Santa Barbara County Grand Jury
• 2017-2018
• Agency Response
Response to:
Internal Controls in the County of Santa Barbara
Office of the
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 3 findings
F3
Knowledge of financial management and risksby managers in some departments in the County of Santa Barbara isinsufficient The District Attorney agrees.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3c
That the Santa Barbara County Sheriff, District Attorney, Auditor-Controller, Clerk Recorder Assessor- Registrar of Voters and Treasurer-Tax Collector-Public Administrator direct all program managers to require mandatory training in financial management Dncluding County financial guidelines, FIN,and reporting and accountability procedures) for all department and program heads. The recommendation has been implemented. The District Attorney will continue to ensure all managers with financial responsibilities and oversight are properly trained in financial management (including county financial guidelines, FINand reporting and accountability procedures).
F4
Knowledge of potential conflicts of interest among some senior County of Santa Barbara employees is inadequate. The District Attorney disagrees partially. The County of Santa Barbara hasaconflicts of interest program whereby senior County employees (including all District Attorney Management and all Deputy District Attorney Staff)are required to complete aFair Political PracticesCertified Statement of Economic Interests Form 700 on an annual basis.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
" . . .' There isno consistent policy of requiring program heads,division heads, or department heads within Santa BarbaraCounty departments to account for spending under their control to their superiors and/or to the CEOthrough an annual formal and written statement. The District Attorney disagrees partially. All departments heads, including elected officials, along with each department's chief financial officer, sign annual FiscalYear EndCertification and Representations Letter that make assertions asto fiscal oversight. revenue and expenditure accounting, expenditures of federal awards, capital assetsunder their purview, long term liabilities incurred, theft or fraud experienced, and any related party transactions. The department head's and CFO'ssignatures are representative for their whole department. Additionally, the County Executive Office requires quarterly budget to actual reporting for all departments. The Office of Budget and Researchcompiles this data and reviews it for significant variances. Inthe event that adepartment anticipates to materially exceed their budget, the Budget Director requires that the department submit an explanation for the budget overrun. The departmental response isthen compiled into the Quarterly Report and presented to the Board of Supervisors. Inaddition to the quarterly reporting mentioned above, the CEOregularly monitors each department's actual performance to the legally adopted budget. The County's FINsystem has built in controls for each department that will not allow any expenditure that could exceed each department/fund's legal level of control, which isatthe expenditure object level.
No recommendations for this finding