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HomeMy WebLinkAboutS M E DOCUMENT NAME: 6\y\ E " DOCUMENT TYPE: YEAR: qG- BOX NUMBER: D ~ FILE NUMBER: \'6\ <{$'l;. NUMBER OF PAGES: -5 Augusta Richmond GA .~" _~ _.i-" <!) ;- fV D . COpy PLEASE SIGN AND RETURN TO SME FOR QUR FILES 1",., ,~ ~IIII: SEROTTA November 18, 1996 MADDOCKS Augusta-Richmond Coun'ty Commission Augusta-Richmond County, Georgia' \ EVANS & CO,~ \CPA'S' A Professional Corporation We are pleased to confirm our unaerstanding of the services we are to provide for Augusta- Richmond County for the yearended'December 31, 1996, We will audit the general purpose financial statements of Allgusta{uchmond County as of and for the year ended December 31, 1996, Our audit will be a single audit conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards; the standards for financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; the Single Audit Act of 1984; and the provisions of 6MB Circular A-128, "Audits of State and Local Governments," and wilt include tests of the ,accounting records of Augusta-Richmond County and other procedures we consider necessary to enable us to express an unqualified opiruon that the financial statements are fairly presented, in all material respects, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and to report on the Schedule of Federal Financial Assistance and on Augusta-Richmond Gounty's compliance with laws and regulations and its internal controls as required for a single audit, If our opinion is other than unqualified, we will fully discuss the reasons with you in advance. If, for any reason, we are unable to complete the audit, we will not issue a report as a result of this engagement, The management of Augusta-Richmond County is responsible for establishing and maintaining an internal control structure, In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of internal control structure policies and procedures, The objectives of an internal control structure are, to provide management with reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized use or disposition, that transactions are executed in accordance with management's authorizations, and recorded properly to permit the preparation of general purpose financial statement in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that federal financial assistance programs are managed in compliance with applicable laws and regulations." In planning and performing our audits for the year ended December 31, 1996, we will consider the internal control structure in order to determine our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinions on Augusta-Richmond County's general purpose' financial statements and on its compliance with requirements applicable to major programs and t;~ report on the internal control structure in accordance -with OMB Circular A-128, and not to provide assurance on the internal control structure. 701 Greene Street, Suite 200 / Augusta, Georgia 30901-2322 Telephone (706) 722-5337 Telefax (706) 724-FAXX (3299) ~ :. ;0. fl A'ugusta-Richmond County, Georgia November 18, 1996 Page Two J It, 'i' --- ~IIII: We will obtain an understanding of the desigt? of the relevant policies and procedures and whether they have been placed in operation:, ~nd we will assess control risk. Tests of controls may be performed to test the effectiveness of certain policies and procedures that we consider relevant to preventing and detecting errors ~md irregularities that are material to the general purpose financial statements and to preventing and detecting misstatements resulting from illegal acts and other noncompliance matters that have a direct and material effect on the general purpose financial statements, (Tests of controls are required only if control risk is assessed below the maximum level.) Our tests, if performed, will be less in scope than would be necessary to render an opinion on the internal control structure policies and procedures and, accordingly, no opinion will be expressed. . We will perform tests of controls, as required by OMB Circular A-128, to evaluate the effectiveness of the design and operation of internal control policies and procedures that we consider relevant to preventing or detecti.ng. material noncompliance with specific requirements, general -requirements, and requirements governing claims for advances and reimbursements and amounts claimed or used for matching that are applicable to each of Augusta-Richmond County's major federal financial assistance programs, Our tests will be less in scope than would be necessary to render an opinion on the internal control structure policies and procedures and, accordingly, no opinion will be expressed,. . We will inform you of any matters involving. internal control structure and its operation that we consider to be reportable conditions under standards established by the A1}:lerican InstItute of Certified Public Accountants. . RepQrtable conditions involve matters coming to our attention relating to significant deficiencies in the design or operation of the internal control structure that, in our judgement, could adversely affect the entity's ability to record, process, summarize, and report financial data consistent with the assertions of management in the general purpose financial statements. We will also inform you of any nonreportable conditions or other matters involving . the internal control structure, if any, as required by OMB Circular A-128, Compliance with laws, regulations, , contracts, and grant agreements .applicable to Augusta- Richmond County is the responsibility of Augusta-Richmond County's management, As part of obtaining reasonable assurance. about whether the general purpose financial statements are free of material misstatement, we.will perform tests of Augusta-Richmond County's compliance with certain provisions oflaws, r~gulations,contracts, and grants. However, the objective of our audit will not be to provide an opinic;m on overall compliance with such provisions, and we will not express such an opinion. Our audit will be conducted in accordance with the standards referred to in the second paragraph. .. Those standards require that we plaliand perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether material nonconiplianae with the requirements governing types of services allowed or unallowed; eligibility; matching, level of effort, or earmarking; reporting; special tests and provisions; claims for advances and reimbursements; and amounts claimed or used for matching that are applicable to major programs occurred. The purpose of our audit will be to express an opinion on Augusta/Richmond County's compliance with the specific requirements applicable to major programs listed in the previous sentence, !" ~ ;-; ~ ,) Augusta-Richmond County, Georgia ~oyember 18, 1996 Page Three '1 --- ~IIII: We~ will perform certain procedures to test Augusta-Richmond County's. compliance with the general requirements applicable to its federal financial assistance programs as required by OMB Circular A-128. Our procedures will be limited to the applicable procedures described in the OMB's Compliance Supplement for Single Audits of State and Local Governments. Our procedures will be substantially less in scope than an audit, the objective of which is the expression of an opinion on the general requirements, and we will not express such an opinion. Our procedures will include tests of documentary evidence supporting the transactions recorded in the accounts, and may include te~ts of the physical existence of inventories, and direct confirmation of receivables and certain other assets and liabilities by correspondence with selected individuals, creditors, and financial institutions. We will request written representations from your attorneys as part of the engagement, and they may bill you for responding to this inquiry, At the conclusion of our audit, we will also request certain written representations from you about the financial statements and related matters. An audit includes examining, o.n a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements; therefor~, our audit will involve judgment about the number of transactions to be examined and the areas to be tested. Also, we will plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, As required by th~ Single Audit Act of 1984, our audit will include tests of transactions related to federal assistance programs for compliance with applicable laws and regulations. However, because of the concept of reasonable assurance and because we will not perform a detailed examination. .of all transactions, there is a risk that material errors, irregularities, or illegal acts, including fraud or defalcations, may exist and not be detected by us, We will inform you, however, of any matters of that nature that come to our attention, and we will include such matters in the reports required for a single audit. Our responsibility as auditors . . is limited to the period covered by Qur audit and does not extend to matters that might arise during any later periods for which we are not engaged as auditors, We understand that you will provide' us with basic information required for our audit and that you are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of that information. We will advise you about appropriate accounting principles an~ their application and will assist in the preparation of your fiJ,1anc~~1 statements, but the responsibili.ty for the financial statements remains with you, This responsibility includes the maintenance of-adequate records and related internal control structure policies and procedures, the selection and application of accounting principles, and the safeguarding of assets, We understand that your employees will type confirmations and other items we request and ~ll locate invoices selected by us for testing, We expect to begin preliminary fieldwork In November 1996. We anticipate delivering the report toyou by ~une 30, 1997, provided we receive your trial balances by March 1, 1997, and receive maximum cooperation from your personnel. .. 'i;,o'_ c, Augusta-Richmond County, Georgia November 18, 1996 . Page Four " --- ~IIII: Our fees for these service will. be based on actual time speht. at our sta?dard hourly rates, plus out-of-pocket costs such as report production, typing, postage, etc. Our standard hourly rates vary according to the degree of responsibility involved and the experience level of the personnel assigned to your audit. We estimate diat our fees for the services described will not exceed 110% of prior year combined fees for the services described above, We have projected a 10% increase due to increased procedures related. to consolidating the financial statements from the former County arid City, If significant unanticipated time is required in dealing with consolidation issues -beyond the scope of our normal apdit, we will discuss it with you and establish an agreeable fee structure for the additional services, Our invoices for these fees will be rendered each month as work progresses and are payable:on presentation. . Services performed in connection with scheduling transactions and other non-audit items will be billed separately at our standard hourly rates. . Government Auditing Standards ~ 1994 Revision requires that we provide you with a copy of our most recent quality review report, Our 1995 peer review report accompanies this letter. We appreciate the opportunity to be of service to Augusta-Richmond County and believe this letter accurately summarizes the significant terms of our engagement; If you have questions, please let us know, If you agree with the terms of our engagement as described in this letter, please sign the enclosed copy and return to us. Very truly yours, ~ ~6J~~~. SEROTTA MADDOCKS EVANS & CO" CPA'S RESPONSE: y sets forth the understanding of Augusta-Richmond County, Georgia. By: ~ Title: TItI$ doeulllent approved u IO~ An ey a. f7 . '\ MOTION CARRIES 9-0. [MR. H. BRIGHAM OUT] ~-----'"-_..._-.-- ...~."'''~~ MAYOR SCONYERS: Next item, please? CLERK: Next item, Item 50, is consider approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of the Commission-Council on September 17th. ~f,~~~ _"h~NitI. "::";l,;,l;)~,~~ !!:jY ::& MR. HANDY: So move. MR. TODD: Second. MAYOR SCONYERS: Motion by Mr. Handy, seconded -- who seconded the motion? MR. TODD: Here, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR SCONYERS: Mr'. Todd. Discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Handy's motion, let it be known by raising your hand, please. MOTION CARRIES 9-0. [MR. H. BRIGHAM OUT] CLERK: 51: Consider approval of a three-year contract with Serotta, Maddocks, Evan~ & C~mpany as the External Auditor. MR. J. BRIGHAM: Mr. Mayor, I move that we extend the .contract for one year. MR. TODD: Mr. Mayor~ I'll second. MAYOR SCONYERS: seconded by Mr. Todd. I have a motion by Mr. Jerry Brigham, Further discussion, please? MR. BRIDGES: Mr. Mayor, how many different auditing external auditing firms do we have now? We've got -- the Internal Auditor is actually external and the county has got one. Did the city have a different one at one point? MR. HANDY: Cherry, Bekaert & Holland was for the city and Serotta is ours, the county'-- old county. MR. BRIDGES: So in essence what we're doing here is we're accepting Serotta, and. Cherry -- and we'll no longer have Cherry, Bekaert & Holland? .MAYOR SCONYERS: That's correct. Further discussion, gentlemen? All in favor of Mr. Brigham's motion, let it be known by raising your hand, .please. MOTION CARRIES 8-2. [MR. H. BRIGHAM & MR. KUHLKE OUT] CLERK: Item 52: Consider approval of the termination of Mr. Alphonzo Forrest from the Augusta-Richmond County Fire ..jq