Santa Barbara County Grand Jury
• 2017-2018
• Agency Response
Response to:
Internal Controls in the County of Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara County Bill Brown Stations Sheriff - Coroner Headquarters Buellton*
⚠️ 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.
Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F6, F7, F8, F9, F10
Findings and Recommendations 5 findings
F2
The financial management guidelines issued by the County of Santa Barbara Auditor-Controller are not applied consistently in operational departments, nor is compliance with those guidelines routinely auditor by the Auditor-Controller.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2c
That the Santa Barbara County Sheriff, District Attorney, Auditor- Controller, Clerk Recorder-Assessor-Registrar of Voters and Treasurer-Tax Collector- Public Administrator require consistent application of financial guidelines issued by the Auditor-Controller's Office as part of the annual personnel management process. Sheriff's Office Response to Recommendation 2c: The recommendation will be implemented. The requirement of consistent application of financial guidelines as part of the annual personnel management process will be implemented in the next round of management employee performance reviews.
F3
Knowledge of financial management and risks by managers in some departments in the County of Santa Barbara is insufficient.
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 (including County financial guidelines, FIN, and reporting and accountability procedures) for all department and program heads. Sheriff's Office Response to Finding 3: The Sheriff's Office agrees with this finding. Sheriff's Office Response to Recommendation 3c: The recommendation has been implemented. All program (cost center) managers are and have been trained on how to use the FIN system. This training includes a review of financial, purchasing and budget guidelines.
F4
Knowledge of potential conflicts of interest among some senior County of Santa Barbara employees is inadequate
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
That the Board of Supervisors develop procedures for the conduct of annual training on conflict of interest policy for all relevant categories of employees. Sheriff's Office Response to Finding 4: The Sheriff's Office agrees with this finding. 38
F5
There is no consistent policy of requiring program heads, division heads, or department heads within Santa Barbara County departments to account for spending under their control to their superiors and/or to the CEO through an annual formal and written statement.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5b
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 sign annual statements to their supervisors, stating that all funds under their control have been managed in compliance with County financial management guidelines and the County's Internal Control Policy. Sheriff's Office Response to Finding 5: The Sheriff's Office disagrees wholly with the
F11
Some Santa Barbara County staff commented that there might be significant other potential financial risks in Santa Barbara County, including management of property tax reimbursements and warrant payments through the Sheriff's Civil Bureau. Sheriff's Office Response to Finding 11: The Sheriff's Office disagrees wholly with the finding. Warrant payments issued through the Sheriff's Civil Bureau are processed through the FIN system. The warrants are generated by the Teleosoft Civil Management system, and then electronically sent to the Auditor-Controller's office for processing. They are then reviewed by the two employees in the Civil Bureau, the Sheriff's business office and the Auditor-Controller prior to issuance. The civil bureau warrant process was completed with the input and cooperation of the Auditor-Controller's office.
No recommendations for this finding
* 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.