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Extraído del Informe Consolidado
Esta investigación fue publicada originalmente como parte de un informe consolidado más amplio que contiene múltiples investigaciones. Consulte el PDF consolidado para ver el documento completo.
Los Angeles County Grand Jury
• 2011-2012
Charter Cities' Fiscal Health, Governance and Management Practices
⚠️ Aviso de traducción: Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Recommendations 66
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R1Page 15All charter cities reviewed in this report should adopt financial planning, revenue and expenditure policies to guide cities’ officials to develop sustainable, balanced budg- ets.
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R2Page 15All charter cities reviewed in this report should develop a balanced budget and commit to operate within budget constraints.
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R3Page 15All charter cities reviewed in this report should commit to not using one-time reve- nues to fund recurring or on-going expenditures.
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R4Page 15All charter cities reviewed in this report should adopt multi-year budgets for better planning to ensure the delivery of basic services before funding projects of lower pri- ority.
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R5Page 15All charter cities reviewed in this report should adopt a method and practice of sav- ing into a reserve or “rainy day” fund to be supplement operating revenue in years of short fall.
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R6Page 15Charter cities should develop and adopt a strategic plan that articulates the mission, vision, core values and priorities (goals and objectives) for the City. The following cities should develop and adopt such a strategic plan: Arcadia, Compton, Industry, Inglewood.
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R7Page 15Charter cities should develop and report on performance measures or indicators to evaluate outcomes or progress on priorities. These performance measures should be quantified, focused on outcomes or results, and information should be provided for several years to allow evaluation of progress over time. The following cities should develop such performance measures for indicators: Arcadia, Bell, Compton, Industry, Inglewood, Lancaster, Temple City.
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R8Page 15Charter city councils should continue to maintain a governance policy that specifical- ly defines the relationship between the council and executive. Charter city councils should continue providing specific annual goals for the city’s executive (City Manag- er or City Administrator) and conduct meaningful evaluations annually. The following cities should do so: Alhambra, Bell, Industry, Inglewood, Lancaster. 56 2011–2012 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT CHARTER CITIES – RECOMMENDATIONS
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R9Page 15Charter cities should formally establish an audit committee making it directly respon- sible for the work of the independent auditor. The following cities should formally establish an audit committee: Alhambra, Arcadia, Bell, Cerritos, Compton, Industry, Inglewood, Irwindale, Palmdale, Pomona, Santa Monica, Signal Hill, Temple City, Torrance, Whittier.
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R10Page 15All charter cities reviewed in this report should continue requiring compliance with standards of independence for the external auditor. Cities that do not currently se- lect the auditor through a competitive process should do so. Cities that allow the auditor to provide non-audit services should ensure appropriate review and approval of those services.
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R11Page 16Charter cities should review and update accounting policies and procedures to en- sure they are appropriately detailed and define the specific authority and responsibility of employees. Cities should also establish a policy requiring policies and procedures to be reviewed annually and updated at least once every three years. The following cities should review and update accounting policies and proce- dures at least once every three years: Alhambra, Arcadia, Bell, Burbank, Industry, Inglewood, Lancaster, Pasadena, Pomona, Santa Monica, Temple City.
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R12Page 16Charter cities should review and update policies and procedures for reporting fraud, abuse and questionable practices including a practical mechanism, such as a fraud hotline, to permit the confidential, anonymous reporting of concerns. The following cities should adopt such policies and procedures: Alhambra, Arcadia, Burbank, In- dustry, Inglewood, Irwindale, Santa Monica, Temple City.
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R13Page 16Charter cities should periodically review and update internal control procedures over financial management. The Following cities should review and update internal con- trol procedures over financial matters: Bell, Industry, Inglewood.
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R14Page 16Charter cities that have not adopted a policy requiring an unrestricted fund balance of no less than two months of regular general fund operating revenues or regular general fund operating expenditures should develop such policies. The following cit- ies should adopt such a policy: Alhambra, Arcadia, Bell, Cerritos, Compton, Downey, Glendale, Industry, Lancaster, Pomona, Redondo Beach, Temple City, Torrance, Vernon, Whittier.
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R15Page 16Charter cities must develop and publish a timely Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). The city of Bell should do so.
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R16Page 16Charter cities that have not published financial reports on the city’s website should do so. The city of Industry should do so.
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R17Page 16Charter cities should develop controls over sole sourced contracting to prevent pref- erential granting of contracts. The following cities should develop such controls: Bell, Industry, Irwindale, Temple City. 2011–2012 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 57 CHARTER CITIES – RECOMMENDATIONS
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R18Page 16Charter cities should develop policies and procedures for selecting and negotiating fair prices for architectural and engineering services consistent with state codes. The following cities should develop such policies and procedures: Arcadia, Bell, Cerritos, Industry, Inglewood, Irwindale, Pasadena, Whittier.
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R19Page 16All charter cities reviewed in this report should provide policies and procedures for ensuring prices negotiated for substantial contract change orders are fair and rea- sonable, and establish internal controls over substantial contract change orders so that same contractors not repeatedly awarded contracts. The following cities should do so: Alhambra, Bell, Cerritos, Inglewood, Irwindale, Lancaster, Temple City, Tor- rance, Whittier.
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R20Page 16All charter cities should develop policies and procedures for documenting compli- ance with procurement requirements, and provide contract compliance and oversight and have annual audit oversight with an outside accounting firm. The following cities should do so: Bell, Cerritos, Inglewood, Irwindale, Lancaster, Whittier.
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R21Page 16All charter city councils, and citizens of the cities, reviewed in this report should an- nually review the actual compensation received by employees of their cities.
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R22Page 17All charter city councils of the cities reviewed in this report should have access to prevailing municipal wage rates and/or salary ranges for comparable cities in order to identify any individual city position(s) whose salaries exceed the normal salary range for those positions. Approval of any exceptional salaries should be based on justifications of exceptional and unique job responsibilities. 58 2011–2012 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT CHARTER CITIES ACRONYMS AICPA American Institute of Certified Public Accountants CAFR Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports CalPERS California Public Employees Retirement System CFO Chief Financial Officer CGJ Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury CPCC California Public Contract Code FPPC California Fair Political Practices Commission FY Fiscal Year GAAP Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAAS Generally Accepted Auditing Standards GAS Government Auditing Standards GASB Governmental Accounting Standards Board GFOA Government Finance Officers Association IIA Institute of Internal Auditors RFP Request for Proposal SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats APPENDICES A
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R23Page 22Are accounting policies and procedures reviewed annually and updated at least once every three years on a predetermined schedule? o Yes o No
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R24Page 22Do the accounting policies and procedures specifically define the authority and respon- sibility of all employees, including the authority to authorize transactions and the responsibility for safekeeping of assets and records? o Yes o No
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R25Page 22Please provide a copy of the accounting policies and procedures manual.
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R26Page 22Please provide any comments or explanations regarding accounting policies and proce- dures: 66 2011–2012 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT CHARTER CITIES –
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R27Page 22Does your City have policies and procedures to encourage and facilitate the reporting of fraud or abuse and questionable accounting or auditing practices? o Yes o No
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R28Page 23Does your City have a formally adopted and widely distributed and publicized ethics pol- icy? o Yes o No
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R29Page 23Does your City have a practical mechanism, such as a fraud hotline, to permit the confi- dential, anonymous reporting of concerns about fraud, abuse, or questionable practices? o Yes o No
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R30Page 23Are concerns received regarding fraud, abuse, or questionable practices reviewed by in- ternal auditors, with documentation reviewed by the Audit Committee. o Yes o No
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R31Page 23Please provide a copy of the ethics policy and information on mechanisms for reporting concerns of fraud, abuse, or questionable practices.
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R32Page 23Please provide any comments or explanations regarding reporting of fraud, abuse, and questionable practices: Internal Controls
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R33Page 23Are internal control procedures over financial management formally documented? o Yes o No
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R34Page 23Do internal control procedures include practical means for lower level employees to re- port instances of management override of controls? o Yes o No
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R35Page 23Are internal control procedures evaluated to determine if those controls are adequately designed to achieve their intended purpose, have actually been implemented, and con- tinue to function as designed? o Yes o No
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R36Page 23Are potential internal control weaknesses documented in exception reports? o Yes 2011–2012 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 67 CHARTER CITIES –
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R37Page 23Is there a process in place to identify changes in what is being controlled or controls themselves, and corrective action plans are developed with an appropriate timeline? o Yes o No
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R38Page 23Please provide a copy of the internal control procedures over financial management.
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R39Page 23Please provide any comments or explanations regarding your responses on internal con- trols: Internal Audit
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R40Page 23Does your City have an internal audit function formally established by charter, enabling resolution, or other legal means? o Yes o No
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R41Page 23Is the work of the internal audit function conducted in accordance with the U.S. General Accounting Office’s Government Auditing Standards? o Yes o No
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R42Page 23Are all reports of the Internal Audit function provided to or available to the Audit Com- mittee? o Yes o No
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R43Page 23Please provide a copy of the formal action establishing the internal audit function.
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R44Page 23Please provide any comments or explanations regarding your responses on internal au- dit: 68 2011–2012 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT CHARTER CITIES –
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R45Page 23Does your City have a formal policy on the level of unrestricted fund balance to be main- tained in the General Fund? o Yes o No
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R46Page 23Does this policy require an unrestricted fund balance of no less than two months of reg- ular general fund operating revenues or regular general fund operating expenditures? o Yes o No
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R47Page 23Please provide a copy of the formal policy on the level of unrestricted fund balance to be maintained in the General Fund.
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R48Page 23Please provide any comments or explanations regarding your responses on general fund unrestricted fund balance: Financial and Public Reporting Practices
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R49Page 23Does your City maintain an accounting system adequate to provide all the data needed for the timely preparation of financial statement for the entire entity in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)? o Yes o No
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R50Page 24Does your City issue timely financial statements for the entire financial reporting entity in conformity with GAAP as part of a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)? o Yes o No
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R51Page 24Has your City’s financial statements been independently audited in accordance with ei- ther generally accepted auditing standards (GAAP) or Government Auditing Standards (GAS)? o Yes o No
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R52Page 24Are the annual budget documents or CAFR for your City published and readily accessible to the general public on your City’s website? o Yes o No 2011–2012 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 69 CHARTER CITIES – APPENDIX B
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R53Page 24Please provide any comments or explanations regarding your responses on financial and public reporting practices: Employee Compensation
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R54Page 24Please provide a list of all employees with total compensation for CY 2011 in excess of $175,000 as reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Please provide detail about the compensation for each employee (salary, overtime, car allowance, vacation payout, sick leave payout, etc.).
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R55Page 24Please provide any comments or explanations regarding employee compensation: Procurement and Contracting
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R56Page 24Does your City have formally adopted policies and procedures defining competitive bid- ding requirements and practices for the procurement of goods and services? o Yes o No
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R57Page 24Does your City Charter or City ordinance provide exemption from competitive procure- ment requirements of California’s Public Contracting Code? o Yes o No
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R58Page 24Does your City have formally adopted policies and procedures for documenting compli- ance with procurement requirements? o Yes o No
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R59Page 24Does your City have formally adopted policies and procedures for selecting firms that provide architectural and engineering services? o Yes o No
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R60Page 24Does your City have formally adopted policies and procedures for ensuring that prices for negotiated contracts are fair and reasonable? o Yes o No 70 2011–2012 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT CHARTER CITIES – APPENDIX B
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R61Page 24Does your City have formally adopted policies and procedures for ensuring that prices negotiated for contract change orders are fair and reasonable? o Yes o No
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R62Page 24Does your City have formally adopted policies and procedures establishing internal con- trols over sole-source contracting? o Yes o No
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R63Page 24Does your City have formally adopted policies and procedures establishing internal con- trols over contract change orders? o Yes o No
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R64Page 25Does your City have formally adopted policies and procedures for providing contract compliance and oversight? o Yes o No
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R65Page 25Please provide copies of the: formal policy defining competitive bidding requirements and practices for the procurement of goods and services, City Charter or City ordinance providing exemption from competitive procure- ment requirements of California’s Public Contracting Code, formally adopted policies and procedures for documenting compliance with pro- curement requirements, formally adopted policies and procedures for selecting firms that provide archi- tectural and engineering services, formally adopted policies and procedures for ensuring that prices for negotiated contracts are fair and reasonable, formal policy establishing internal controls over sole-source contracting, formal policy establishing internal controls over contract change orders, formal policy and procedures for providing contract compliance and oversight.
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R66Page 25Please provide any comments or explanations regarding your responses on procure- ment and contracting: 2011–2012 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 71 CHARTER CITIES –