In 2017, Gila County Administration initiated an effort to review all existing County Finance written policies that were approved by the Board of Supervisors and develop new policies covering the internal administrative functions of Gila County government. The revisions of existing finance policies and development of new finance policies support the on-going corrective action plans detailed in the County’s response to audit findings. The policies were reviewed and revised as necessary by the County Attorney's Civil Division. The policy committee also reviewed the proposed policies and provided further revisions in September 2018. The Board-adopted policies continue to be reviewed on a periodic basis to ensure they are in compliance with the Arizona Revised Statutes and meet the needs of all County departments and elected offices.
Evaluation
The recent financial audits identified lack of policies and deficiencies in the existing Gila County's financial policies. The corrective action plan detailed in the single audit to the Auditor General identified creating and revising financial policies to provide effective control measures over the County’s financial transactions. As a result, all finance policies were reviewed over the past year. A new set of finance policies is being introduced to replace existing finance policies.
Conclusion
The following existing Board-adopted policies need to be repealed by the Board of Supervisors: BOS-FIN-001-Departmental Bank Accounts; BOS-FIN-002-Procurement-Contracts; BOS-FIN-003-Procurement-Purchasing; BOS-FIN-005-Capitalization of Fixed Assets; BOS-FIN-008-Funds Transfer; BOS-FIN-009-Fund Balance; BOS-FIN-010-Cash Receipts and Deposits; and BOS-FIN-014-Disposal of Fixed Assets and Inventory.
The only existing policies that would remain are: BOS-3-2005-Accepting and Administering Grants; and BOS-FIN-016-Community Agency and Economic Development Funding.
The following new policies need to be adopted by the Board of Supervisors: BOS-FIN-101-Calendar of Events; BOS-FIN-102-Chart of Accounts; BOS-FIN-103-Budget; BOS-FIN-104-Accounting Records; BOS-FIN-105-Fund Balance (replaces BOS-FIN-009); BOS-FIN-106-Financial Reporting; BOS-FIN-107-Audit Requirements; BOS-FIN-108-Cash (replaces BOS-FIN-010); BOS-FIN-109-Investments; BOS-FIN-110-Supplies Inventory; BOS-FIN-111-Capital Assets (replaces BOS-FIN-005 and BOS-FIN-014); BOS-FIN-112-Travel; BOS-FIN-113-Procurement (replaces BOS-FIN-002 and BOS-FIN-003); and BOS-FIN-114-Credit Card.
Recommendation
Administration recommends repealing all existing Finance policies except policy numbers BOS-3-2005 and BOS-FIN-016; and adopting new proposed finance policies (as listed above).
Suggested Motion
Information/Discussion/ Action to repeal Finance policy numbers BOS-FIN-001, BOS-FIN-002, BOS-FIN-003, BOS-FIN-005, BOS-FIN-008, BOS-FIN-009, BOS-FIN-010 and BOS-FIN-014; and adopt the following new Finance policies - BOS-FIN-101-Calendar of Events; BOS-FIN-102-Chart of Accounts; BOS-FIN-103-Budget; BOS-FIN-104-Accounting Records; BOS-FIN-105-Fund Balance; BOS-FIN-106-Financial Reporting; BOS-FIN-107-Audit Requirements; BOS-FIN-108-Cash; BOS-FIN-109-Investments; BOS-FIN-110-Supplies Inventory; BOS-FIN-111-Capital Assets; BOS-FIN-112-Travel; BOS-FIN-113-Procurement; and BOS-FIN-114-Credit Card. (Mary Springer)