Notes from the 2023 Granite City Government Audit:
“The results of our tests disclosed instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards and which are described in the accompanying
schedule of findings and questioned costs as items 2023-001, 2023-002, and 2023-003.”
2023-001
Type of Finding: Material Weakness
Criteria: Adherence to bank reconciliation policies established by the Board of Trustees which
require bank accounts to be reconciled to the general ledger on a monthly basis.
Condition: There is a breakdown in internal controls surrounding the reconciliation of the City’s
bank accounts, as the accounts had not been timely reconciled for the entire fiscal year under audit.
Context: During our audit procedures over cash, we noted that the City’s bank accounts had not
been timely reconciled for any month during the fiscal year under audit, which caused significant
delays during the audit. While auditing other areas, we noted multiple cash transactions that had not
been recorded, thus causing material misstatements to cash balances and the related revenue and
expense balances.
Effect or Potential Effect: Deficiencies related to internal controls over cash increases the risk of
errors and material misstatements throughout the financial statements of the City.
Cause: The City’s policies and procedures were not followed, and there was no oversight to ensure
the bank reconciliations were being completed on a monthly basis.
Repeat Finding: See prior year finding 2022-001.
Recommendation: We recommend that the City’s policies for bank reconciliations be followed to
ensure that cash balances are properly stated and reconciled on a monthly basis. The finance
committee should review the bank reconciliations to verify that they have been completed properly
and timely.
2023-002
Type of Finding: Material Weakness
Criteria: Adherence to reporting deadlines administered by the State of Illinois and the Federal
Audit Clearinghouse.
Condition: Various reporting requirements administered by the State of Illinois and the Federal
Audit Clearinghouse pertaining to the year ended April 30, 2023 were not adhered to.
Context: In planning our audit, we determined that reporting deadlines pertaining to the year ended
April 30, 2023 were not met.
Effect or Potential Effect: Not filing reports timely to the State of Illinois and the Federal Audit
Clearinghouse could result in a loss of funding.
Cause: The City’s policies and procedures were not followed, and there was no oversight to ensure
the books were closed on a timely basis and reporting deadlines were met.
Repeat Finding: See prior year finding 2022-002.
2023-003
Type of Finding: Material Weakness
Criteria: Adherence to sound financial policies established by the Board of Trustees which require
account balances to be reconciled between the audit and accounting system on an annual basis.
Condition: There is a breakdown in internal controls surrounding the reconciliation of the City’s
general ledger accounts, as the accounts had not been timely reconciled for a significant period of
time.
Context: During our audit procedures, we noted that the City’s general ledger accounts had not been
timely reconciled to the prior year audited balances. This caused significant delays during the audit.
The unreconciled account balances led to a significant number of prior period adjustments.
Effect or Potential Effect: Deficiencies related to internal controls over the general ledger increase
the risk of errors and material misstatements throughout the financial statements of the City.
Cause: The City’s policies and procedures were not followed, and there was no oversight to ensure
the account reconciliation were being completed on a monthly basis.
Repeat Finding: See prior year finding 2022-003.
Recommendation: We recommend that the City’s policies for reconciliations be followed to ensure
that balances are properly stated and reconciled on a monthly basis. The finance committee should
review the reconciliations to verify that they have been completed properly and timely.