Audit reveals EPSO’s poor management with money

It seems to be apparent with the release of the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office’s most recent audit that the sheriff’s financial troubles have less to do with the lack of funds and more to do with poor management of the department’s money.
The audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016 revealed that the EPSO anticipated having revenues that totaled $2,632,720, which was $39,793 less than what they actually took in and $279,619 less than the amount of revenues received in the previous year.
The actual amount of revenues taken in for the year ending June 30, 2016 was $2,592,927, while their expenditures totaled $3,313,010.
With knowing that revenues would be down from the year before, it is unclear why the EPSO would spend more during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016 than they did during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015. However, it is clear where the money was being spent and why sheriff Eddie Soileau was forced to make a high number of layoffs in August of 2016.
According to the audit, which was performed by Kolder, Champagne, Slaven & Company, LLC, the sheriff’s office spent $1,028,354 over what they had budgeted for deputies salaries for the year ending June 30, 2016.
The budget for deputies salaries was $435,856, however the EPSO spent a total of $1,464,210 in this area.
The excess in this expenditure played a major role in nearly depleting the EPSO’s general fund, which at the start of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016 had $916,811. By the end of the fiscal year, that number was down to $196,728.
When it comes to the auditor’s findings, there are several findings that have been reported multiple times but have yet to be remedied, as well as new findings.
The three new findings that were reported for the year ending June 30, 2016 were: the sheriff’s list of outstanding commissary funds did not reconcile to the cash balance; the monthly prison attendance report did not reconcile to the number of days billed; and the sheriff did not comply with the requirements of RS 39:1311, the Local Government Budget Act, which means that actual expenditures exceeded budgeted expenditures by five percent or more in the general fund.
Some of the reoccurring findings that were again cited in the audit for the year ending June 30, 2016 were: internal control procedures over the use of fuel are weak, therefore, it could not be determined whether fuel purchases were reasonable and used for the intended purposes (first reported in 2013); the sheriff’s list of outstanding bonds and bond fees did not reconcile to the cash balance (first reported in 2013); the civil account daily holding report was not reconciled to the civil cash balance (first reported in 2013); and occasionally, time sheets are submitted and processed before the end of the payroll period and before time is labored and numerous time sheets are submitted without proper approval (first reported in 2014).
The sheriff does seem to be working toward paying the $114,953 of delinquent payroll taxes that were reported as a finding in 2015, because according to the findings at the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016, the delinquent taxes owed by the sheriff to various taxing agencies was $63,949.
The most recent audit makes it clear that the sheriff’s office still has major hurtles to overcome to get their department financially stable, and hopefully it won’t take more than the million dollars that Soileau was approved to borrow back in September of this year.