DeLand, FL - Volusia's transit system, its three tourism advertising authorities and some cybersecurity concerns will get a once over by the county's internal auditor, along with some outside help.
According to a press release sent by the county, there are no suspected problems, but the county's internal auditor, Jonathan Edwards, and the Volusia County Council agreed earlier today (May 5th) that the selected areas are priorities for auditing.
Edwards, who was hired late last year, was first instructed by the county to conduct financial audits of the county’s tax-supported ECHO and Volusia Forever funds shortly after his hiring. Those audits were requested as the county council faced a decision on whether to put those programs back on the ballot to see if voters want to renew them.
With those audits nearly completed, Edwards presented an audit plan for the rest of the fiscal year. This came after conducting a risk assessment of the county’s divisions and programs. According to Edwards, these the three areas need an audit because he said they posed the greatest possibility for risk and liability to the county.
And, by risk, Edwards means the potential of loss due to error, fraud, inefficiency, failure to comply with statutory requirements or actions which may have a negative impact on the county.
“This is the first evaluation of the county’s audit risk and will be continuously updated and modified as time goes on,” Edwards wrote in a memo. “This process provides a tool to assign priority for the purpose of reducing the risk and liability exposure through observations, testing, analysis, and recommendations.”
Votran is funded in part by state and federal grants that come with restrictions on how the money can be used. The county's three advertising authorities – Halifax, Southeast Volusia and West Volusia – are appointed by the council and spend bed taxes on hotels and accommodations to market and promote their areas as destinations for tourists and events.
The three advertising authorities have a combined annual budget of approximately $12 million.
Due to the sensitivity of the items and the nature and uniqueness of cybersecurity issues, an outside auditor will be brought in to conduct the audits on those agencies, while Edwards oversees the process.
“Internal audit is required to be independent in mind and in appearance in order to conduct audits and form conclusions without bias and the appearance of conflicts,” Edwards said to the council.
Their findings will be reported to the council and the County Manager.
