09-17-2002 Special Called Regular Meeting

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• • Audit Committee Meeting Minutes -September 17, 2002 -Page 6 to verify. In one case, however, the person responding took their entire universe and responded, per line item. In the right hand column, if they had no further support explanation, it was left blank, but they had seen the line item and knew it was there. A question was asked regarding who that person was. Mr. Herrera's office provided a detailed spreadsheet due to the calendars being in their office and the body of invoices. Mr. Herrera reviewed the document; the spreadsheet and invoices were forwarded to Mr. Tiller. Mr. Griffiths brought up the statistics of the former employees on low support of their line items. When looking at the statistics on page 9, it was not surprising because they did not have the opportunity to respond. You then have an overview that support did not reside in your Accounts Payable area, but resided in other areas that is not out-of--line with what we expected; we expected their percentages to be higher. Mr. Meismer questioned the information that was compiled within the offices themselves; there was a certain body of information that was kept with that cardholder or their subordinates. In this interview process, I assume you talked with all the subordinates of those responsible for gathering information. Mr. Tiller stated that to his knowledge, this was correct. As you know, some of those personnel have changed. If they were still an employee, we attempted to interview them. Councilmember Howard Ebow gave an analogy of the process of credit card documentation being handled poorly, like a puzzle with missing pieces. Mr. Meismer questioned common expenses, some of the same charges that were multiple charges for Council trips or other activities, who would be the person or did you establish who the person would be to make the decision who's card that was applied to. The audit did not clarify who would be responsible. Mayor Malone noted on page 88 was a good example of this. There are 12 things, with the same price that are documented, with one card paying for that, hotel being the same. Mr. Tiller had some comments along those lines. He knows that American Express is not that easy to deal with. Had any thought been given, through Purchasing, how to get a credit limit appropriate for the cards being used and some clear delineation. If that card is full, then the next available card is used to accomplish the need; to allow them to fmish booking the remaining reservations. There was a question on page 101 (an error in presentation). As late as last week, the auditor was receiving documentation and this was an oversight on their part. Chairperson Chuck Engelken asked about the questions on page 6, could you apply a dollar amount? The appropriate use of the three questions is of the detailed transactions and not the totals. These are the three questions you need to be asking yourself as you look at each specific expenditure in the detail schedules, not as a total. You need to go to each tab and make sure you understand the job function the person holds, ask yourself what is your expectation, should they be using a card for city business for travel, for meals, for miscellaneous purposes. I think the answer will vary depending on their job function. After you review this, you should get a feel whether these are appropriate. This should give you a feel of the parameters that you need to establish on a go-forward basis, as it relates to each cardholder.