PowerPoint Presentation

Getting organizedand staying there

Audit and Retention PreparationAudits 7-393 Fire Proof 7-27Retention/destruction 7-109By Carla Hamel, CCMC & Arlene Boutin, CCMC1ADDSDELETES

OR SEPARATE BY TYPER, P, M OR SCOSVETERANSELDERLYPRORATES

ADJUSTMENTS

M4-460 Until AuditedBANK CODESBINDERINDIVIDUAL COVER SHEETSBANK NAME AND CODEADDRESSCONTACT INFORMATIONREFUND INFORMATION

BANK REQUEST LISTADDS/DELETES

M4-500 Escrow coding 1 YEAR or until audited; which ever comes laterBANKRUPTCY4 HANGING FOLDERS General InformationChapter 7Chapter 11Chapter 13

Within each hanging folderPending/proof of claimDismissed/DischargedNon-applicable

M4-450 Bankruptcy 1 year after date of closureContractContactsProblemsMonthly SUMMARY PACKM3-135 & 145 Payments receipts; 3 years or until audited whichever is laterCollection Agency

Conferences and Meetings

ContractContactsProblemsMonthly SUMMARY PACK

M3-145 Payment receipts; 3 years or until audited-whichever is later.Credit Cards

TaxpayersM1-080 Routine 2 years

Town attorney*depends*

Your legislative bodyM1-085 Correspondence- policy-permanent

CorrespondenceTumbleweed infoSfile.ct.gov

Contact: Gary Trerice 860-263-5387DMV.TaxCollector@ct.govDmv direcT

Other related informationDMV

Department of Motor VehiclePUTONSERROR REPORTS

M4-550 - 1 YEAR FROM DATE OF REPORT

TAKEOFFSERROR REPORTS

M4-550 - 1 YEAR FROM DATE OF REPORT

Organizing Email

Review M1-125, M1-130 & M1-135

ExpendituresMaintenanceMembershipMeetings/trainingsMiscellaneousPrinting/bindingPublicationsSuppliesTravel

Legal notices(M4-540- 15 YEARS FROM DUEDATE OF TAX)

Ratebill/tax warrants(M4-570 - 15 YEARS FROM DUE DATE OF TAX)

Legal Opinions(M1-185 permanent)

Ordinances/Public actsstatutesOffice policies/procedures

Legal InformationReal Estate LiensPersonal Property LiensBinder containing each lien or list of liensNotate date, volume and page recorded inNotate date, volume and page released in

(M4-630, M4-640, M4-650)Binder containing each lien or list of liensNotate date, & UCC filing number for filingNotate date, & UCC filing number for releasing

LiensBlank releases

Faxes(m1-080 correspondence, Routine: including FOI requests)

Office policies & manual

MISCELLANEOUS

Absence formsvacation forms

Accident forms

CertificatesJob DescriptionAppointmentCopy of BondtimesheetsPersonnel

Post OfficeFormsMailingsPermit informationMeterPO Box

Final Posted Ratebooks

(M4-580) 15 years from due date(M4-660)TAX REFUND REQUESTS & REPORTS3 YRS OR UNTIL AUDITED, WHICHEVER COMES LATER

Refunds

Monthly budget reportsQuarterly reportsF -71 Quarterly survey of property tax collections from Dept of Commerce, US Census Bureau

Not on retention schedule but suggested 2-3 years.REPORTSReturned ChecksOutstanding returned checks

M3-135 &145 3 years or until audited; whichever is laterPaid checksM1 - General Administrative RecordsM3- Fiscal RecordsM4 Assessment & Tax Collection Records

www.ctstatelibrary.org

M1-110 Disposal Requests RC075 Permanent

Retention ScheduleRequestsApproved Requests

Software CompanyContractContactsProblemsSTATE REPORTSFORMS(M-1) Annual Report of Municipal Property Tax Collectors M4-470- Certification of millrate & tax levy; 3 years or until audited whichever is later.(M-35b) Elderly & Totally Disabled Homeowners(M-42b) Totally Disabled(M-59) Additional Veterans(M-36) Freeze#s 2-5 all use M4-510 Exemption of State Reimbursement 3 years or until audited; whichever is later.Undeliverable

(m4-610) 1 year or until audited whichever is later

Tax BillsSeparate folders for each account placedTown Attorney Accounts

SEPARATE FOLDER FOR EACH MARSHAL/constable

PAID IN FULL

M4-430 - 1 YEAR FROM DATE COLLECTED OR DATE ISSUED;IF UNCOLLECTEDWARRANTS

adjustments for fiscal yearRefunds for fyCollection agency for fyExpenditures for fyBatches for FYReturned checks Warrants paid in fullPull out anything else that can be shreddedLabel with fiscal year clearly marked and destroy date on them

End of the Fiscal Year

August, 2012Auditors trying to complete the 2011 annual audit noticed an unusual account called change line item and began to ask questions of Finance Director and were not getting appropriate answers.November, 2012Finance Director was put on Administrative Leave and finally dismissed in January, 2013January-August, 2013 Auditors were asked to look deeper and started to find discrepancies. Forensic audit began. (250,000 tax bills from Jan, 2008 Nov, 2012 were pulled by office staff, making copies of every batch deposit ticket, batch settlement totals, and bank statements for every batch for both auditors and state investigators. Copies were reviewed to verify cash/checks listed on tax office deposit ticket were actually deposited at bank as batch sheets reported. (They were not.) Cash was removed from Tax Office deposits and replaced with checks from other departments, from vendors, and town checks to make deposit whole. (Loss to Town verified to be greater than$2 million)Audit found that IRS W-2 forms for Finance Director had been altered from 1995. (Financial Loss to Town - $184,515)Large amounts of cash found in his desk and office safe.January, 2013 Criminal investigation began by Major Crime Squad.June, 2013Town Hall and Tax Office staff questioned by State Police investigator for his deposition prior to issuing arrest warrant.August, 2013 Finance Director arrested and taken to New Haven January, 2014 Finance Director pled guilty to five counts of larceny in the first degreeApril, 2014 Sentencing, expected to be 20 years, suspended after 11 years served and probationWinchester Embezzlement Investigation Timeline:KEEPING OFFICE ORGANIZEDDaily batches should be balanced and verified to insure that daily deposit to bank agrees with daily batch AND bank statement.

Copy of deposit ticket should be kept with daily batch attached with batch total report.

Daily batch total > Deposit slip prepared>Bank receipt - All should equal.

Policies and Procedures should be in place:

Cash & checks locked up every night.Large amounts of cash should not be kept in cash drawers.No third party checks or personal checks cashed out of cash drawers.If hand calculating interest, calculation tape should be attached to tickets, per auditors.Management responsibilityWritten policies and procedures control environmentProtect assetsEnsure integrity of financial reportsControl ledgersReconciliation of cashSegregation of duties separate the ability to commit from the ability to concealIndependent ChecksControlled AccessElectronic processing controlsInternal ControlsAs seen in past tax collector handbookSegregation of Duties: Is the individual who collects cash receipts someone other than the individual who prepares the deposits and records cash receipts Are receipts deposited intact on a daily basis?Does the Tax Collector maintain a separate bank account?Does the Tax Collector maintain a control book on a current basis?Is the individual who maintains the control book someone other than the individual who posts receipts and changes to the detail accounts in the rate book?Are rate books periodically balanced to the control book?Are all Assessors corrections numerically accounted for and properly posted to the rate books and control book on a timely basis?Has the abstract been reconciled to the beginning balances in the rate books?

Auditing the Tax Collectors OfficeDo beginning balances for each prior years list agree with the prior years report?Does the beginning balance for the current year agree with the original rate book totals as reconciled to the abstract?Do amounts in the report agree directly, or through adjustments, with the property tax revenue recorded in the General Fund?Do the totals per the Suspense List agree to the totals shown on the Tax Collectors Report?Do the totals per the list of refunds agree to the totals shown on the Tax Collectors Report?Are there any other adjustments posted to the rate books?Do collections reconcile to the amounts turned over to the Treasurer?Do the ending outstanding balances per the report agree to the totals per the rate books?Tax Collectors Report: Does the Tax Collector prepare an annual report?Are all liens properly continued and certificates filed with the Town Clerk on a timely basis?Do prepaid taxes agree to amounts recorded in the control book?Are control totals maintained for the Suspense Tax Book and do they agree to the totals of the detail?Are back tax bills issued on a timely basis?Are lists of delinquent motor vehicle tax payers filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles on a timely basis?Are lien fees collected by the Tax Collector paid to the Treasurer?Are collection enforcement mechanisms (tax sale, foreclosures, tax lien assignment) instituted on a timely basis?Is interest consistently charged at the proper statutory rate on all overdue taxes?Are accounts that are turned over to third parties for collection properly controlled?Other items included in the Audit