Revenue and budget reports; records; independent audits.

A. The board shall: (1) submit quarterly and annual reports to the governor and the legislative finance committee disclosing the total lottery revenue, prizes, commissions, ticket costs, operating expenses and other revenue of the authority during the reporting period and, in the annual report, describe the organizational structure of the authority and summarize the functions performed by each organizational division within the authority; (2) maintain weekly or more frequent records of lottery transactions, including the distribution of lottery tickets to retailers, revenue received, claims for prizes, prizes paid, prizes forfeited and other financial transactions of the authority; and (3) use the state government fiscal year. B. The board shall provide, for informational purposes, to the department of finance and administration and the legislative finance committee, by December 1 of each year, a copy of the annual proposed operating budget for the authority for the succeeding fiscal year. This budget proposal shall also be accompanied by an estimate of the revenue to be deposited in the lottery tuition fund for the current and succeeding fiscal years. C. The board shall contract with an independent certified public accountant or firm for an annual financial audit of the authority. The certified public accountant or firm shall have no financial interest in any lottery contractor. The certified public accountant or firm shall present an audit report no later than March 1 for the prior fiscal year. The certified public accountant or firm shall evaluate the internal auditing controls in effect during the audit period. The cost of this financial audit shall be an operating expense of the authority. The legislative finance committee may, at any time, order an audit of any phase of the operations of the authority, at the expense of the authority, and shall receive a copy of the annual independent financial audit. A copy of any audit performed by the certified public accountant or ordered by the legislative finance committee shall be transmitted to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president pro tempore of the senate, the legislative finance committee and the legislative council service library.