Report 2013-107 Recommendations

Within the next 60 days, the state controller should implement the policies and procedures it developed to ensure the receipt of outside account reports in each reporting period and to enhance monitoring efforts.

Within the next six months, the state controller should develop policies and procedures to maintain a list of all outside accounts and reconcile its list annually with the state treasurer's list.

Within the next 60 days, the Department of Finance should implement the policies and procedures it developed to ensure the receipt of outside account reports in each reporting period and to enhance monitoring efforts.

To ensure that all outside accounts have proper authority, over the next six months, Finance should continue to pursue and resolve the 35 identified unresolved cases in which adequate authority could not be confirmed.

To safeguard cost recovery program revenue, Cal Fire should, within the next six months, implement adequate segregation of duties for its cost recovery program revenues. For example, it should require that cost recovery payments be mailed to its accounting office, as are other payments.

To safeguard cost recovery program revenue, Cal Fire should, within the next six months, develop policies and procedures requiring personnel not affiliated with the cost recovery program to reconcile expected cost recovery payments to deposits.

To safeguard cost recovery program revenue, Cal Fire should, within the next six months, develop a process to track civil cost recovery cases statewide to monitor compliance with policies as well as monitor collection status.

Cal Fire should continue its efforts to determine what happened to the $13,470 check that was not deposited in the Wildland Fire Fund.

To ensure that it possesses all equipment purchased with Wildland Fire Fund money, Cal Fire should compile a complete list of equipment purchased with these funds and reconcile it to the attorneys association's accounting records.

To ensure that it possesses all equipment purchased with Wildland Fire Fund money, Cal Fire should tag all equipment purchased through the Wildland Fire Fund.

To ensure that it possesses all equipment purchased with Wildland Fire Fund money, Cal Fire should perform a periodic inventory of equipment.

For the State to better monitor outside accounts, the Legislature should consider requiring the state controller to expand its reporting on outside accounts to include information on accounts opened during the last fiscal year. Reported details should include the authority, name, and balance of the new outside accounts.

To ensure that state agencies do not misdirect cost recovery revenues in the future, the Legislature should specify that these revenues include any money received as a result of cost recovery efforts, and should require that these revenues be deposited in the state treasury.

Within the next 60 days, the state treasurer should implement the policies and procedures it developed to ensure the receipt of outside account reports in each reporting period and to enhance monitoring efforts.

Within the next six months, the state treasurer should develop policies and procedures to maintain a list of all outside accounts and reconcile its list annually with the state controller's list.

To ensure accurate reporting on its outside accounts in the future, within the next six months, CSU should develop procedures for excluding investments held by the treasury system from reported outside account balances.