REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
October 8, 2019
FROM
MICHELLE SCRAY BROWN, Chief Probation Officer, Probation Department
SUBJECT
Title
Relief from Liability for Shortfall on Expired Prepaid Negotiables
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve request for Relief from Liability for obsolete Barstow Area Transit bus passes in the amount of $815.
(Presenter: Eric Vara, Deputy Chief Probation Officer, 387-5777)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). This item requests Release from Liability for a shortfall in prepaid negotiables in the amount of $815 that have been removed from inventory.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Approval of this item will provide Relief from Liability to the Probation Department (Probation) in the amount of $815. The Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector’s (ATC) Internal Controls and Cash Manual identifies the procedure County departments must follow when reporting cash shortages. If the shortage exceeds $200, the reporting department is required to submit a petition to the Board of Supervisors requesting Relief from Liability of the shortage. Probation is requesting relief from a shortage of $815, as detailed below, in accordance with the stated procedure.
Probation provides probationers (adults and juveniles) with a variety of prepaid negotiables as supportive incentive devices. The use of prepaid negotiables allows the Department to assist probationers with basic living necessities (food, clothing and transportation). The department is seeking Relief from Liability for losses resulting from obsolete and expired bus passes from the Barstow Area Transit (BAT) valued at $815. The BAT bus passes became obsolete as a result of a merger with Victor Valley Transit Authority. The Department was not aware of the merger and BAT provided a minimal window of opportunity to exchange the obsolete passes, causing the passes to become expired. To avoid such occurrences in the future, the Department will purchase prepaid cards as close as possible to the anticipated date of distribution, in accordance with the Internal Cash Controls Manual (ICCM).
The Department has formally reported these matters to the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector (ATC) Internal Audits division. The circumstances concerning this shortage have been reviewed and “Relief from Liability” has been recommended by the ATC.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Carol A. Greene, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on August 13, 2019; Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax-Collector (Denise Mejico, Chief Deputy Auditor, 382-3183) on August 13, 2019; Finance (Carolina Mendoza, Administrative Analyst, 387-0294) on September 9, 2019; and County Finance and Administration (Kelly Welty, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-4376) on September 12, 2019.