Seattle port finds 2007 accounts in good order

Seattle port finds 2007 accounts in good order The Port of Seattle's 2007 financial statements received a “clean, unqualified” bill-of-health Tuesday from a port-hired accounting firm that conducted a two-month audit of the documents earlier this year.
   Seattle commissioners and officials heard Tuesday that for the 2007 year, the port hired accountants 'noted no significant deficiencies nor material weaknesses' in the port’s internal controls during the $55,000 audit conducted in February and March by the accounting firm of Moss Adams.
   The findings run counter to some of those revealed in a Washington state audit of the port released late last year that said 'the port did not have adequate systems in place to protect taxpayer dollars from misuse, abuse and misappropriation.'
   The nine-month state audit, which covered port operations from 2004 to 2007, found nearly 50 indications of financial and contracting irregularities or fraud. In addition, the state auditors found the port wasted nearly $100 million in taxpayer money through improper construction contracting. The audit also led to an ongoing U.S. Justice Department investigation of alleged fraud at the port.
   'I do want to issue a disclaimer,' Moss Adams partner Laurie Tish told the commission Tuesday. 'Our tests were not designed to confirm or refute any specific findings in the (state audit) report. We did not retest transactions noted in that report ' and we did limit procedures to the 2007 fiscal year.'
   Despite Tish's statement, most of Moss Adams' presentation to the port Tuesday attempted to counter some conclusions of the state audit. Port executives, while adopting new guidelines and procedures to counter possible problems, have taken exceptions to some of the findings in the state audit since it was released.
   In addition, while the state audit did not detail any cases of suspected fraud in 2007, the state found that the port had 'no controls in place to prevent a variety of fraud schemes.'
   Moss Adams found no such problems in the 2007 port operations it reviewed.
   'We had no items that we noted would be a control deficiency or material weakness,” Tish said. 'There were no instances of fraud noted.'
   Port commissioners will revisit the audit's findings in early July. Moss Adams is also expected to come back to the commission in August with an additional audit covering port handling of federal grants and passenger facilities. ' Keith Higginbotham