County auditors present three internal audit summaries; court acknowledges reports

County auditors presented summaries of three internal audit engagements to the Cameron County Commissioners Court on May 20, 2025 and the court acknowledged the reports.

Liz Herrera Lafa, Internal Audit Director, summarized the first audit covering first-quarter (Oct–Dec 2024) property tax refunds in the Tax Assessor-Collector’s office. Auditors reported sample testing of refunds (481 checks totaling $904,520) and noted seven findings overall; three newer findings discussed at the meeting included an instance of duplicate refunds due to mismatched system records, an instance of a refund issued before confirming the original check cleared bank processing, and the tax office’s use of separate software (eTax and Quicken) that requires manual re-entry and creates potential for data entry errors. The tax office said it is working with vendors to implement integrated solutions and had begun remediation for discussed items.

The second summary covered monthly activity reports to the Office of Court Administration for October 2024–March 2025. Auditors reported 94% overall compliance in timely filing and said extensions were documented for certain reports.

The third audit summarized monthly collections reporting (Oct–Mar 2025) and reported an 85% overall compliance rate. Auditors said departments that were noncompliant were notified and management action plans were developed.

Commissioners asked for a concise copy of the presentation that can be included in the official record; auditors confirmed full detailed reports were posted with the county clerk and would be provided to the court. The court voted to acknowledge the audit presentations.