HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 Accountability Audit Report
Accountability Audit Report
City of Port Townsend
Jefferson County
For the period January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2015
Published September 1, 2016
Report No. 1017341
Insurance Building, P.O. Box 40021 Olympia, Washington 98504-0021 (360) 902-0370 TDD Relay (800) 833-6388
September 1, 2016
Mayor and City 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
OLYMPIA, WA
Washington State Auditor’s Office
Washington State Auditor’s Office Page 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Audit Summary ............................................................................................................................... 4
Related Reports ............................................................................................................................... 5
Information About The City ........................................................................................................... 6
About The State Auditor’s Office ................................................................................................... 7
Washington State Auditor’s Office Page 4
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, 2014 through December 31, 2015.
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:
Cash receipting
General disbursements
Financial condition
Open public meetings
Self-insurance
Washington State Auditor’s Office Page 5
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.
That report is available on our website, http://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch.
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 Schedule of Findings
and Questioned Costs section of the separate financial statement and single audit report. That
report is available on our website, http://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch.
Washington State Auditor’s Office Page 6
INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITY
The City of Port Townsend serves 9,485 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 118 employees in 2015 and 107 employees in
2014. The City's operating and capital revenues were approximately $37 million and $26 million
in fiscal years 2015 and 2014, respectively.
Contact information related to this report
Address: City of Port Townsend
250 Madison Street, Suite 1
Port Townsend, WA 98368
Contact: Nora Mitchell, Finance Director
Telephone: (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 7
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
Public Records requests PublicRecords@sao.wa.gov
Main telephone (360) 902-0370
Toll-free Citizen Hotline (866) 902-3900
Website www.sao.wa.gov