P-D story on Bess

Just now got back from the meeting at Three Rivers Community College during which State Auditor Susan Montee released the audit of the college. Of the 43-page report, just over two pages were about the Booster Club.

I asked TRCC coach Gene Bess about the story in Sunday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch and here's what he had to say:

"I'm still upset over the article in the Post-Dispatch because there were so many inaccuracies involved," Gene Bess said. "They brought up stuff that had happened that had nothing to do with the audit.

"It was just an attempt to bash me. Bash me and the program. I know it, I don't have a doubt in my mind."

I will have something in Tuesday's edition of the DAR.

If you want to read the entire audit, you can find a copy of it here.

From earlier

It seems that the long-awaited audit on the Three Rivers Community College will include something to write about, according to a story in Sunday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

You can read the P-D story here.

Of course, if you're a regular following of this blog (hi mom) then you probably remember reading my October 9, 2008 entry.

And if my memory is correct, I believe Tim Krakowiak of the DAR has written about the previous internal audits (Oct. 19, 2007, below) and what they found. (He'll get a chance to see the audit and talk with TRCC officials and the auditor Monday since nobody gave us a copy early.)

It will be an interesting meeting to say the least, but the big news will be what the NJCAA will have to say about all this.

The NJCAA will have the final say, but that "inquiry" has been slowed by the change of leadership last winter. Ellen Leicht was named the new Executive Director of the NJCAA on July 10.

If anything comes up Monday, I'll post about it.

Here's the story Tim did on the school's audit back on Oct. 19, 2007:

he annual audit report for Three Rivers Community College was unanimously approved during the board meeting Thursday. Although there was little discussion about the report among board members, the lengthy documentation included one modification.

While the financial record of the college foundation has been a regular feature of the audit, the financial activity of the Booster Club has not been previously reported by the college until now.

The report, written by an audit firm based in St. Louis, requests more complete documentation for expenditures from athletic activities in accordance with the National Junior College Athletic Association.

"Anytime you got a public organization, you want everything as tight as possible," said Jim Schmersahl, certified public accountant with Schmersahl Treloar & Co. "We reviewed the foundation's finances years ago and gave them some comments and now we're doing the same for the Booster Club."

The Booster Club is a not-for-profit organization, legally separate from the college, in place to provide assistance and support to the college athletic programs.

According to the audit report, "the Booster Club suffers from the lack of arms length insistence for more complete documentation for receipts and expenditures."

The report suggests, to avoid scrutiny, the Booster Club should show more complete documentation for expenditures in compliance with appropriate federal and state tax regulations for all assets.

The report cites specific cases of "unaccounted for funds," or funds presented as disbursed on behalf of college sports teams for which no receipts were available to support the expenditure.

There were allegedly no supporting receipts for nearly $1,000 and $500 spent to support the Raiders on various road trips, according to the report. This money was in addition to the payments made by the college to support the road trip. They are lump sum cash advances from Booster Club revenue.

An example for not representing a taxable income, according to the report, is a $100,000 life insurance policy on the life of men's basketball coach and Athletic Director Gene Bess. The report states a portion of the premiums associated with this life insurance benefit may represent taxable income.

After the report was passed out at the regularly scheduled meeting, the board appraised representatives from the auditing firm and agreed that good governmental auditing standards were displayed.

"It's a better true picture," said Board Vice Chair Steve Cookson.

Board Chair Gene Grassham congratulated the firm for "a wonderful job" keeping the board informed.

"It helps us see where we want to go and what we want to do," said Grassham. "That's worth a lot to me and to the college."

Three Rivers Executive Vice President Dr. Larry Kimbrow called the report sound financial footing.

Schmersahl replied, "There's no reason this shouldn't continue."

The auditing firm hired three years ago by the college has made no drastic changes, according to Robbie Myers, vice president for administration and governmental affairs.

"I don't think the Booster Club will see anything onerous," said Myers. "We just want the athletic department to be able to compete and be successful in a professional manner."

Charles Love, treasurer for the Booster Club, said today he is not prepared to comment on the report as he has yet to see it.

As for the financial standing of the college reported in the audit, it is up about $575,000 in tuition and fees and down about $160,000 from the student housing operation.

Back from sick leave, Three Rivers President Dr. John Cooper attended the board meeting last night. It was his first meeting since June.

Cooper said he was glad to be back and complimented Kimbrow on his job as acting president.

During the president's report, Cooper announced the medical laboratory technology program recently received accreditation from the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences.

"That's a major step for the program," said Cooper.

This allows the program to be recognized by other agencies, hospitals and employees, plus gives more credit to employees, according to Kimbrow.