| Public Release Date: April 9, 1998 | No. 98-23 |
The Minnesota Veterans Homes Board was created by the 1988 Legislature to govern the Minnesota veterans homes. Its mission is to oversee and deliver high quality care for veterans and dependents in its care. The board's powers and duties include determining policy and adopting, amending, and repealing rules for the governance of the homes. The board consists of nine voting members appointed by the Governor.
A centralized management team at the board office supports the homes and the board of directors. The board appointed Richard Zierdt as its executive director in October 1988. The board office provides daily support and coordination to the homes while researching the short and long range challenges the homes are experiencing.
Our audit objectives were to obtain an understanding of the internal control structure for the period from July 1, 1995, to June 30, 1997, relevant to payroll, professional and technical services, supplies, and rent expenditures. We also designed our audit to provide reasonable assurance that the department complied with applicable legal provisions.
We concluded that the board designed and implemented internal controls to provide reasonable assurance that administrative expenditures were properly authorized, adequately supported, and accurately recorded in the state's accounting system. Finally, with respect to the items tested, the board processed its administrative expenditures in compliance with finance-related legal provisions. However, the board did not adequately restrict security access to its payroll and personnel data. In addition, the board overpaid a vendor under a professional/technical services contract.
The Minnesota Veterans Homes Board has agreed with our findings and is currently in the process of implementing the recommendations. In addition, the board has collected and deposited the vendor overpayment.
