Posted: 1/16/07
Auditor suggests changes in county procedures
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
A representative from the state auditorís office has several recommendations for Houston County.
Carla Blahnik, who has an office in Rochester, talked about them for 20 minutes at the January 9 county board meeting.
Blahnik told commissioners that the county has an unreserved fund of $9.1 million, which is enough to cover six months of expenditures. She called that a good thing.
She listed several areas for improvement:
ï Disaster recovery plan: The county does not have one. A disaster recovery plan would address a natural disaster or major computer breakdown and establish a hierarchy of functions. For example, if something happened to the courthouse, where would people report for jobs like payroll or tax assessments? "I would say about 75 percent of the counties we audit have them [disaster plans]," Blahnik said in answer to a question from commissioner Ann Thompson.
ï Segregation of duties: Blahnik said the county information systems supervisor helps in the treasurerís office with the treasurer and deputy treasurer are gone. That creates a lack of segregation of duties, Blahnik said, because the person has access to all aspects of the county computer applications and access to perform certain treasurer duties. She recommended that the county segregate the duties of people who have access to county assets and those with access to accounting records.
ï Case redetermination: The county did not perform the required redetermination of several participants in the child care assistance program. Redetermination is required to be done every 12 months. A corrective action plan has been set up implemented to fix this problem, as well as for a lack of controls for monitoring case file redeterminations, which is also required every 12 months.
ï Revolving fund cash balance: Blahnik said the cash balance for the treasurer didnít match the account activity report. The county contacted TriMin to get the issue resolved but did not follow it up to see if the correction was made.
ï Other financial facts: Houston Countyís net assets rose by $3.1 million to $64.7 million. The general fund balance rose by $210,000 to $5.9 million, the transportation fund- fund balance fell $442,000 to $2.4 million, and the human services fund balance fell $128,000 to $1.9 million.
Bridge bids
In other business, the board approved several engineering bids for bridges in the county. They are:
ï South Prairie Drive bridge hydraulics analysis - Widseth Smith Nolting -$1488;
ï State Line Road bridge hydraulics analysis - Widseth Smith Nolting - $1216;
ï CSAH 32 bridge design - Erickson Engineering - $17,700;
ï Quarry Road bridge hydraulics analysis - Erickson Engineering - $1600;
ï CSAH 5 bridge hydraulics analysis - Erickson Engineering - $1600.
Signal contract
The board also approved an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation for maintaining the lamps and signals in the upcoming bridge project in La Crescent. Bids will be let for the project on January 26.
County engineer Marcus Evans said that MnDOT will cover costs in case of a knock down of the power cabinet or pole. The county will pay for electricity and changing the ssignal lamps and overhead lights. The cost will be about $2,000 a year, Evans estimated.
Thompson asked why the county is responsible for signal lights in a city. Evans replied that it was a cost shift by the state. He said response time would also be faster under county control.
What if the county refuses,
Thompson asked. Maintenance supervisor Tom Molling said that the bid letting would be postponed and the project would be reassessed.
Evans said the City of La Crescent isnít interested in doing the work on a contract basis for the county.
Graf said he was frustrated with cost shifts like this. "Sometimes the big hammer is over our head," he said.
The board also approved five purchases that were in the budget. They are for a GM pickup truck, $21,372; Case tractor, $31,775; Vermeer disc mower, $6,039; John Deere loader, $22 per hour; and two boxes for plow trucks at $71,120 each.
Condensed minutes
Assistant auditor Char Meiners gave the board two sets of minutes from the January 2 meeting, one a summary and one that is longer and more complete. Board members decided to print the summary version in newspapers as a way to save money.
Graf said newspapers report what goes on at meetings, so he is fine with a summary.
Thompson said people might get more out of shorter version because there is not as much to read so they would be more likely to scan them.
She said she wanted to make sure the public is comfortable with the decision, and encourages people to contact a board member with their input on it.
The longer version of the minutes will be available on the countyís website, www.houstoncounty.govoffice2.com, and also at the county auditorís office.
In 2006, The Caledonia Argus billed the county $34,660 for publication of the proceedings. However, because the newspapers in the county participate in a joint bid, the money is split among the four newspapers in the county and all newspapers publish the minutes.
Personnel business
The board approved an increase of full-time equivalency to .7 for Julie Von Arx-Abnet, due to an increase in the work load of the county attorneyís office.
A cell phone per diem of $30 per month was also approved for sheriff Doug Ely.
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