The audit found that the Animal Control Section generally maintained adequate internal controls governing the collection of license fees and other revenues which provided reasonable assurance that revenues, in all material respects, were safeguarded and properly accounted for in 1995 and 1996.

Finding 2. Minor weaknesses were noted in the Animal Control Section's practices pertaining to cash handling, accounting, and reporting procedures involving the sale of licenses and collection of fees.

In reviewing some of the September 1995 and July and September 1996 daily operations recaps and other accounting records, audit staff noted some weaknesses in internal controls that needed improvement upon by the Animal Control Section.

The audit recommended the Animal Control Section should clearly incorporate in its written policies and procedures the provision that daily cash register tapes and voided receipts, with adequate explanations for their cancellation, should be attached to the daily operations recaps to document the amount of fees collected and any adjustments, and that the collections should be deposited daily, but no later than a banking day from the date of collection.

Finding 3. The Licensing and Regulatory Services Division allowed its field officers and inspectors to collect cash, instead of checks only, from customers for pet licenses and other fees.

In audit staff opinion, allowing field officers and inspectors to receive cash payments in the field exposes these employees to the risk of being robbed, thus placing their personal safety in potential danger. Also "check only" payments would strengthen the internal controls over the handling procedures for collections.

The audit recommended that the Licensing and Regulatory Services Division should prohibit its field officers and inspectors from collecting cash from pet owners and businesses in order to minimize the risk to their personal safety and lessen exposure of collections to the risk of loss or irregularities.

Finding 4. Some errors were noted in the accounting for license fees, spay and neuter deposits, and refunds of license fees to customers and incorporated cities.

License fees and spay/neuter deposits, when refunded to customers, are supposed to be accounted for as reductions to particular revenue accounts. Audit staff noted that some accounting entries for the refund of license fees and spay/neuter deposits were erroneously made by reducing other accounts.

The audit recommended that the Licensing and Regulatory Services Division and the Department of Finance should review the procedures in accounting for license fees, deposits, and refunds in 1995 and 1996, and prepare entries to correct accounting errors.

The audit also recommended that the Licensing and Regulatory Services Division and the Department of Finance should explain the correct procedures in accounting for license fees, deposits, and refunds to their accounting personnel.

Finding 5. The County should provide pet owners an option to buy licenses that are valid for two years to reduce administrative workload and generate savings.

The County issues licenses to pet owners that are valid for one year. The County could generate savings by providing pet owners the option to buy pet licenses that are valid for two years.

The County issued approximately 99,800 pet licenses in 1996. Initially, if twenty percent (20%) of pet licenses were issued and valid for two years (as experienced by the City of Seattle), it is estimated that the County could potentially save an average of $43,000 a year.

The audit recommended that the Licensing and Regulatory Services Division should study the option of allowing pet owners to purchase pet licenses that expire in two years from month of issue and report the results of their study, including options, fee structures, and other related recommendations, to the Metropolitan King County Council.

Finding 6. The Animal Control Section occasionally receives unrestricted donations from the public that are available for the County's use. However, the amount of contributions has not been reported as a revenue source and has remained unappropriated and continued to accumulate in the County's miscellaneous trust fund.

Some pet owners and customers of the Animal Control Section donated small amounts of money to the County. These donations were unrestricted as to their use. In 1996, the County received about $27,000 in public contributions, and the accumulated amount of such contributions was about $103,000, as of December 31, 1996. Since this amount for budget purposes was not reported as a revenue source, the contributions remained unappropriated, and hence, unspent.

The audit recommended that the Licensing and Regulatory Services Division and the Department of Finance should recognize public contributions as revenue, "Contribution and Donation/Private Source" (Account No. 36700) in the Current Expense Fund, instead of crediting them to the Miscellaneous Trust Fund. The accumulated amount of contributions in the Miscellaneous Trust Fund should be made available for appropriation in the next budget process.

Finding 7. The County was not fully reimbursed for the costs it incurred in providing animal control services to the residents of incorporated cities.

The County issued pet licenses and provided other animal control services to residents of unincorporated areas as well as incorporated cities of King County. In 1995 and 1996, the Current Expense Fund subsidized the deficit operations of the Animal Control Section by $1,169,000 and $1,249,000, respectively.

If the County had been reimbursed appropriately by incorporated cities for animal control services provided in 1996, incorporated cities would have contributed about $700,000 more to the Current Expense Fund.

The audit recommended that the County should consider reviewing its funding policies with the incorporated cities to ensure full recovery of costs in providing animal control services to residents of incorporated cities.

Updated: 06/24/02