Audit Report on the Other Than Personal Service Expenditures of The Bronx County District Attorney’s Office July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2005

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

This audit determined whether the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office complied with certain purchasing and inventory procedures for Other Than Personal Service (OTPS) expenditures as set forth in the New York City Comptroller’s Internal Control and Accountability Directives (Comptroller’s Directives) #1, #3, #6, and #24; Procurement Policy Board (PPB) rules; City Financial Management System (FMS) accounting policies and procedures, and related bulletins; the Comptroller’s “Fiscal Year-End Closing Instructions” for June 30, 2005; and other applicable OTPS and inventory guidelines.

According to Article 13, §13, of the New York State Constitution, District Attorneys are constitutional officers elected every four years. Under New York State County Law 24, §927, the City’s five District Attorneys protect the public by investigating and prosecuting criminal conduct in their respective counties. The District Attorneys enforce the provisions of the penal law and all other statutes. Their principal activities include screening new cases, preparing information, gathering resources for hearings, and presenting cases in court for trial or appeal. The OTPS expenditures of the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office during Fiscal Year 2005 amounted to $3,008,089.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

The Bronx County District Attorney’s Office generally complied with City FMS accounting policies and procedures, Comptroller’s Directives, and its own policies and guidelines for processing purchase and contract documents and payment vouchers. However, there were exceptions of noncompliance. In addition, the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office did not comply with certain PPB rules pertaining to intergovernmental and small purchases. Specifically, the Bronx County District Attorneys’ Office: did not pre-encumber funds for purchases over $5,000; improperly used miscellaneous vouchers; did not use requirement contracts; improperly made purchases through a Health and Hospitals Corporation contract; did not substantiate prevailing market prices; split purchases of more than $5,000 to circumvent the required bidding process; paid invoices that did not correlate to the respective purchase documents; and used incorrect object codes. It should be noted that these issues were not sufficiently material to detract from our overall opinion.

Audit Recommendations

The Bronx County District Attorney’s Office should ensure that:

• It processes requisitions to pre-encumber funds and estimate liabilities prior to receiving vendor invoices.
• It uses miscellaneous vouchers appropriately.
• It makes purchases from requirement contracts when they are available and completes and remits the necessary purchase order forms to the Department of Municipal Supply Services for processing.
• Purchases made through New York State contracts are researched to determine that the prevailing market prices are lower than or equal to the prices received at the time of procurements, maintaining all relevant documentation in the files.
• Procurements for more than $5,000 are not artificially divided, and that five vendors are solicited for purchases reaching that threshold.
• All invoice details match the corresponding purchase document details.
• Object codes that most closely reflect the types of expenditures are selected.