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Commissioners debate centralizing county financial policy; audit office urged to draft standards
Summary
Davis County commissioners and audit staff debated centralizing accounts receivable/accounts payable and strengthening countywide financial policies to reduce variation across departments and improve compliance.
Commissioners and staff spent a major portion of the March 5 meeting discussing whether Davis County should centralize its accounts receivable and accounts payable functions and adopt stronger, enforceable countywide financial policies.
Participants said the county currently operates more than 30 separate financial systems across departments, which complicates consistent application of policy and internal controls. Several commissioners urged the controller and internal auditor to draft an overarching financial policy and to follow up with department-level checks.
One commissioner summarized the enforcement challenge bluntly: in a government structure with many elected officials and department autonomy, policy-setting is one step but enforcement requires commission backing and clear, countywide standards. An internal-audit representative suggested drafting policy and then testing departments for compliance, with exceptions allowed only where previously agreed (for example, pre-existing multi-year contracts).
Committee members praised the internal-audit office for constructive engagement but also urged a collaborative tone to avoid adversarial relations with departmental staff. The committee asked staff to return with proposed policy language and recommended next steps for improving compliance and accountability.
Next steps: controller and internal audit to prepare draft financial policy language for committee review; commissioners and staff will explore centralized processing options and enforcement mechanisms.
