Report 2017-113 Recommendations

The Legislature should require new JPA agreements to hold the members responsible for the JPA's unfunded pension and other postemployment benefits obligations and to specify the manner of apportioning those liabilities.

In addition, the Legislature should require all existing JPAs to disclose annually as part of any regularly scheduled communication to their pension and other postemployment benefits plan participants whether the JPA's members are liable for the JPA's unfunded retirement obligations.

SOCWA should finish investigating the difference in available cash balances per its audited financial statements and its accounting records, and then develop a methodology that is agreeable to its members for allocating any additional cash it identifies to the credit of its members. For example, it could allocate this money to members based on each member's existing proportion of available cash per SOCWA's accounting records.

To prevent future discrepancies in available cash balances, SOCWA should implement its improved procedures to better account for members' cash contributions and provide monthly reports of available cash balances to members.

SOCWA and its members should amend the current JPA agreement to expressly state whether members will be responsible for SOCWA's retirement benefits liabilities in the event it is not able to meet those obligations and then it should inform plan participants of that provision.

To better ensure the timely release of future financial statements, SOCWA should enhance its new procedures for preparing its financial statements by developing and following a timeline with specific deadlines for completing each of its planned year-end tasks.

To better ensure the reliability of its financial reporting, the effectiveness and efficiency of its operations, and its compliance with laws and regulations, SOCWA should establish a policy requiring it to correct within six months any future internal control deficiencies that its external auditor may identify.

To enable staff who may be unfamiliar with SOCWA's various accounting procedures to effectively complete their assigned tasks, SOCWA should further develop its accounting procedures by including step-by-step instructions.

To reduce future audit costs, SOCWA should amend its policy on professional service procurements to specify that it should enter into agreements of at least five years with its competitively procured external audit firms. It should also develop a policy to rotate its external auditor when state law requires.

To ensure that it fully complies with the Public Records Act, SOCWA should do the following:
- Update its policy on the Public Records Act at least annually to ensure that it keeps pace with any changes in the law.
- Develop more detailed procedures to ensure that it responds to requests for records in full compliance with the Public Records Act.
- Establish a policy to retain accurate records and supporting documentation to demonstrate that it fully complies with all requirements of the Public Records Act.