THE CITY OF NEW YORK OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER BUREAU OF FINANCIAL AUDIT

AUDIT REPORT ON THE OTHER THAN PERSONAL SERVICE EXPENDITURES OF THE KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE JULY 1, 2006–JUNE 30, 2007

FL08-079A
June 30, 2009

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

Download the Complete Audit Report (pdf 272 kb)

According to Article 13, §13, of the New York State Constitution, District Attorneys are constitutional officers elected every four years. Under New York State County Law 24, §927, the City’s five District Attorneys protect the public by investigating and prosecuting criminal conduct in their respective counties.  The District Attorneys enforce the provisions of the penal law and all other statutes.  Their principal activities include screening new cases, preparing information, gathering resources for hearings, and presenting cases in court for trial or appeal. 

We conducted an audit of the Other Than Personal Service (OTPS) expenditures of the Kings County District Attorney’s Office for the period July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007—Fiscal Year 2007.  The OTPS expenditures during Fiscal Year 2007 totaled $2,650,356.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

All the purchases reviewed were for proper business purposes and properly authorized and approved, and the purchased goods were received and the services rendered.  However, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office did not comply with all of the City’s Financial Management System (FMS) accounting policies and procedures, Procurement Policy Board (PPB) rules, Comptroller’s Directives, and Comptroller’s fiscal year-end closing instructions.  Specifically, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office entered inaccurate information in FMS and used miscellaneous vouchers inappropriately.  As a result, vouchers were not always paid in accordance with PPB Prompt Payment Rules, and some expenditures were recorded in the incorrect accounting period.

Audit Recommendations

We make 11 recommendations, including that the Kings County District Attorney’s Office should:

• Enter actual dates of occurrence in the designated FMS fields for all purchases and train its staff on the procedures for processing payments through FMS to ensure that: only complete and accurate information is entered in FMS, the voucher packages contain all the necessary documentation so that staff have all the required information to enter into FMS, all invoices are paid in accordance with the PPB’s Prompt Payment Rule, and, all expenses are charged to the correct fiscal year.

• Use the appropriate purchase documents when making OTPS expenditures.

• Ensure that it makes purchases from requirement contracts when they are available and completes and remits the necessary purchase order forms to DMSS for processing.

• Ensure that all contracts, agreements, change orders, amendments, etc., are presented to the Comptroller for registration, in addition to purchases exceeding $25,000 for goods and services.