Report of State Auditor 1999

• Year: 1999
• Title: Report of the State Auditor
• CWCB Section: Finance
• Description: Evalation of Actions Taken on the 1998 Colorado Water Conservation Board Construction Fund Loan Program as of December 1999
• Publications - Doc Type: Tech Report

1
Report of The Colorado State Auditor 25
' Database that tracks every aspect of a project from application through repayment. The
Database is continually being populated with historic and current project information.
Office of the State Auditor's Evaluation of Actions Taken
(December 1999):
In progress. In response to our audit, the CWCB initiated two projects to help improve its
procedures for maintaining loan records and to develop a consistent, centralized filing
system. As mentioned previously,the CWCB developed the Construction Fund Database,
which maintains and tracks various aspects of a project from application to repayment of the
loan. We reviewed the information contained in the database and found it to be
comprehensive. In addition,the CWCB plans to implement an electronic document imaging
system that should improve its maintenance of loan records. According to CWCB staff,the
system is currently in the design phase and is scheduled for implementation in 2000. Finally,
we reviewed a sample of nine files to evaluate their organization and found that all nine were
well-organized in a logical and efficient manner.
Ensure Borrowers Receive Timely and Accurate Bills
Project sponsors are obligated to begin payments on their loans one year after their projects are
determined to be"substantially completed." Annual payments are due until each sponsor's loan is
paid in full. In most cases this is for a period of 30 years but can range from 10 to 40 years. In our
1998 audit we identified weaknesses in the Board's billing procedures. Specifically, we found
several instances where the Board sent borrowers bills that were either inaccurate or not timely.
Recommendation No. 14 (September 1998):
The Water Conservation Board should ensure that its borrowers receive bills that are timely and that
contain accurate information. This should include a management review of the information
contained in the billing statements and a periodic review of all loan files to identify and correct
information that is inaccurate or out of date.
Water Conservation Board's Report Response
(September 1998):
Agree. Billing information for all existing projects will be reviewed, verified, and
incorporated into the loan project database by June 30, 1999.
1