Warden Bernie MacLellan. File photo
HEATHER BOA Bullet News GODERICH – Senior management in the County of Huron may be asked to return county-issued Visa cards and vehicles, based on recommendations from an auditor hired to review the way the county does business.
County council took the first step in that direction by asking administration to find a way to whittle down the number of credit cards held by top staff and the warden and to negotiate to recall vehicles that were issued to the senior management team in 2007. Four were returned by senior managers who left the county’s employment earlier this year, and three are still in use.
Some councillors were reluctant to take back credit cards that were issued from the CAO’s office to staff who travel, accrue expenses or order products from out-of-province, saying it indicated a lack of trust in the people they employ, but the Heather Adams, who is the county’s acting CAO, said the auditor’s recommendation is based on a goal of reducing risk.
“I don’t believe he’s indicated he’s made recommendations necessarily because there were big issues but these are areas where he believes we need stronger policies and some thought around how as a corporation we protect those public funds,” she said.
Councillors were reluctant to make any further changes until they’d had time to review and discuss the 13-page letter of recommendations, which they received the day before yesterday’s council meeting. It will be on a meeting agenda later this month.
The recommendations also touch on expense reports, recording of taxable benefits for the use of county-owned vehicles, and accounting and recording of vacation pay carry-over for the senior management team.
In an interview after the meeting, the county’s warden, Bernie MacLellan said the findings highlight the complexity of the county’s policies, with direction straddling a number of policies.
”I don’t know if anybody could ever memorize all the policies to know how they work together. It would be great if the auditor would be part of a team from a management standpoint of helping us make some changes to our policies. We have some good policies but they need to be tidied up,” he said. For example, expense reports are covered in five different county policies.
He expects the new CAO, who is anticipated to begin the job at the start of 2013, will be charged with the task of reviewing policies to ensure they’re current and cohesive.
In September, James Hoare of Hoare Dalton Litigation and Valuation Services, of London, delivered detailed copies of the report to councillors, reviewed it for about four hours, and collected up the copies at the end of the closed door meeting, with legal counsel Margaret Szilassy of Hicks Morley in attendance.
The results of a review of expense accounts and use of county vehicles by senior staff will not be made public, but the recommendations were made public yesterday.
The letter of recommendations can be viewed online.
