August 13, 2004

Officials from the Office of Services to the Aging have concurred with a recent independent audit report indicating that reimbursements for travel and expenditures for a local Area Agency on Aging were appropriate when compared to local policies.

The Region VII Area Agency on Aging – which primarily serves Bay County – contracted with Yeo & Yeo, a third-party independent auditing firm headquartered in Saginaw, to perform a study of the board’s per diem and travel policies as compared to all payment requests submitted by board members from October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2003.

“We have determined that state dollars were not spent inappropriately,” said Office of Service to the Aging Director Sharon L. Gire. “Policies that govern travel and reimbursement expenditures are determined at the local level, and those policies were followed.”

In that review, Yeo & Yeo also found that all payment vouchers issued on behalf of all 15 board members were in accordance with the agency’s travel and reimbursement policies. Gire said the state’s review also concluded that federal and state funds monitored by the Office of Services to the Aging were not utilized to cover any expenses incurred by Region VII Area Agency on Aging Board members.

“Michigan’s sixteen area agencies on aging are private or public non-profit agencies and are solely responsible for establishing their own policies and procedures regarding the expenditure of local funds,” Gire said.