City Of Hartford Department of Development Services Special Event Fee Billing and Collection Audit
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a.
In certain instances, the Special Events Coordinator receives checks paid by sponsors for special event fees. For control and segregation of duty purposes, the person responsible for the billing of special event fees should not receive and/or have access to checks for fees paid by special event sponsors. Although MECA management informed us that they immediately forward any checks they receive to the Finance Department Revenue Management Unit, this does not mitigate the control issue. We recommend that DDS management make other arrangements with either the Finance Department Revenue Manager or the Licenses and Inspections Division for the receipt and processing of checks in these instances. b.
Special event fees are not always being billed in a timely manner. We noted that a $10,000 fee for an event that occurred in October 2013 was not billed until January 22, 2014. In addition, at least 50% of this fee should have been paid by the sponsor before the event occurred. We recommend that action be taken to ensure that all special event fees are billed and paid in a timely manner in the future. c.
Special event fees are not always being billed in accordance with
policies and procedures. According to the policies and procedures, “If
the Event Organizer (EO) is a non-profit 100% of the invoice will be invoiced and the EO must pay upfront 50% of the total SE costs. All for profit events will be invoiced and must pay 100% of the cost
s upfront.”
i.
MECA did not ensure that fees totaling $4,546 for four special events were paid by the sponsors before the events occurred. As a result, the related fees remained unpaid and outstanding for periods of one to four months. MECA management informed us
that these fees, which were for weddings, were billed up front as required and that it is the Finance Department’s responsibi
lity to collect them. We believe, however, that MECA should not allow these events to occur without the fees being paid as required. We also believe that this is something that would be more effectively handled and controlled by MECA. ii.
MECA did not require non-profit sponsors to pay 50% of the total costs for eight events upfront as required. As a result, the related fees totaling $13,405 remained unpaid and outstanding for periods of one to four months. We recommend that DDS management take action to ensure that all special event fees are paid in advance before the events occur as in the case of the weddings noted above and are billed in accordance with policies and procedures in the future. 2.
It is not easily discernible that the standard flat fees and/or any other applicable costs associated with departments that provide services or support for each special event are billed to the respective sponsors as required. a.
We noted that while the estimated costs associated with the departments involved in the support of special events are discussed during the review and planning process, the estimated costs are not documented. As a result, there is no record of what the total estimated costs to the City will be for each special event for the services and support provided by the Police, Public Works, Fire or any other applicable department. b.
It is not easily discernible how the fees to be billed for each event were developed and established because the related process and basis for what is ultimately billed to the sponsor is not documented. c.
It is not readily evident that all special event fees and costs are billed to sponsors as required because special events are not being tracked and reported on from the time a permit is issued by the DDS Licenses and Inspections Division until any related fees or actual costs are billed to the respective event sponsor.