Sacramento County Grand Jury
• 2009-2010
• Agency Response
Response to:
Survey of Independent Special Districts
Administrative Services Department Silver Anniversa*
⚠️ 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 5 findings
F1
Page 1
0 ISD directors perform valuable service at minimal cost. However, this survey reveals inconsistent behaviors regarding compliance with sound management practices.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Page 1
1 Directors should review their by-laws every four years to assure compliance with applicable laws, ethical practices and appropriate behavior. Response: The District concurs with the Grand Jury findings. The by-laws of the Cosumnes CSD were last amended on February 6, 2007.
F2
Page 2
0 Some ISDs grant monetary awards for education and training; many have inadequate evaluation of employee's degrees and certificates.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Page 2
1 All ISDs should encourage education and training, but should not make direct monetary (cash) awards for educational achievement. Response: The District does not concur with the Grand Jury findings. Educational incentives are a component of the overall compensation package for the District's Local This compensation package is competitive with the surrounding 522 members. jurisdictions.
F3
Page 2
0 ISD pension awards and Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) have increased markedly in the last decade. Some of these awards are unfair and unsustainable.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Page 2
1 All ISDs should adopt pension and OPEB plans that are fair, affordable and sustainable. The District concurs with the Grand Jury findings and follows this Response: recommendation.
F4
Page 3
0 The majority of ISDs surveyed in this study are neglecting their fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers and ratepayers by excessive use of no-bid purchasing.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Page 3
1 Every ISD in Sacramento County should establish and adhere to a goal of minimizing no-bid purchasing. Essentially all purchases except utilities and emergency construction should be by contracts awarded to the lowest responsive responsible bidders. Response: The District generally concurs with the Grand Jury findings. Current District procurement guidelines require three verbal or written quotes for purchases that are made between $2,500 and $5,000; a minimum of three written bids for purchases greater than $5,000 and formal bids for construction projects greater than $25,000. The District believes that it would be an inefficient use of District resources to obtain verbal or written quotes on purchases less than $2,500. <b>Community Services District</b> and the second of the second of the second of and a second second second Enriching Community Saving Lives Honorable Steve White, Presiding Judge Response to 2010 Grand Jury Survey of ISD's Report September 20, 2010
F5
Page 4
0 ISDs have not consistently conducted and reported required Independent Financial Audit Reports and management audits.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Page 4
1 All ISDs must complete and file the required annual Independent Financial Audit. Response: The District concurs with the Grand Jury findings. The District hires an independent auditor to perform the annual required audit of the District's financial statements. The District's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is submitted to the State Controller's Office (along with the required Special Districts Financial Transactions Report) and Sacramento County annually.
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.