HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013 Accountability Audit Report
Accountability Audit Report
City of Port Townsend
Jefferson County
For the period January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2013
Published September 2, 2014
Report No. 1012418
Insurance Building, P.O. Box 40021 Olympia, Washington 98504-0021 (360) 902-0370 TDD Relay (800) 833-6388
September 2, 2014
Council
City of Port Townsend
Port Townsend, Washington
Report on Accountability
Thank you for the opportunity to work with you to promote accountability, integrity and
openness in government. The State Auditor’s Office takes seriously our role of providing state
and local governments with assurance and accountability as the independent auditor of public
accounts. In this way, we strive to help government work better, cost less, deliver higher value
and earn greater public trust.
Independent audits provide essential accountability and transparency for City operations. This
information is valuable to management, the governing body and public stakeholders when
assessing the government’s stewardship of public resources.
The attached comprises our report on the City’s compliance and safeguarding of public
resources. Our independent audit report describes the overall results and conclusions for areas
we examined. We appreciate the opportunity to work with your staff and we value your
cooperation during the audit.
Sincerely,
TROY KELLEY
STATE AUDITOR
Washington State Auditor
Troy Kelley
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Audit Summary ............................................................................................................................... 1
Related Reports ............................................................................................................................... 2
Information About The City ........................................................................................................... 3
About The State Auditor’s Office ................................................................................................... 4
Washington State Auditor’s Office Page 1
AUDIT SUMMARY
Results in brief
In the areas we audited, City operations complied with applicable requirements and provided
adequate safeguarding of public resources. The City also complied with state laws and
regulations and its own policies and procedures in the areas we examined.
About the audit
This report contains the results of our independent accountability audit of the City of Port
Townsend from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2013.
Management is responsible for ensuring compliance and adequate safeguarding of public
resources from fraud, loss or abuse. This includes the design, implementation and maintenance
of internal controls relevant to these objectives.
Our audit involved performing procedures to obtain evidence about the City’s uses of public
resources, compliance with state laws and regulations and its own policies and procedures, and
internal controls over such matters.
In keeping with general auditing practices, we do not examine every transaction, activity or area.
Instead, the areas examined were those representing the highest risk of fraud, loss, abuse, or
noncompliance. The following areas were examined during this audit period:
• Cost allocations
• Financial condition
• Procurement
• Third-party cash receipting
• Travel
Washington State Auditor’s Office Page 2
RELATED REPORTS
Financial
Our opinion on the City’s financial statements and compliance with federal grant program
requirements is provided in a separate report, which includes the City’s financial statements.
Federal grant programs
We evaluated internal controls and tested compliance with the federal program requirements, as
applicable, for the City’s major federal programs, which are listed in the Federal Summary
section of the financial statement and single audit report.
Washington State Auditor’s Office Page 3
INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITY
The City of Port Townsend serves 9,210 citizens in Jefferson County. The City provides an
array of services including water, sewer, storm drainage, police, parks and recreation, planning,
street maintenance and construction, library and general administrative services. The City
contracts for fire protection, court, jail and emergency medical services. A private company
provides solid waste collection services.
An elected, seven-member Council governs the City. The Council appoints a Manager to
oversee the City’s daily operations and approximately 105 employees in 2013 and 95 employees
in 2012. The City's revenue was approximately $20 million in fiscal year 2013 and $19 million
in fiscal year 2012.
Contact information related to this report
Address: City of Port Townsend 250 Madison Street, Suite One Port Townsend, WA 98368
Contact: Nora Mitchell, Finance Director
Phone: (360) 379-4403
Website: www.cityofpt.us
Information current as of report publish date.
Audit history
You can find current and past audit reports for the City of Port Townsend at
http://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch.
Washington State Auditor’s Office Page 4
ABOUT THE STATE AUDITOR’S OFFICE
The State Auditor's Office is established in the state's Constitution and is part of the executive
branch of state government. The State Auditor is elected by the citizens of Washington and
serves four-year terms.
We work with our audit clients and citizens to achieve our vision of government that works for
citizens, by helping governments work better, cost less, deliver higher value, and earn greater
public trust.
In fulfilling our mission to hold state and local governments accountable for the use of public
resources, we also hold ourselves accountable by continually improving our audit quality and
operational efficiency and developing highly engaged and committed employees.
As an elected agency, the State Auditor's Office has the independence necessary to objectively
perform audits and investigations. Our audits are designed to comply with professional standards
as well as to satisfy the requirements of federal, state, and local laws.
Our audits look at financial information and compliance with state, federal and local laws on the
part of all local governments, including schools, and all state agencies, including institutions of
higher education. In addition, we conduct performance audits of state agencies and local
governments as well as fraud, state whistleblower and citizen hotline investigations.
The results of our work are widely distributed through a variety of reports, which are available
on our website and through our free, electronic subscription service.
We take our role as partners in accountability seriously, and provide training and technical
assistance to governments, and have an extensive quality assurance program.
Contact information for the State Auditor’s Office
Deputy Director for Communications
Thomas Shapley
Thomas.Shapley@sao.wa.gov
(360) 902-0367
Public Records requests (360) 725-5617
Main telephone (360) 902-0370
Toll-free Citizen Hotline (866) 902-3900
Website www.sao.wa.gov