The Military Department improperly paid several former employees’ vacation and sick leave separation payments, according to a recent audit.
The audit, which covered fiscal years 2022 and 2023, found the department overpaid two employees by $1,040 and underpaid one employee $700 as part of the lump sum payment employees receive for unused sick and vacation hours when they leave, per a collective bargaining agreement.
In total, the department paid $401,310 to 22 employees who left the department during the audit period. Auditors reviewed records from ten employees, selected at random.
Military Department officials said they agreed with the auditors’ finding and were seeking additional guidance from their retirement unit. IT also said they would implement new corrective actions to prevent the issue from happening in the future, including having a payroll clerk perform calculations for separation payments, having a payroll supervisor review the calculations, and checking payroll review payouts each payment cycle.
The audit also found the department did not complete a required annual audit of its physical inventory in fiscal year 2023 for about one-third of its assets. According to auditors, the department had about 1,500 assets worth approximately $11.7 million as of August 21, 2023. Officials did not complete a physical inventory of 588 assets worth approximately $8.6 million. They also found the department didn’t properly tag 40 assets worth approximately $212,000.
Auditors stated that failure to properly inventory state assets can increase the risk of theft. They also found that the failure to conduct the inventory review was the result of understaffing.
The department also said it would implement new procedures to ensure assets were tagged and inventoried properly.
The audit further found several issues related to the Military Department’s handling of Military Relief Fund grants, which allow the department to issue grants to military households for essential goods and services they would otherwise have difficulty obtaining due to military service.
Auditors reviewed 10 grant applications totaling roughly $31,000 and found that the department approved the application for three grants late. They also did not have documentation showing when the committee approved two applications. Further, auditors found the department did not have documentation to support $657 worth of expenses it approved for a $1,450 grant. It also didn’t have funding award letters on file for two award letters totaling $7,500.
Department officials again agreed with the audit’s findings and said they would update their procedures to prevent the same issues from happening in the future.
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