Photos for Headline Surfer / Votran, the public bus company funded by Volusia County, is being audited, as are the three local tourism advertising authorities, and the county's cybersecurity. The reviews, described as routine, will be done by Jonathan Edwards, who is Volusia County's internal auditor, shown below, who addressed the elected council leaders on Tuesday.
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DELAND, Fla. -- Volusia County’s Votran transportation system, the county’s three tourism advertising authorities and cybersecurity issues will get some additional attention from the county’s internal auditor, the County Council decided earlier today in a unanimous vote.
While no problems are suspected, the county auditor agreed that the selected areas are priorities for auditing to ensure that the county’s internal controls are sound.
Shortly after his hiring December, Internal Auditor Jonathan Edwards was directed by the County Council to conduct financial audits of the county’s tax-supported ECHO and Volusia Forever funds.
Council members asked for the audits while they face a decision on whether to put the programs that pay for recreational facilities and land preservation efforts back on the ballot to see if voters want to renew them. With those audits nearly completed, Edwards presented the council on Tuesday with an audit plan for the rest of the fiscal year.
After conducting a risk assessment of the county’s divisions and programs, Edwards, who is paid $130,000 annually chose the three areas to audit because he said they posed the greatest possibility for risk and liability to the county. By risk, Edwards means the potential for loss to a division due to error, fraud, inefficiency, failure to comply with statutory requirements or actions which may have a negative impact on the county.
After conducting a risk assessment of the county’s divisions and programs, Edwards, who is paid $130,000 annually chose the three areas to audit because he said they posed the greatest possibility for risk and liability to the county. By risk, Edwards means the potential for loss to a division due to error, fraud, inefficiency, failure to comply with statutory requirements or actions which may have a negative impact on the county.
In a memo that accompanied Tuesday’s meeting agenda, Edwards said the risk analysis will be regularly updated to track areas that have been audited and identify areas for future audits.
“This is the first evaluation of the county’s audit risk and will be continuously updated and modified as time goes on,” Edwards wrote in his memo. “This process provides a tool to assign priority for the purpose of reducing the risk and liability exposure through observations, testing, analysis, and recommendations.”
Votran is funded in part by state and federal grants that come with restrictions on how the money can be used. The county’s three advertising authorities – the Halifax Area Advertising Authority, the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority and the West Volusia Advertising Authority – are appointed by the County Council and spend bed taxes on hotels and other accommodations to market and promote their areas as tourist and event destinations.
The three advertising authorities have a combined annual budget of approximately $12 million.
Due to the nature and uniqueness of cybersecurity issues, an outside auditor with expertise in that area will be brought in to conduct that audit. The county’s internal auditor will oversee the process.
The findings of the audits will be simultaneously reported to the County Council and county manager. In addition to the three audits approved on Tuesday, as part of his job duties, the internal auditor has the authority to perform random, unannounced and surprise audits of cash collections throughout county departments.
In all that he does, Edwards stressed on Tuesday that his audits must be free of partiality in action and appearance.
“Internal audit is required to be independent in mind and in appearance in order to conduct audits and form conclusions without bias and the appearance of conflicts,” Edwards told council members.