An Audit Report on the Historical Commission
August 2005
Report Number 05-049
Overall Conclusion
The Historical Commission (Agency) needs to improve its grants management process. For its largest grant program-the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program-the Agency miscalculated the amount of matching funds that the Texas Administrative Code requires counties to provide to receive a courthouse grant. This resulted in three counties receiving grants even though they did not provide the required amount of matching funds. Also, for Courthouse Preservation Program and Preservation Trust Fund grants, the Agency cannot demonstrate that it always scores applications objectively or awards grants competitively.
For all five grant programs audited, the Agency needs to improve its monitoring process to ensure that grantees meet their contract requirements and are not reimbursed more than the contract amounts. Although testing identified only $600 (8 percent of contract amount) that was overpaid to a county, this demonstrates a weakness in the grants process.
The Agency is managing, monitoring, and reporting disbursements to vendors and grantees in a timely manner. Payroll and transfers between strategies were also properly processed. The majority of funds are received through wire transfer, where there were no errors found. However, the Agency should improve its controls over the receipt of cash and checks because current controls do not provide adequate assurance that all funds received are deposited.
To fully safeguard its electronic data, the Agency needs to address weaknesses in its management of user accounts. In addition, it can enhance its disaster recovery plan, complete an information security manual, and improve its controls over the spreadsheets and databases used to track grant information.
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