An Audit Report on Selected Business Functions at the Texas Forest Service
March 2008
Report Number 08-025
Overall Conclusion
The Texas Forest Service (Forest Service) follows applicable state laws and Forest Service policies and procedures to account for emergency response incidents and for its administration of assistance grants to volunteer fire departments. However, the Forest Service should strengthen certain controls over accounting for emergency response incidents and grants administration.
The methodology the Forest Service used to calculate the emergency appropriations it needed to pay for emergency response expenditures incurred during the 2006 fire season was reasonable. Auditors concluded that, although no payment errors were found, the Forest Service could improve its process for verifying invoices billed to it from other government and private entities prior to payment; in response, the Forest Service revised its procedures during the course of this audit to include reviews of emergency incident resource orders prior to approving payments.
In general, the Forest Service processed expenditures for travel, purchasing, fuel, and payroll in accordance with state laws and Forest Service policies and procedures. However, it should strengthen controls over completing and submitting its supporting documentation in a timely manner.
In fiscal year 2006, the Forest Service funded 2,151 grant requests from volunteer fire departments for a total of $15,154,410 in Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program funds (see text box for information on the assistance program). In fiscal year 2007, the Forest Service funded 2,429 grant requests for a total of $15,871,065. The Forest Service generally awards grants, processes expenditures, and monitors grants in accordance with applicable policies, grant provisions, and state and federal regulations. However, the Forest Service should strengthen its controls over determining fire departments' eligibility for federal grant funds and over its inspections of large equipment purchases.
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