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Finance committee approves tighter asset-inventory and surplus-disposal policy
Summary
The Wilson County Finance Committee approved a revised asset inventory and surplus-disposal policy requiring annual departmental inventories tied to budget submissions, sampled verification (25 items twice a year), IT secure-wipe procedures, and pre-disposal approvals; the policy passed by voice vote.
The Wilson County Finance Committee on May 28 approved a revised fixed-asset inventory and surplus-disposal policy intended to tighten controls over county equipment and reduce loss.
Finance Director (S3) told the committee the revisions require each department to submit an annual inventory when preparing budgets, designate a point of contact for inventory verification, and allow finance to sample 25 items twice a year for spot checks. "Each point of contact for the department along with another witness from the department will locate each item and sign off that the inventory item has been located," the director said, describing a process that will rely on departments' own inventory systems for units such as the sheriff's office.
The policy also sets procedures for surplus and disposal: departments must coordinate with IT and finance to determine whether equipment can be reassigned before declaring it surplus; IT must inspect electronic devices and ensure county data are securely removed or hard drives destroyed before disposal. The director said disposal lists will be submitted to the budget committee for review where required and that no asset may be permanently disposed of until all approvals are obtained.
On missing assets, the policy requires employees to immediately notify supervisors, file a police report in the jurisdiction where the item was believed to be stolen, and inform the finance department so items may be flagged in the inventory tracking software. "If the item is in fact determined to be missing, an investigation will be conducted by either the finance department, the comptroller's office, or local law enforcement as appropriate," the director said, adding that disciplinary action may follow investigations.
The committee voted to approve the policy as presented. The vote followed discussion about departments that maintain separate inventory systems (the director said the sheriff's inventory contains more than 4,000 items) and about the staff resources finance will use to conduct sampling and verification.
Next steps include formalizing the new policy language in the county policy book and implementing the sampling schedule and point-of-contact designations.
