OFFICE OF THE STATE AUDITOR STEVEN A PATTERSON AUDITOR INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT ON COMPLIANCE BASED ON AN AUDIT OF THE PRIMARY GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL STATEMENTS PERFORMED IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOVERNMENT AUDITING STANDARDS April 9, 1996 Members of the Board of Supervisors Benton County, Mississippi We have audited the primary government financial statements of Benton County, Mississippi, as of and for the year ended September 30, 1995, and have issued our report thereon dated April 9, 1996 The Independent Auditor's Report on the primary government financial statements is qualified because the primary government financial statements not include the financial data of component units, which should be included in order to conform with generally accepted accounting principles We conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the primary government financial statements are free of material misstatement Compliance with laws, regulations, contracts and grants applicable to Benton County, Mississippi, is the responsibility of the county's management As part of obtaining reasonable assurance about whether the primary government financial statements are free of material misstatement, we performed tests of the county's compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts and grants However, the objective of our audit of the primary government financial statements was not to provide an opinion on overall compliance with such provisions Accordingly, we not express such an opinion The results of our tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance that are required to be reported herein under Government Auditing Standards We noted certain immaterial instances of noncompliance that we have reported to the management of Benton County, Mississippi, in our other compliance reports dated April 9, 1996, included within this document This report is intended for the use of the management and the appropriate grantor agencies This is not intended to limit the distribution of this report, which is a matter of public record WILLIAM S JONES, CPA Director, Department of Audit 41 3750 I-55 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39211 (601) 364-2888 FAX (601) 364-2828 BENTON COUNTY (This page left blank intentionally) 42 OFFICE OF THE STATE AUDITOR STEVEN A PATTERSON AUDITOR INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S SINGLE AUDIT REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH THE GENERAL REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS April 9, 1996 Members of the Board of Supervisors Benton County, Mississippi We have audited the primary government financial statements of Benton County, Mississippi, as of and for the year ended September 30, 1995, and have issued our report thereon dated April 9, 1996 The Independent Auditor's Report on the primary government financial statements is qualified because the primary government financial statements not include the financial data of component units, which should be included in order to conform with generally accepted accounting principles We have applied procedures to test Benton County, Mississippi's compliance with the following requirements applicable to its federal financial assistance programs, which are identified in the Schedule of Federal Financial Assistance under Supplemental Information, as listed in the table of contents, for the year ended September 30, 1995: General Requirements: Political Activity Davis-Bacon Act Civil Rights Cash Management Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Administrative Requirements Our procedures were limited to the applicable procedures described in the Office of Management and Budget's Compliance Supplement for Single Audits of State and Local Governments Our procedures were substantially less in scope than an audit, the objective of which is the expression of an opinion on Benton County, Mississippi's compliance with the requirements listed in the preceding paragraph Accordingly, we not express such an opinion With respect to the items tested, the results of those procedures disclosed no material instances of noncompliance with the requirements listed in the second paragraph of this report With respect to items not tested, nothing came to our attention that caused us to believe that Benton County, Mississippi, had not complied, in all material respects, with those requirements Also, the results of our procedures did not disclose any immaterial instances of noncompliance with those requirements 43 3750 I-55 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39211 (601) 364-2888 FAX (601) 364-2828 This report is intended for the use of the management, the cognizant agency and the appropriate grantor agencies This is not intended to limit the distribution of this report, which is a matter of public record WILLIAM S JONES, CPA Director, Department of Audit 44 OFFICE OF THE STATE AUDITOR STEVEN A PATTERSON AUDITOR INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S SINGLE AUDIT REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO NONMAJOR FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM TRANSACTIONS April 9, 1996 Members of the Board of Supervisors Benton County, Mississippi We have audited the primary government financial statements of Benton County, Mississippi, as of and for the year ended September 30, 1995, and have issued our report thereon dated April 9, 1996 The Independent Auditor's Report on the primary government financial statements is qualified because the primary government financial statements not include the financial data of component units, which should be included in order to conform with generally accepted accounting principles In connection with our audit of the primary government financial statements of Benton County, Mississippi, as of and for the year ended September 30, 1995, and with our consideration of the county's internal control structure used to administer federal financial assistance programs, as required by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-128, Audits of State and Local Governments, we selected certain transactions applicable to certain nonmajor federal financial assistance programs for the year ended September 30, 1995 As required by OMB Circular A-128, we have performed auditing procedures to test compliance with the requirements governing types of services allowed or unallowed that are applicable to those transactions Our procedures were substantially less in scope than an audit, the objective of which is the expression of an opinion on Benton County, Mississippi's compliance with these requirements Accordingly, we not express such an opinion With respect to the items tested, the results of those procedures disclosed no material instances of noncompliance with the requirements listed in the preceding paragraph With respect to items not tested, nothing came to our attention that caused us to believe that Benton County, Mississippi, had not complied, in all material respects, with those requirements Also, the results of our procedures did not disclose any immaterial instances of noncompliance with those requirements This report is intended for the use of the management, the cognizant agency and the appropriate grantor agencies This is not intended to limit the distribution of this report, which is a matter of public record WILLIAM S JONES, CPA Director, Department of Audit 45 3750 I-55 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39211 (601) 364-2888 FAX (601) 364-2828 BENTON COUNTY (This page left blank intentionally) 46 OFFICE OF THE STATE AUDITOR STEVEN A PATTERSON AUDITOR INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH STATE LAWS AND REGULATIONS April 9, 1996 Members of the Board of Supervisors Benton County, Mississippi We have audited the primary government financial statements of Benton County, Mississippi, as of and for the year ended September 30, 1995, and have issued our report thereon dated April 9, 1996 The Independent Auditor's Report on the primary government financial statements is qualified because the primary government financial statements not include the financial data of component units, which should be included in order to conform with generally accepted accounting principles We conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and the procedures prescribed by the State Auditor, and accordingly, included such tests of the accounting records and such other auditing procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances As required by the state legal compliance audit program prescribed by the Office of the State Auditor, we have also performed procedures to test compliance with certain state laws and regulations Our procedures were substantially less in scope than an audit, the objective of which is the expression of an opinion on the county's compliance with these requirements Accordingly, we not express such an opinion The results of our procedures and our audit of the primary government financial statements disclosed certain immaterial instances of noncompliance with state laws and regulations Our findings and recommendations and your responses are included in the accompanying "Schedule of Auditor's Findings and Recommendations." The findings described in the accompanying "Schedule of Auditor's Findings and Recommendations" came to our attention as a result of the audit procedures and tests that we applied For those items not tested, nothing came to our attention that would lead us to believe that Benton County, Mississippi, had not complied with applicable state laws and regulations, other than those laws and regulations for which we noted violations in our testing referred to above This report is intended for the use of the management This is not intended to limit the distribution of this report, which is a matter of public record WILLIAM S JONES, CPA Director, Department of Audit 47 3750 I-55 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39211 (601) 364-2888 FAX (601) 364-2828 BENTON COUNTY (This page left blank intentionally) 48 BENTON COUNTY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 49 BENTON COUNTY (This page left blank intentionally) 50 BENTON COUNTY Schedule of Auditor's Findings and Recommendations For the Year Ended September 30, 1995 A Findings for Independent Auditor's Report on the Internal Control Structure Based on an Audit of the Primary Government Financial Statements Performed in Accordance with "Government Auditing Standards": Board of Supervisors (Auditor's Note: These findings on the Board of Supervisors are on the members of the former board for the 1992-1996 term as follows: Kenneth Leak, John Edward Peeler, Eugene Steward, O A Massengill and Stanley Wilkerson.) Finding The Board of Supervisors, as management of Benton County, is responsible for establishing and maintaining an internal control structure That internal control structure applies to Justice Court Approximately $195,000 of past due accounts exist in Justice Court with no established procedures for collection The Board of Supervisors was informed on or about April 10, 1995, of this situation and no improvement was noted Recommendation The Board of Supervisors should insure that procedures are established for the collection of all past due accounts in the Justice Court system Board of Supervisors' Response The Justice Court Clerk has resigned effective April 30, 1996, and we will hire a new clerk as soon as possible to correct this problem Finding The Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) requires banks or other financial institutions to formally validate or approve their depository contracts with counties and other public bodies There are three requirements that will ensure an enforceable security in collateral: The agreement must be in writing The agreement must be approved by the bank's board of directors or other appropriate governing body and be reflected in the minutes of the body The agreement must be maintained as an official record of the bank Benton County has not executed this agreement with Union Planters Bank 51 ... FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS April 9, 1996 Members of the Board of Supervisors Benton County, Mississippi We have audited the primary government financial statements of Benton County, ... April 9, 1996 Members of the Board of Supervisors Benton County, Mississippi We have audited the primary government financial statements of Benton County, Mississippi, as of and for the year ended... April 9, 1996 Members of the Board of Supervisors Benton County, Mississippi We have audited the primary government financial statements of Benton County, Mississippi, as of and for the year ended