LONGWOOD - Seminole County's Tourism and Development Department, whose financial practices were roundly criticized in an internal audit earlier this month, on Thursday adopted new policies to tighten up its finances.

The Tourism and Development Council, which oversees the department, also recommended against extending its contract with Geiger and Associates, a Tallahassee public relations company that was the target of some of the audit's strongest criticism.

"The bottom line is maybe we were at fault and maybe the county was at fault for not writing out proper procedures," Council Chairman M.M. "Red" McCullough said of the audit.

McCullough told other council members that many of the practices criticized in the audit had been normal operating procedures for the department for the past three years.

Everything was OK until we burned the toast," he said. "There were some problems with some sloppy bookkeeping on the part of (tourism director) Jack Wert and with him not getting proper written procedures from the county."

The audit, conducted by Circuit Court Clerk Maryanne Morse who functioned as the county auditor found that lax controls on department spending led to unauthorized expenses, questionable billing by Geiger and possible withholding tax violations.

The audit also found several instances where money was spent by the department without County Commission approval.

Among other things, the council agreed not to enter into any contracts without prior approval from the commission.

The council also accepted a recommendation to hire Chernoff Silver a Maitland public relations company, to replace Geiger.

Geiger will lose its three-year relationship with the tourism department if the County Commission accepts the council's recommendation.

Lorraine Moore, vice president of Geiger, said she didn't learn of the recommendation against her company until Thursday's meeting. She said it seemed a "strange coincidence" that the council dumped Geiger only days after the audit.

Geiger was criticized in the audit for questionable expenses it charged the county - such as unexplained tips of $40.

Moore said her company followed all procedures spelled out in its contract. She also said the apparent generous tips were group tips left for several servers.

"We did everything that the Tourism Development Department and the county asked us to," she said. "I'm surprised to hear all of a sudden that it is against county procedures."

McCullough said the recommendation against Geiger had nothing to do with the audit. Chernoff Silver was ranked higher than Geiger by all five members of a review committee, he said.

LONGWOOD - Seminole County's Tourism and Development Department, whose financial practices were roundly criticized in an internal audit earlier this month, on Thursday adopted new policies to tighten up its finances.

The Tourism and Development Council, which oversees the department, also recommended against extending its contract with Geiger and Associates, a Tallahassee public relations company that was the target of some of the audit's strongest criticism.

"The bottom line is maybe we were at fault and maybe the county was at fault for not writing out proper procedures," Council Chairman M.M. "Red" McCullough said of the audit.

McCullough told other council members that many of the practices criticized in the audit had been normal operating procedures for the department for the past three years.

Everything was OK until we burned the toast," he said. "There were some problems with some sloppy bookkeeping on the part of (tourism director) Jack Wert and with him not getting proper written procedures from the county."

The audit, conducted by Circuit Court Clerk Maryanne Morse who functioned as the county auditor found that lax controls on department spending led to unauthorized expenses, questionable billing by Geiger and possible withholding tax violations.

The audit also found several instances where money was spent by the department without County Commission approval.

Among other things, the council agreed not to enter into any contracts without prior approval from the commission.

The council also accepted a recommendation to hire Chernoff Silver a Maitland public relations company, to replace Geiger.

Geiger will lose its three-year relationship with the tourism department if the County Commission accepts the council's recommendation.

Lorraine Moore, vice president of Geiger, said she didn't learn of the recommendation against her company until Thursday's meeting. She said it seemed a "strange coincidence" that the council dumped Geiger only days after the audit.

Geiger was criticized in the audit for questionable expenses it charged the county - such as unexplained tips of $40.

Moore said her company followed all procedures spelled out in its contract. She also said the apparent generous tips were group tips left for several servers.

"We did everything that the Tourism Development Department and the county asked us to," she said. "I'm surprised to hear all of a sudden that it is against county procedures."

McCullough said the recommendation against Geiger had nothing to do with the audit. Chernoff Silver was ranked higher than Geiger by all five members of a review committee, he said.