Finance staff presented proposed updates to internal controls and payroll practices at the Aug. 25 workshop, focusing on check-signing policy, stale uncashed checks and staffing support for Emergency Management Agency (EMA) grant administration.

Treasurer Brenda and Finance Director Palmer reported that the county currently issues one signature on checks and proposed requiring two signatures for larger amounts as an additional control. The treasurer noted statutory responsibilities to sign certain special notes and suggested that typical practice could be the treasurer plus a commissioner or the finance director for higher-value checks. Staff and commissioners asked the finance office to confer with the county’s banking partner to confirm operational and legal implications of dual-signature checks before changing policy.

Staff also flagged a backlog of stale checks that have not been cashed. The finance team plans to add an issue date to new checks, research outstanding stale items and present remediation steps to the commission.

On staffing, Emergency Management requested increasing a part-time finance/grants position from 25 to 29 hours per week through the end of the year to handle billing, reimbursements and grant tracking. EMA and administrator Scott said the position’s duties include billing processing, tracking reimbursements, grant reporting and coordination with the finance department. The administrator said the request could be implemented quickly if the commission approves it at a regular meeting, while any further expansion would need the formal budget process.

Commissioners asked for a written proposal and an analysis of whether the position should remain within EMA on a contracted basis or be absorbed into county finance as work grows. Staff agreed to return the detailed proposal and to coordinate with the treasurer and finance director to draft a final recommendation for the next meeting.

Ending: Finance staff will confirm bank requirements for two-signature checks, inventory stale checks for remediation, and circulate the EMA staffing request with a budget impact analysis before the next regular meeting.