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Claims auditor outlines purchasing controls, exception metrics and recommendations
Summary
The district's claims auditor summarized statutory authority over payments, said roughly $20 million in claims are reviewed most months, noted a November exception rate as high as 11%, and recommended proactive PO practices, cabinet review of exception reports, and policy refinements.
Michael Wolf, the district's claims auditor, told the board that under the relevant law he is the official who certifies payments and that he reviews the district's claims on a weekly basis.
Wolf said the auditor’s office typically reviews about 1,000–1,700 invoice claims monthly and estimated that most months the board approves roughly $20 million in claims. To determine whether an expense should be paid he described a two-step process (a needs-vs-wants test and an "auditorium test" that asks whether a district leader would be comfortable explaining the expense to taxpayers). He said the district's claims-exception rate generally trends toward a 2–3% target but spiked to about 11% in November because of an incomplete purchase-order process with one vendor; most months were far lower.
Wolf identified common exceptions — confirming purchase orders (where a purchase precedes a PO) and overuse of check requests — and recommended strengthening proactive PO creation, reinforcing cabinet review of exception reports, and adding clarifying language to expense policies (Policy 6830 was cited as a recently updated draft). Board members asked questions about how exceptions are detected, the enforcement timeline, and the availability of monthly reports; Wolf said he would provide March and April reports immediately and work to deliver earlier months as soon as possible.
