Issues found with Soap Lake School District

SOAP LAKE - State auditors found problems with how the Soap Lake Associated Student Body funds were recorded.

The Washington State Auditor's Office issued a management letter as part of its audit of the district. The office regularly examines the records of governmental agencies examining financial reports, accountability and compliance with state laws, according to the report. The auditors examined the district's records from September 2008 to August 2010.

Auditors noted six concerns with how money was recorded for the associate student body. Auditors noted records of student government approval of two events didn't exist, the money wasn't reconciled for four events and there was inaccurate post-event reconciliation for four events.

"Deposits were not made in a timely manner," the auditors noted. "Eight deposits were made seven days or more after the event ... Two deposits were held up to 25 days."

They also found an employee kept unsold yearbooks at home and based on the number of yearbooks sold, auditors estimated between $1,200 and $1,440 in revenue. The district only recorded revenue at $725.

District Fiscal Director Denise Mehal explained the problem with the yearbook revenue was the money was given the wrong code when it was put in the system.

She said the items in the management letter indicated the district needed to tighten it's internal controls. The district is educating staff and making sure deposits are made correctly and on time.

"It's just normal stuff that happens in the ASB," she said. "It's more an issue of when things are being done than things not being done."