Audit Division
Audit Summary
Department of Museums, Library and Arts
Division of Museums and History
Nevada State Museum
LA98-12
Results in Brief
The Nevada State Museum has not always complied with laws, followed
policies, or implemented audit recommendations to help ensure accountability
for money held in the Dedicated Trust Fund. Statutes provide the Board
of Museums and History authority over private funds, along with reporting
requirements and budgetary control responsibilities. However, these control
responsibilities have not been completely met. Furthermore, policies approved
by the Board to comply with statutes have not been followed. Although annual
audits have been performed on the Dedicated Trust Fund to enhance accountability,
the Board has not established a process to address audit recommendations.
As a result, problems involving inventory have gone unresolved.In addition,
we found that minutes of meetings of the Board of Museums and History are
often vague and incomplete. Also, there are some weaknesses in internal
controls over cash, payroll, personnel, and management information.
Principal Findings
The following are selected findings from our audit of
the Nevada State Museum:
-
Revisions to the Dedicated Trust Fund budget, totaling over $140,000 in
each of the past two years, were not approved by the Board of Museums and
History. State law gives the Board authority and responsibility over private
funds. In addition, agency policy requires the Board to approve budget
revisions. (page 11)
-
There is no clearly defined and consistent method for allocating costs
of operations between state funds and other funding sources. The agency
receives both state and private funds and has a general plan and policies
to direct spending of these funds. However, the lack of clear and consistent
methods for allocating costs has resulted in inaccurate general fund budget
information and affected budget preparation. (page 13)
-
The Board of Museums and History has legal authority to transfer money
from the Dedicated Trust Fund to the Museum, Library, and Arts Foundation.
However, transferring money to the Foundation diminishes the degree of
control over these funds. This loss of control occurs because the statutes
dictating Board activity over budgets and expenditures apply only to the
Dedicated Trust Fund and not the Foundation. Consequently, this may be
an issue requiring further examination. (page 15)
-
The agency is not fully complying with the statute that requires reports
on the Dedicated Trust Fund be submitted to the Legislature and the State
Budget Division of the Department of Administration. Dedicated Trust Fund
financial reports were not submitted to the Legislature during fiscal year
1996 nor were budgets submitted to the State Budget Division. Consequently,
neither the State Budget Division nor the Legislature was able to see a
complete financial picture of the Division of Museums and History. (page
17)
-
The Board of Museums and History does not have a process to ensure audit
recommendations are followed and problems are resolved. As a result, problems
with the gift shop inventory have continued and were reported as material
weaknesses in three of the last five financial audits. (page 17)
-
The Board of Museums and History does not maintain minutes to adequately
support significant financial administration and fiscal activities over
the private money or to serve as a resource to the Division. State open
meeting laws require boards to maintain public records of the substance
of all matters proposed, discussed, and decided. (page 19).
The Nevada State Museum needs to improve internal controls over cash, payroll,
personnel, and management information. (page 20)
Agency Response
to Audit Recommendations
RecommendationNumber
Accepted Rejected1
Obtain Board approval for budgetary revisions
to the Dedicated Trust Fund.
X
2 Make appropriate entries for revisions in
the
Dedicated Trust Fund's accounting
system.
X
3 Document specific methodologies for allocating
the cost of operations between
the State and
private accounts.
X
4 Develop procedures to monitor the use of
allocation methods.
X
5 Submit reports as required by NRS 381.0033
and maintain appropriate
documentation.
X
6 Develop a process to follow-up on all audit
findings and recommendations
made by
the independent auditors.
X
7 Modify internal controls to ensure the State
Controller is notified of
fixed asset purchases
per SAM 2722.
X
8 Prepare Board minutes that contain sufficient,
relevant, and detailed information
of all
matters proposed, discussed,
and decided.
X
9 Strengthen internal controls to ensure cash
is
safeguarded, payroll and
personnel laws are
complied with, and accurate
management
information is maintained.
X
TOTALS
9
0