| Public Release Date: March 5, 1999 | No. 99-15 |
The Department of Public Safety administers and enforces laws relating to drivers, vehicles, traffic, liquor sales, gambling, natural and man-made disasters, criminal activities, and fire risks. The Department of Public Safety's net revenues and expenditures, as shown on the state's accounting system for fiscal year 1998, totaled approximately $1.2 billion and $291 million, respectively. The current commissioner, Mr. Charlie Weaver, was appointed in January 1999. Mr. Donald Davis was the commissioner during all of fiscal year 1998.
Our audit scope within the Department of Public Safety was limited to those activities material to the State of Minnesota's general purpose financial statements and to federal programs, which were considered material for Single Audit purposes, for the year ended June 30, 1998. Our scope included revenues related to motor vehicle registration taxes, motor vehicle excise taxes, and federal disaster assistance grants paid to governmental organizations and non-profit entities.
We qualified our report, dated December 1, 1998, on the State of Minnesota's general purpose financial statements because insufficient audit evidence exists to support the State of Minnesota's disclosures with respect to the year 2000. Auditing the state's year 2000 compliance was not an objective of this audit. As a result, we do not provide assurance that the Department of Public Safety is or will be year 2000 ready, that its year 2000 remediation efforts will be successful in whole or in part, or that parties with which the Department of Public Safety does business will be year 2000 ready.
For the areas audited, the Department of Public Safety's financial activities were fairly presented in the State of Minnesota's general purpose financial statements for the year ended June 30, 1998. For the federal program tested, the department materially complied with compliance requirements described in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement that were applicable to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Public Assistance Program for the year ended June 30, 1998.
However, various accounting adjustments were required for both revenues and expenditures as a result of the department not ensuring accurate and timely entry of financial information to the state's accounting system. We also observed that the department's Prorate Office had not timely made all its deposits in accordance with Minnesota Statute. Further, we found that the department did not adequately monitor its subrecipients, nor did it submit required reports and documents to the federal government for disaster assistance programs. We also found weaknesses that resulted in noncompliance with established time limits for the completion of projects using public assistance grants and we questioned the appropriateness of approximately $50,000 of authorized awards.
In its written response, the Department of Public Safety agreed with the audit report. The department is taking corrective actions to resolve the issues.
