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Clermont oversight committee agrees to tighten payments, contractor coverage and computer security
Summary
The committee agreed to discontinue Anthem/BCBS auto-pay, investigate a PNC fraud-protection plan, notify the town's insurer about janitorial coverage, and advance enrollment in a new antivirus service to reduce operational and fraud risks.
Clermont's Internal Control Standards Oversight Committee on Aug. 14 discussed several operational risks and agreed to near-term steps to tighten payment controls, contractor coverage and cybersecurity.
Clerk-Treasurer Larry Beiter said most vendor payments are initiated through PNC Bank Pay, while INPRS, Anthem BCBS, the IRS and the Indiana Department of Revenue still use vendor-initiated electronic payments; Anthem/BCBS was the only vendor set up for automatic payment. The committee agreed to discontinue Anthem auto-pay and continue manual initiation for INPRS, IRS and the Indiana Department of Revenue. PNC's fraud protection representative recommended moving from checks to ACH and offered a Fraud Protection Plan that would enable verification of payments before funds are released; Beiter will investigate that option and report back to the council.
On contracting and facility risk, the committee learned that janitorial/handyperson contractors without business insurance can be covered under the town's liability policy with a small premium increase; the clerk will notify the insurance agent about the janitorial contractor. The committee also discussed risks created by giving cleaning staff keys to the Police Station and Town Hall for off-hours access; Chief Dulworth will ask second-shift Officer Kory Thompson to check Town Hall more frequently on Fridays when contractors are scheduled.
Councilor Mike Beam said he included funding in the 2026 budget to subscribe to "Upfort," a virus-protection service recommended by the town's cyber insurer; the committee directed enrollment in a more advanced service for all town computers as a follow-up action.
Why it matters: the changes are intended to reduce exposure to check fraud, improve payment verification, and lower operational risk from uninsured contractors and limited endpoint protection.
Assigned follow-up includes notifying Walker Insurance about janitorial coverage (Clerk-Treasurer Larry Beiter), investigating PNC's Fraud Protection program (Beiter), and enrolling in enhanced antivirus protection (Councilor Mike Beam).
