REPORT TO STADIUM AUDIT COMMITTEE
SUBJECT
Title
Information memo on reconciliation of public safety expenditures and fiscal reporting
Report
At the November 27, 2017, Stadium Authority Audit Committee, it was requested that staff return with a reconciliation of public safety expenditures charged to a pre-operations account, referred to as the "Construction Fund" in the Harvey M. Rose audit (Audit). After reviewing internally the due diligence required to complete this work, and the absence of in-house audit resources, it has become clear that this effort should be performed by independent professional auditors.
The SCSA Board has requested confirmation that the charges against this account were valid and consistent with the purpose of the Fund (including the details of when the charges were made to the fund with respect to when the services were provided, who requested the payment, and all with reference to when the Grand Jury on Measure J began. In order to conduct such work, each charge to the account would need to be examined for legitimacy and then verified that the value of each charge totals the final expenditures recorded against the Fund. Given that these financial transactions were completed by multiple department staff, as well as involved outside vendors and/or parties, it would be inconsistent with professional standards to have these entities perform their own due diligence and validation of these expenditures.
It is unfortunate that this desired review went without these disclosures during prior discussions of the Harvey M. Rose audit and that much time has been lost to bring closure to these very valid questions that support transparency, accountability, and proper fiscal management. As noted in the Audit (page 149):
"the absence of review and approval of a budget for a portion of the costs of Stadium operations by its governing body reflects a lack of internal controls and transparency over Stadium costs. While some of the staff activiti...
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