OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Budget and Audit Committee Special Meeting - August 3, 2017

Budget and Audit CommitteeThursday, August 3, 2017
BodySacramento, California
SessionBudget and Audit Committee
DateThursday, August 3, 2017
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
10:02

Good afternoon, everyone.

10:04

Um I'd like to welcome you to the budget and audit committee meeting.

10:08

But at this point in time, we don't have a quorum.

10:11

And so in this event that I think we'll wait a couple minutes more if we don't have a quorum, we'll do one of two things.

10:18

We'll either postpone it to another date and time, and or uh another date and time outside of our normal time, or we'll just postpone it till the next month.

10:30

Uh I don't see anything that uh is date sensitive on the agenda.

10:37

And so it might be in our best interest to postpone it if by 2 15 we can't have a quorum.

10:42

We'll do that.

10:43

Okay.

10:44

I just wanted to give you an update as to where it is.

10:46

And as I talk, I am now seeing our quorum come to the uh come in.

10:55

And so with that, I will take the time to welcome you to the budget and audit committee.

11:00

Uh let you know that this meeting is now in session.

11:04

And will the city clerk please call the role starting with Jay Shane?

11:09

Thank you.

11:09

Member Shane.

11:11

Member Jennings.

11:12

Here.

11:13

Um Ashby?

11:15

Yeah.

11:16

And for the record, Member Steinberg is absent.

11:19

Okay.

11:20

So that means we have a quorum.

11:22

And uh, will the city clerk please read the disclaimer?

11:26

This meeting is streaming live and being recorded on the city's website.

11:30

Please silence your cell phones.

11:32

And if members of the public would like to speak, please submit a speaker slip to the assistant city clerk.

11:37

Fantastic.

11:38

With that, we will move to uh our first order of business, which is our consent calendar.

11:44

Uh do we have anyone signed up to speak?

11:49

I have no speaker slips.

11:51

Okay, it has been moved and seconded.

11:53

Uh seeing no comments from the public or from the members of the budget and audit committee.

11:59

All in favor say aye.

12:01

Aye.

12:01

Aye.

12:02

Oppose.

12:03

We are unanimous moving the consent calendar.

12:06

Uh next order of business will be our discussion calendar.

12:11

Uh, the city auditors audit of the department of utilities.

12:15

Uh how you doing, sir.

12:17

Doing well.

12:18

Good.

12:18

Thank you very much.

12:21

Good afternoon, members of the budget and audit committee.

12:24

Jorge Segueda, your city auditor.

12:26

With me today is both uh Jordan Sweeney and Lynn Bashaw, who were primarily responsible for completing this audit, as well as the rest of my audit team in case you're wondering what the big crowd behind me is.

12:37

Um the recommendation that is before you is that you accept the auditors audit of the Department of Utilities inventory and to forward the report to the full city council for final approval.

12:51

The Department of Utilities maintains an inventory of parts, tools, and supplies with a current value of just over $2 million.

13:00

This consists of things such as equipment, tools, plumbing supplies, and water meters.

13:08

The objective of the audit of the Department of Utilities inventory was to assess the controls over the department's inventory and to identify areas of risk and opportunities for potential savings.

13:19

Our scope included uh Department of Utilities inventory records for fiscal year 2014 through 2017.

13:27

This report contains four findings.

13:29

Our first finding is that strengthening the physical security of Department of Utilities inventory could reduce the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse.

14:09

We developed six recommendations to address the issues identified in finding one.

14:15

This includes implementing strategies to comply with inventory policies, reviewing the appropriateness of warehouse access, consistency and tracking tools and equipment, prohibiting employees from borrowing city-owned tools and equipment for personal use, and establishing a reasonable timeline for the consolidation of inventory locations.

14:37

The second finding in this report emphasizes that while the Department of Utilities inventory count procedures appear robust, the execution breaks down.

14:47

Although this section is a little technical in assessing the effectiveness of their current practices, of note in this section is that we specifically assessed the accountability of the city's water meters, and this area had been a problem in the past, and I think we were pleasantly surprised that there has been significant improvement in their ability to track and account for their water meters.

15:12

And so that was something of note.

15:18

We developed eight recommendations to address the issues identified in finding two.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget and Finance█████████████████████████████████████████████79%
Procedural████████████21%
Summary of Proceedings

Budget and Audit Committee Special Meeting – August 3, 2017

The Budget and Audit Committee held a special meeting on August 3, 2017, at 2:10 PM in the City Hall Council Chamber. Members present: Angelique Ashby, Jay Schenirer, and Rick Jennings; Mayor Darrell Steinberg was absent. The meeting lasted 12 minutes, adjourning at 2:22 PM. The committee unanimously approved the consent calendar and discussed the City Auditor's audit of the Department of Utilities inventory.

Consent Calendar

  • Item 01 – City Auditor’s Activity Report for 4th Quarter of Fiscal Year 2016/17: Accepted by a 3-0 vote and forwarded to the City Council for final approval. No public comments or discussion.

Discussion Items

  • Item 02 – City Auditor’s Audit of the Department of Utilities Inventory: Jorge Oseguera, City Auditor, presented the audit findings. The Department of Utilities maintains inventory valued at over $2 million (parts, tools, supplies). The audit assessed controls over inventory from FY 2014-2017 and identified four findings with 23 recommendations. Key findings: (1) physical security weaknesses, (2) breakdown in inventory count execution, (3) errors and omissions in three inventory systems, (4) lack of formal user access policies. The auditor noted significant improvement in water meter accountability. Department of Utilities Director Bill B.Saith stated the department requested the audit, concurred with all findings, and reported that 9 of 23 recommendations had already been implemented, with the remaining 14 in progress. Improvements included reducing inventory locations from nine to five, cutting warehouse access by 80%, and incorporating blind counts.

Key Outcomes

  • Motion (Schenirer/Ashby) passed unanimously (3-0) to accept the audit report and forward it to the City Council for approval.
  • Committee direction: The committee directed the City Manager to develop specific performance metrics related to inventory management and report back to the Council in a timely manner.
  • No public comments were made on either agenda item or on non-agenda matters.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon, everyone. Um I'd like to welcome you to the budget and audit committee meeting. But at this point in time, we don't have a quorum. And so in this event that I think we'll wait a couple minutes more if we don't have a quorum, we'll do one of two things. We'll either postpone it to another date and time, and or uh another date and time outside of our normal time, or we'll just postpone it till the next month. Uh I don't see anything that uh is date sensitive on the agenda. And so it might be in our best interest to postpone it if by 2 15 we can't have a quorum. We'll do that. Okay. I just wanted to give you an update as to where it is. And as I talk, I am now seeing our quorum come to the uh come in. And so with that, I will take the time to welcome you to the budget and audit committee. Uh let you know that this meeting is now in session. And will the city clerk please call the role starting with Jay Shane? Thank you. Member Shane. Member Jennings. Here. Um Ashby? Yeah. And for the record, Member Steinberg is absent. Okay. So that means we have a quorum. And uh, will the city clerk please read the disclaimer? This meeting is streaming live and being recorded on the city's website. Please silence your cell phones. And if members of the public would like to speak, please submit a speaker slip to the assistant city clerk. Fantastic. With that, we will move to uh our first order of business, which is our consent calendar. Uh do we have anyone signed up to speak? I have no speaker slips. Okay, it has been moved and seconded. Uh seeing no comments from the public or from the members of the budget and audit committee. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Oppose. We are unanimous moving the consent calendar. Uh next order of business will be our discussion calendar. Uh, the city auditors audit of the department of utilities. Uh how you doing, sir. Doing well. Good. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, members of the budget and audit committee. Jorge Segueda, your city auditor. With me today is both uh Jordan Sweeney and Lynn Bashaw, who were primarily responsible for completing this audit, as well as the rest of my audit team in case you're wondering what the big crowd behind me is. Um the recommendation that is before you is that you accept the auditors audit of the Department of Utilities inventory and to forward the report to the full city council for final approval. The Department of Utilities maintains an inventory of parts, tools, and supplies with a current value of just over $2 million. This consists of things such as equipment, tools, plumbing supplies, and water meters.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com