The Office of the State Auditor (Office) runs a hotline where it receives complaints about the improper use of public funds. The Office received multiple complaints alleging Grand County (County) misused tourism-restricted funds. Today, the Office released its audit report which contained five findings detailing misuse and misreporting of restricted tourism-related tax revenues:
- Expenditures for mitigation activities exceeded statutory limit
- The County failed to apply generally accepted accounting principles for prepaid contracts
- Spending was improperly classified as tourism promotion
- Tourism promotion money was improperly spent on economic development activities
- Tourism, Recreation, Cultural, Convention, and Airport Facilities (TRCC) Tax revenue was improperly used for the Grand Center
Recommendations included reimbursement of misused funds, properly recording tourism expenditures, reclassifying prior year expenditures, and improving associated internal controls.
State Auditor John Dougall said, “When the Legislature allows a county to impose a tax for specific purposes, it is critical that the county strictly follow those statutory restrictions when spending those revenues. We noted the improper use of tourism promotion revenue for tourism mitigation and economic development activities. We also noted lax controls over restricted funds as well as justifications that would have the effect of undercutting statutory restrictions. As such, we recommend Grand County reimburse misspent money, improve its internal controls, and strengthen its tone at the top.”
The report may be found here.
