An Alabama community college is under scrutiny following an audit that uncovered significant financial mismanagement.
The newly released audit, conducted by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts from October 2021 through September 2023, revealed serious lapses in Calhoun Community College's financial practices, including inadequate documentation of athletic sales revenues and delays in returning nearly $450,000 in unspent funds for inmate education.
The college, which has campuses in Decatur and Huntsville, could not provide necessary documentation for gate receipts or concession revenue for two athletic events, and lacked an approval process for determining entry fees, according to the Friday report.
Additionally, receipts for about a dozen other athletic transactions were found to have been discarded improperly, raising concerns about potential errors, misappropriations and fraud.
The audit also noted that the college inappropriately kept $449,049 in funds for prison inmate education programs long after their consolidation into J.F. Ingram State Technical College.
Although a transfer date was set by the Alabama Community College System for Aug. 15, 2022, the funds remained with Calhoun for about 20 months. Calhoun has since returned the funds after receiving a request from ACCS in April.
"By retaining these funds, stakeholders and policymakers were unaware of additional funds available to operate these programs," the auditors wrote.
The audit recommended that the college improve its financial documentation practices to ensure timely and proper management of funds and compliance with ACCS guidelines.
