers’ Compensation Commission and the Marianas Visitors Authority for having no reportable audit findings in their FY2003 Annual Financial & Compliance audit report conducted by private CPA firms. This is a noteworthy accomplishment for these agencies and OPA appreciates the dedication and hard work carried out by these agencies in improving their operations and eliminating the repetition of prior year audit findings.
As of December 31, 2003, recommendations in 10 audit reports were referred to the Attorney General’s Office for legal action to recover monies improperly expended. According to OPA’s audit reports, approximately $1,375,975 is potentially recoverable.
Potential recovery of approximately $4.6 million also hinges on agencies’ actions. Recommendations in 14 audit reports identified potential recoveries due to unpaid rentals of land leases, overpayments in professional services contracts, outstanding advances, and improper expenditure of public funds. As of December 31, 2003, initial actions by agencies resulted in partial recovery of $1,000,135, one claim of $392,178 re-directed to the AGO, and one claim totaling $12,123 closed due to time lapsed and Statute of Limitation issues leaving a balance of $4,647,921 still to be recovered.
