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Audit finds accounting problems, but not dishonesty, at Canfield Fair Board
YOUNGSTOWN
The state auditor’s office has found three accounting deficiencies and one unauthorized expenditure at the Mahoning County Agricultural Society, which sponsors the annual Canfield Fair, but the audit report makes no allegations of dishonesty.
The report, released Thursday for 2010 and 2011, found significant deficiencies in accounting for campsite rental receipts and grandstand receipts and in the issuance of purchase orders.
The report also made a $749 finding for recovery for the unauthorized spending of public money for wine for table centerpieces for the society’s 2011 annual fair association managers’ meeting.
Fair Manager Beverly Fisher said she and Mark Makoski, fair treasurer, reimbursed the fair board out of their own pockets for the $749, and the audit report notes that money was repaid with a cashier’s check Feb. 20, 2013.
“The auditor of state’s office does not view the expenditure of public funds for alcoholic beverages as a proper public purpose and will issue findings for recovery for such expenditures as manifestly arbitrary and incorrect,” the auditor’s report said.
Concerning the other issues raised by the audit, Fisher referred questions to Chuck Booth, fair board president.
“There was no fraud or illegal activities,” Booth said. “We’re glad they didn’t find fraud or misappropriations,” he said, adding that the fair board asked the state to do a more detailed audit than usual for 2010 and 2011.
The fair board has formed an audit committee to review its accounting policies and procedures and make recommendations to the 17-member board of directors, which will decide what changes to make, he said. Booth said he could not comment in detail on the auditor’s report because he hadn’t seen it.
The campsite office collects rental receipts and turns them in to the fair office daily, but nobody nightly reconciles them to ensure that the proper amounts are collected, recorded and deposited, the auditors said.
“We recommend the society ensure that monies taken in during the day are reconciled nightly before the money is taken for deposit” to help ensure that receipts written match the deposit, the auditors said.
The auditors raised the same issue about the lack of nightly reconciliation of ticket sales with grandstand receipts.
“Reconciliations of each show are not provided to the board until approximately a month after the show,” they noted.
“Supporting documentation provided for director and staff tickets did not agree to amount reported,” and such documentation was unavailable for money collected from demolition derbies and insufficient regarding complimentary tickets, the auditors said.
“Reconcile receipts collected to a report of tickets sold nightly,” the auditors advised. “Accurately document and record all tickets,” they added.
Fair board policy says purchase orders must be used for all purchases and approved by three fair board officials.
“We identified 62 out of 64 expenditures tested that were not approved in accordance with the aforementioned policy,” the auditors said, adding that the fair board should follow its stated policy to ensure that purchases are made according to board intent and with sufficient funds available to pay for them.