Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Executive Summary for Closed Reports

Original Report

Report No. OIO 13-01-14 OTR: Audit of Internal Controls Over the Examination Unit of the Recorder of Deeds (ROD) at the Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR), dated February 4, 2014.

Current Status

Closed.

Chief Risk Officer’s Risk Assessment

The Recorder of Deed function is the first step in accurate billing of real property and subsequent collection of real property taxes. Due to the import of this function in the OCFO’s critical mission and the impact on all real property owners, the Inherent Risk Rating is High. Therefore, particular attention is paid all recommendations from OIO.

Overview of Recommendations

OIO offered two recommendations and both were implemented to further strengthen existing internal controls.

• ROD has reemphasized to examiners the standard procedures for deed review regarding the 30-day calendar requirement for recording deeds. OTR has also established procedures to have ROD supervisors note the reasons for waiving any late fees on the FP-7 property tax return.
• ROD will now sign off on each examiner's SOAR (the District’s general ledger system) review summary and compare it to the general ledger in E-Stars (ROD’s system).  OTR will provide the Office of Finance and Treasury (OFT) a copy of the ledger for each corresponding SOAR revenue summary.

To view the full report, go to: Audit of Internal Controls Over the Examination Unit of the Recorder of Deeds (ROD) at the Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR).