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Audit: Cincinnati Parks Board didn't document $1.4K spent on credit cards, $700 in gift cards

Audit: Cincinnati Parks Board didn't document $1.4K spent on credit cards, $700 in gift cards
Posted at 7:49 AM, Mar 16, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-16 08:25:02-04

CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Park Board didn't document $1,422 in purchases made on American Express credit cards, according to results of a state audit.

Additionally, the audit states the Park Board didn't provide receipts for 10 restaurant charges and one hotel charge made on the credit cards.

The restaurant charges totaled $86. The hotel charge totaled $1,797.

The Park Board also never "maintained support for the purpose" of purchasing $700 in gift cards, nor revealed who received the gift cards, the audit states. The gift cards were all purchased on the board's American Express cards. Additionally, points earned on the credit cards were redeemed for a $100 gift card, though no record indicates who received the gift card and why.

Expenditures paid for through endowment funds did "not appear to be related to the purpose of the bequest," with some funds used for lobbyist activities, the audit said. Some car allowances were paid from the endowment funds.

The audit also found that no policy exists for credit card use on behalf of the Park Board.

In July, an outside audit of the Cincinnati Park Department found several major problems in how the agency deals with a nonprofit foundation set up to benefit it, including significant gaps in oversight, a widespread lack of checks and balances, and, in some cases, a failure to follow standard accounting practices.

Some reforms have already been made, city officials said after the release of the first audit.

But the audit's findings may not be as complete as some hoped: The auditors, with Chicago-based firm Crowe Horwath LLP, said they were limited in what data they could review.

For example, the foundation's attorney gave auditors read-only copies of financial information during meetings at the attorney's office.

Auditors said they weren't allowed to keep any hard or electronic copies of the documentation.

Read the entire state audit below:

City of Cincinnati Audit by WCPO Web Team on Scribd