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Follow-up on

Take-Home District Vehicles Audit

February 11, 2011

Report #2011-02

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Arthur C. Johnson, Ph.D. *

Superintendent of Schools

School Board Members Audit Committee Members

Frank Barbieri, Jr., Esq. * Cindy Adair, CPA, Chair

Debra Robinson, M.D., Vice Chair Richard Roberts, CPA, Vice Chair

Marcia Andrews Gregory S. Daniel

Monroe Benaim, M.D. Max Davis

Karen Brill Carrie Hill

Jennifer Prior Brown, Esq. * Noah Silver, CPA

Chuck Shaw David Talley

Bruce Harris, Esq. *

Robert Dow *

* Representatives

MISSION STATEMENT

The School Board of Palm Beach County is committed to excellence in education and preparation of all our students with the knowledge, skills, and

ethics required for responsible citizenship and productive employment.

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Follow-up on

Take-Home District Vehicles Audit

Table of Contents

Page

PURPOSE AND AUTHORITY 1 SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 1 BACKGROUND 2

CONCLUSIONS 1. Vehicle Utilization Logs Not Maintained 2 2. Estimated 99% Utilization Was for Staff Commuting 3

3. Total Costs for Staff Commuting 3

ATTACHMENTS

1. School Board Policy 2.28, School District Owned Vehicles 5

2. Vehicle Utilization Log (PBSD 2040) 6

APPENDIX

Management’s Response 8

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M E M O R A N D U M TO: Honorable Chair and Members of the School Board Arthur C. Johnson, Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools Chair and Members of the Audit Committee FROM: Lung Chiu, CPA, District Auditor DATE: February 11, 2011 SUBJECT: Follow-Up on Take-Home District Vehicles Audit

PURPOSE AND AUTHORITY As requested by the Audit Committee at its December 10, 2010, Meeting, we have completed the Follow-up Audit of the Take-Home District Vehicles, specifically, to include the vehicles assigned to the former Chief Academic Officer (CAO) during his employment with the School District. The primary objective of this follow-up audit was to determine whether the assignment of District take-home vehicles to the former CAO complied with School Board Policies.

SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY

This follow-up audit was performed by Stephanie Steeves, Certified Internal Auditor, in accordance with Government Auditing Standards, during December 16, 2010 through January 4, 2011 and included;

Reviewing related Florida Statutes, School Board Policies, and department procedures.

Reviewing fuel and maintenance records for the assigned vehicles and leave records for the former CAO.

Interviewing staff of former CAO, and Accounting and Transportation Departments.

Draft audit findings were sent to the Superintendent’s Office and Transportation Department for review and comments. Management’s response is included in the Appendix. We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by District staff during the audit. The final draft report was presented to the Audit Committee at its February 11, 2011, meeting.

THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF LUNG CHIU, CPA ARTHUR C. JOHNSON, Ph.D. PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA DISTRICT AUDITOR SUPERINTENDENT OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT AUDITOR 3318 FOREST HILL BLVD., C-306 WEST PALM BEACH, FL 33406 (561) 434-7335 FAX: (561) 434-8652

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BACKGROUND

School Board Policy 2.28, School District Owned Vehicles (Attachment 1), provides that certain employees be assigned the responsibility of driving a District-owned vehicle to their residence after their duty day is concluded. Driving a District-owned vehicle home shall be an employment condition and, the vehicle shall only be driven between the employee’s residence

and a designated work site during non-duty hours. Vehicles furnished to employees are to be used exclusively for District business and shall not be used at any time for personal use or for convenience. School Board Policy 2.28, Section 4, that governs the use of District-owned vehicles, identifies the following criteria for assigning the vehicles:

The employee is on-call and/or has emergency response duties.

The employee is assigned duties at multiple work sites.

If an employee qualifies for either of the above circumstances on a temporary basis, a District vehicle may be assigned on a corresponding temporary basis.

Take-Home District Vehicles Assigned to the Former CAO. Two Take-Home District Vehicles were assigned to the former CAO during his employment with the School District; i.e. during May 4, 2009, through June 30, 2010.

Period Vehicle # Vehicle Description

May 6, 2009 Through

September 29, 2009

713

2003 Chevrolet Trail Blazer

September 29, 2009 Through

June 24, 2010

2039

2009 Ford Escape

CONCLUSIONS

1. Vehicle Utilization Logs Not Maintained

School Board Policy 2.28 states

“Vehicle utilization logs will be maintained by all employees assigned District-owned

vehicles.”

Moreover, as required by the Guidelines of the Vehicle Utilization Log (PBSD 2040),

1. All trips shall be documented.

2. The last day of each month, the driver shall sign the log and deliver it to the appropriate

department head for approval and signature.

3. The log shall be forwarded to the Director of Transportation.

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According to Transportation, neither the Vehicle Utilization Logs for both vehicles were prepared by the former CAO, delivered to the Superintendent for approval and signature, nor forwarded to Transportation during his employment with the School District.

2. Estimated 99% Utilization Was For Staff Commuting

Pursuant to School Board Policy 2.28, Section 2,

“Vehicles utilization logs will be maintained by all employee assigned District owned

vehicles.” However, the former CAO did not maintain the required Vehicle Utilization Logs (Attachment 2) for the two vehicles assigned to him. Consequently, we were unable to determine the extent to which the assigned vehicles were used for District business. As an alternative, based on the PeopleSoft’s Employee Leave Records for the former CAO and

the odometer readings recorded on the fuel logs for the two vehicles, we noted that the two vehicles recorded a total usage of 26,607 miles during May 9, 2009, through May 7, 2010. Please note that May 7, 2010, was the last date that refueling transaction was recorded. Assuming the former CAO drove the assigned vehicles to work from his residence during the days he reported to work, and based on the distance between his residence and his primary work station, we found that an estimated 26,356 miles, or 99% of total 26,607 usage miles were for staff commuting.

Primary Work

Location Period

Number of Days

Reporting to Work *

Daily Commuting Miles

(Round Trip) **

Total

Commuting

Miles

District’s Headquarters

May 6, 2009 Through

December 31, 2009 150 123.7 Miles 18,555 Miles

Lake Worth High School

January 1, 2010 Through

May 7, 2010 66 118.2 Miles 7,801 Miles

Total 26,356 Miles

*Based on PeopleSoft Employee Leave Records and District calendars

** Distance based on Google Map Search calculations

3. Total Costs For Staff Commuting

Total costs to the District to maintain the two assigned vehicles during May 6, 2009, and May 7, 2010, was $3,050; i.e. $1,626 for fuel and maintenance and $1,424 for depreciation. According to Transportation staff, Vehicle #2039 was returned to Transportation on June 24, 2010, and only 151 miles in usage was recorded on the odometer for the period May 7, through June 24, 2010. It appears that the vehicle was not used by the former CAO for commuting during that time.

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Management’s Response: Management agrees with the follow-up audit report on the Chief

Academic Officer’s take home vehicle assigned last fiscal year. Management has submitted its

response to the original audit recommendations and believes that response applies to this

expanded scope report. In that response, management agreed to update policy 2.28, School

District Owned Vehicles, to address the following Audit recommendations:

The level of approval required for authorizing take home vehicles

Acceptable percentage of mileage attributable to commuting and business miles

Frequency of management review of take home vehicle business usage

Annual review of the need for vehicle assignment which includes take home use.

In addition, a review of Form PBSD 2040, Vehicle Utilization Log, for signature compliance will

be addressed.

As stated in response to the original audit, a revised policy will be presented to the Board for

consideration before any new authorization for take home vehicle use is made, excluding School

Police, and not later than the end of the current fiscal year.

(Please see page 8.)

– End of Report –

Attachment 1

School Board Policy 2.28

School District Owned Vehicles

5

Attachment 1

School Board Policy 2.28

School District Owned Vehicles

6

Attachment 2

Vehicle Utilization Log (PBSD 2040)

7

Appendix

Management’s Response

8