By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

The Chilton County Schools Board of Education was presented overview of the audit for 2015-2016 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, 2016, during its meeting on Dec. 12.

According to the audit, “An unmodified opinion was issued on the financial statements, which means that the Board’s financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position and the results of its operations for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2016.”

While the audit states no material weaknesses were found, there were some findings the auditor Brittany Little said needed to be addressed.

A response to each finding was submitted by CCS Chief School Finance Officer LaVerne Williams and Superintendent Tommy Glasscock in the Corrective Action Plan.

The audit found that policies and procedures had not been properly followed for disposition of capital asset surplus property. According to the Corrective Action Plan, “The CSFO is actively working with the bookkeepers and Department supervisors to ensure compliance with the Board’s policies and procedures relating to the disposition of capital assets. Additional procedures are being put in place where capital assets will be balanced on a monthly basis instead of an annual basis.”

The audit found that the Board of Education’s attorney had been given employee benefits, “such as employer matching payments for Medicare and Social Security. However, based upon Internal Revenue Service Publication 15-A guidelines, the attorney appears to be an independent contractor.”

Staff have done additional training to ensure proper classification based on Internal Revenue Service Publication 15-A guidelines.

Another finding dealt with not implementing requirements of Salary Act, the Alabama Student Religious Liberties Act and the Act Number 2015-456 (Erin’s Law). The audit said this action had still not been taken by June 24, 2017.

According to the corrective plan, “Action has been taken by the CSFO and other Department Supervisors to start compiling all of the Laws passed by the Alabama Legislature to implement by the Board.”

The CSFO is also working with bookkeepers at local schools to ensure procedures for accounts are being handled to address an audit finding related to this.

Other issues included bank reconciliations that were not completed in a timely manner and an employee continuing to be paid after leaving the job. Some of the bank reconciliations for the fiscal year that ended Set. 30, 2016 were not completed until January 2017. Some of these coincided with when the school system was searching for a new chief school finance officer. The former employee has repaid the mistake checks and the CSFO has implemented a system to keep this from happening again.

The audit also listed several findings that had remained unresolved from previous years’ audits. These findings dealt with compliance with state law concerning bid approval and record keeping procedures, as well as board financial procedures that were not being followed. According to the Chilton County Schools Corrective Action Plan, training was offered to ensure procedures were being followed and to avoid these issues in the future.

The complete audit is available on the Chilton County Schools website (chilton.k12.al.us) under the finance tab.