Sacramento County Grand Jury
• 2002-2003
• Agency Response
Michael Board of Directors ER District Paul Selsky Mark R. Emmerson President Director 7837 Fair Oaks Boulevard*
⚠️ 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.
Findings and Recommendations 3 findings
F1
District directors on the whole do not have financial or accounting backgrounds. They rely on their audit reports to ensure that their district's operation is fiscally sound. Response: Carmichael Water District's Board of Directors have a varying degree of financial or accounting backgrounds. Carmichael Water District concurs that the directors rely on their audit reports along with the monthly, quarterly and annual review of the financials and budget process that takes place over a six month process.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
The Grand Jury finds that an electorate, kept unaware by a district that fails to "give light" to its actions, cannot properly evaluate the performance of district personnel. These voters elect boards to oversee the operation of the district. The board in turn hires a general manager to manage the district. It is the close relationship between the board and the general manager that has potential for misuse of district funds. We find that the use of district credit cards may enable the misuse of district funds; however, it is the culture within the district that permits the abuse. District managers and board members should be aware of what is and what is not proper. Golf at district expense is not proper. Expensive restaurant meals charged to the district is not proper. Increasing the retirement benefits to a level primarily give to public safety personnel to benefit a retiring general manager is not proper. · 1 Response: Carmichael Water District concurs. Carmichael Water District does not have credit cards. The District has a strict policy regarding reimbursement of expenses and for travel arrangements. The current reimbursement for meals is actual cost to a maximum of the following: Breakfast $10.00, lunch $16.00 and dinner $30.00. Golf at District expense has never been allowed.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Auditors should confirm water districts compliance with IRS rules, that all income is being reported, that boards actively oversee payments to management, and that all financial records are maintained for at least five years. Response: Carmichael Water District concurs. It is Carmichael Water District's practice to report all income through payroll, the Board of Directors oversee all District payments and the District's financial records are maintained according to the District's Records Retention policy which is at least five years.
F3
Some written practices and policies, which vary from district to district, may be outdated. Response: Carmichael Water District updates its policies on an as needed basis.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
In an effort to obtain a thorough and professional annual audit, auditors should be changed every three years. Response: Carmichael Water District's present practice is to go out for Request for Proposal (RFP) every 3-5 years for Independent Auditor Services. There has been recently adopted federal legislation (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) the SEC in Section 203(j), Section 10A of Securities Act of 1934, requiring only engagement partner of the Independent Accounting Firm to be changed every five years. Carmichael Water District recommends adoption of a similar standard for California.
* 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.