Tuolumne COE | BP 3400 Business and Noninstructional Operations
Management Of County Office Assets/Accounts
The Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools Office recognizes its fiduciary responsibility to effectively manage and safeguard the County Office's assets and resources in order to help achieve the County Office's goals for student learning. The Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools or designee shall establish and maintain an accurate, efficient financial management system that enhances the County Office's ability to meet its fiscal obligations, produces reliable financial reports, and complies with laws, regulations, policies, and procedures. He/she shall ensure that the County Office's accounting system provides ongoing internal controls and meets generally accepted accounting standards.
(cf. 3000 - Concepts and Roles)
(cf. 3100 - Budget)
(cf. 3300 - Expenditures and Purchases)
(cf. 3312 - Contracts)
(cf. 3314 - Payment for Goods and Services)
(cf. 3460 - Financial Reports and Accountability)
Capital Assets
The County Superintendent or designee shall develop a system to accurately identify and value County Office assets in order to help ensure financial accountability and to minimize the risk of loss or misuse. County Office assets with a useful life of more than one year and an initial acquisition cost of $5,000 or more shall be considered capital assets. The County Superintendent or designee shall determine the estimated useful life of each capital asset and shall calculate and report the estimated loss of value or depreciation during each accounting period for all capital assets.
(cf. 3440 - Inventories)
Internal Controls/Fraud Prevention
The County Board expects County Board members, employees, consultants, vendors, contractors, and other parties maintaining a business relationship with the County Office to act with integrity and due diligence in dealings involving the County Office's assets and fiscal resources.
The County Superintendent or designee shall develop internal controls which aid in the prevention and detection of fraud, financial impropriety, or irregularity within the County Office. These internal controls may include, but are not limited to, segregating employee duties relating to authorization, custody of assets, and recording or reporting of transactions; providing detailed, written job descriptions explaining the segregation of functions; adopting an integrated financial system; conducting background checks on business office employees; and requiring continuous in-service training for business office staff on the importance of fraud prevention.
All employees shall be alert for any indication of fraud, financial impropriety, or irregularity within their area of responsibility. Any employee who suspects fraud, impropriety, or irregularity shall immediately report those suspicions to his/her immediate supervisor and/or the County Superintendent or designee. In addition, the County Superintendent or designee shall establish a method for employees and outside persons to anonymously report any suspected instances of fraud, impropriety, or irregularity.
(cf. 4119.1/4219.1/4319.1 - Civil and Legal Rights)
The County Superintendent or designee shall have primary responsibility for any necessary investigations of suspected fraud, impropriety, or irregularity, in coordination with legal counsel, the County Office's auditors, law enforcement agencies, or other governmental entities, as appropriate.
The County Superintendent or designee shall provide regular reports to the County Board on the status of the County Office's internal control procedures and recommend any necessary revisions to related County Board policies or administrative regulations.
Legal Reference:
EDUCATION CODE
14500-14508 Financial and compliance audits
35035 Powers and duties of superintendent
35250 Duty to keep certain records and reports
41010-41023 Accounting regulations, budget controls and audits
42600-42604 Control of expenditures
42647 Drawing of warrants by district on county treasurer; form; reports, statements and other data
GOVERNMENT CODE
53995-53997 Obligation of contract
Management Resources:
CSBA PUBLICATIONS
Maximizing School Board Governance: Budget Planning and Adoption, 2006
Maximizing School Board Governance: Fiscal Accountability, 2006
School Finance CD-ROM, 2005
GOVERNMENTAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD
Statement 34, Basic Financial Statements - and Management's Discussion and Analysis - For State and Local Governments, June 1999
WEB SITES
CSBA: http://www.csba.org
California Association of School Business Officials: http://www.casbo.org
California Department of Education, School Finance: http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg
California State Controller's Office: http://www.sco.ca.gov
Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team: http://www.fcmat.org
Governmental Accounting Standards Board: http://www.gasb.org
School Services of California: http://www.sscal.com
Policy TUOLUMNE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
adopted: August 1, 2008 Sonora, California