Legislative Audit Committee approves dozens of audit-report extensions, denies repeat requests

The Legislative Audit Committee approved multiple sets of audit-report deadline extensions and denied several second-extension requests at its April meeting, while committee members pressed staff for updates on high-profile cases including Temple Sinai, Education Explosion charter school and Bogalusa.

Judy Detwiller, director of local government services at the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office, told the committee that 123 entities had requested extensions since the committee’s December meeting and that most requests were driven by staffing shortages, turnover or software upgrades. “Most of the extensions are due to staffing shortages, turnover, and software upgrades either at the entity itself, the audit firm, or their contract accounting firm,” Detwiller said.

Detwiller said the requests included 112 non-emergency extensions (34 of those were for 90 days or less on the tan sheet and 23 on the blue sheet for 90 days or greater), three emergency requests and eight requests that were denied. She told members that 15 extension requests had been received after approval and were being presented as a formality on the green sheet.

Representative Freddie Freiberg moved approval of the meeting minutes and then moved and secured committee approval for the various extension lists after staff recommendations. Representative Jason Hughes moved approval of the blue (90 days or greater) list; Senator Mizell moved approval of the two emergency 90-day-or-less requests; Representative Hughes moved approval of the green (reports received) list; and Senator Mizell moved approval of the denial list. Each motion carried with no recorded roll-call votes.

Committee members pressed staff for details on specific entities. Representative C. Freeman asked about a $500,000 receipt reported for Temple Sinai: “Do you know what the receipt of the $500,000 funds were for?” Detwiller said the auditor’s office did not yet have detail on the funds and that staff would investigate and report back. Detwiller also confirmed that Second Harvest Food Bank and other local entities were being affected by related Archdiocese bankruptcy matters and that audit reports tied to those events would still have to be filed with the auditor’s office.

Education Explosion, a charter operator discussed repeatedly by members, was singled out for having missed a second extension. Detwiller explained that the operator had received a first extension (through Jan. 31) and failed to meet that deadline, then requested a second extension (through Feb. 28) that the office denied. Committee members and staff described ongoing work to ensure state funds continue to flow to payroll and vendors while the Department of Education and the auditor’s office address account access and governance issues. “We’ve had to go through some special steps with Department of Ed to get those funds to flow through to make sure the teachers are continuing to get paid and the bills are being expensed,” Detwiller said.

Members also discussed Bogalusa, which had been placed under fiscal administration after judge-approved intervention. Senator Mizell and others outlined the process that triggers a fiscal administrator: entities that are three years behind in filing audits can be subject to automatic fiscal-administration proceedings under state fiscal-administration law. Detwiller said a fiscal administrator can free an entity from the noncompliance list so the administrator may access funds and complete the missing audits.

Calcasieu Parish School Board was noted as an emergency extension (more than 90 days) because staff were waiting on information from state recovery sources, including GOSEP and FEMA, related to hurricane response.

The committee’s approvals were procedural: members moved and passed motions to accept or deny the several colored extension lists after staff recommendations. No roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript; motions passed by voice vote.

The committee concluded the extensions portion of its agenda by thanking Department of Education staff for outreach that helped bring school boards into compliance and by moving on to the Legislative Audit’s budget presentation.

Ending

Committee staff committed to follow up on the Temple Sinai funds and to provide updates on Education Explosion and Bogalusa. Several legislators praised the auditor’s local-government outreach and training work as a factor that reduced long-standing delinquency in filings.