Lake County delays approval of comprehensive financial policies as finance prepares procedures manual

Lake County Finance Director Candace Bridal presented a 40‑page draft of county financial policies at the Lake County Board of County Commissioners work session on Oct. 27 and asked the board to delay formal approval until staff can finish a companion procedures manual and run a soft implementation.

Bridal said the draft is intended to set consistent policy while allowing operational procedures to change as systems evolve. She told the commissioners the document is modeled in part on a neighboring county’s policies and is meant to clarify who “owns” budget decisions and how routine transactions should be recorded and reviewed. Bridal characterized the paper version shown to the board as “a working draft” and asked that final approval be moved to June so departments have time to test procedures and receive training.

Why it matters: The draft would change several day‑to‑day controls and approval thresholds that affect department spending, grant applications and county accounting. Bridal said the policies are intended to give department heads and elected officials clearer authority and responsibility for their budgets while preserving finance’s role in reporting and external compliance (audit, state filings and GAAP/GASB requirements).

Key points from the work session

- Timing and process: Bridal asked the board to remove the item from the immediate approval queue and allow staff to prepare a linked procedures manual and training (including a short training video) so departments can implement the rules correctly. She recommended a “soft launch” and solicited feedback before final adoption.

- Budgeting and budget control: The draft reaffirms that Lake County follows modified accrual fund accounting and must balance budgets at the fund level. Bridal said supplemental budget changes remain public and must be refiled with the state when fund appropriations change. She emphasized that department heads and elected officials should manage expenditures at the account level and be prepared to explain where items were budgeted.

- Approval tiers for invoices and purchases: The draft documents current approval levels used by finance: budgeted expenses up to $1,000 may be approved by authorized department staff; amounts roughly between $1,000 and $7,500 require a department director’s approval; expenses above that but under $25,000 require county manager approval; expenditures above $25,000 are intended to be presented to the BOCC. Bridal noted those thresholds align with procurement and formal bid requirements and said procedures for formal procurement will be linked but maintained separately.

- Purchasing cards (p‑cards): The draft proposes limiting p‑cards to elected officials, department directors or documented designees for specific operational needs (child welfare, public works emergencies, transport duties, etc.). Bridal proposed a default monthly limit of $2,000, with written requests required for temporary or higher limits. The draft would require cardholders to upload receipts and code transactions by the fifth day of the following month; repeated failures would trigger temporary suspension and then cancellation (three strikes).

- Receipts, allowable costs and gift cards: The draft requires itemized receipts identifying date, amount, purpose and participants. It disallows alcoholic beverages, personal items and employee gift cards as reimbursable business expenses; Bridal said gift cards create tax and administrative burdens and recommended discontinuing them for employee incentives in favor of documented payroll bonuses or other taxable payroll treatments.

- Cash handling and petty cash: All cash (other than small petty‑change funds used for event change) should be deposited with the county treasurer. Departments must notify the treasurer in advance of large deposits (Candace flagged $25,000 as a notification threshold). Daily reconciliation of change funds was required.

- Grants and grant review committee: Bridal proposed that grant applications under $10,000 that are not federal funds and do not require a local match could proceed without full grant‑review committee preapproval; grants above $10,000 would require committee review before application. Departments would still provide grant application details, projected multi‑year costs, reporting obligations and a named project lead and backup. Bridal said the threshold could be raised in the future if the county builds more trust and stronger systems.

- Capital, asset and fund‑balance policies: The draft sets a fixed‑asset capitalization threshold at $5,000 (items with useful life >1 year). Bridal asked the board to consider adopting a minimum reserve policy and proposed options including a three‑month operating reserve (or the existing 10% of projected revenues used previously). She urged the board to decide whether reserves should be held in a separate restricted fund or remain in the general fund with earmarking.

- Payroll, internal controls and audits: The draft clarifies payroll submission and approval timelines and authorizations, and reiterates separation of duties within finance to reduce fraud risk. Bridal said the county must follow generally accepted accounting principles as established by GASB and meet audit reporting and COP/EMMA disclosure obligations for debt instruments.

Comments and clarifications from staff

- Claire, who identified herself with the county emergency/operations function, clarified the separate roles of the county’s community disaster fund and county emergency response spending: “What we have set up with the community fund is more related to, kind of direct support for victims of a disaster or an emergency,” she said, adding that OEM’s budget line is used for smaller incident response and that larger emergency incident funds would be contemplated separately.

- Bridal and staff said they will prepare supporting process documents, forms and a short training video for departments. Finance staff will also work with departments on grant planning so grants and budgeted items are coordinated before contracts are accepted.

Board direction and next steps

Bridal requested that the BOCC not approve the draft at the next meeting and instead allow staff time to finish the procedures manual and run a soft implementation. Commissioners agreed to remove the item from the immediate approval list; Bridal asked commissioners to provide written feedback by the end of the month and indicated staff would return with finalized procedures and a revised policy for formal consideration in June. No formal vote or ordinance was taken at the work session.

Ending

Finance staff said they will continue to refine the draft policies and linked procedures, produce training materials and coordinate with the county manager’s office, Treasurer’s Office and HR on operational rollout. Commissioners and staff will review the revised package before the county schedules a formal approval item for a future meeting.