Auditor Takes County To Task For Purchasing Procedures Courthouse Officials Say They’ve Clamped Down On Spending
The Washington state auditor says Spokane County should change the way it awards bids, deals with surplus equipment and collects money at cashiers windows.
In a report issued this month, state Auditor Brian Sonntag said the county didn’t keep close enough tabs on $24 million in purchases in 1995.
In one case, Sonntag wrote, the county paid nearly 2-1/2 times the lowest bid for office equipment. On another occasion, it paid 165 percent more than the negotiated price for auto parts. Details of those purchases weren’t available Wednesday.
And while county computers are programmed to limit spending to $2,500, “we noted that departments intentionally used improper account codes” to exceed that limit, according to the auditor’s report.
The county’s chief administrative officer, Jim Lindow, said the county has clamped down on spending, requiring that more purchases be made through the Purchasing Department.
That system makes it more difficult for departments to buy supplies they need quickly, Lindow said.
“But when we have problems like this, it really makes sense to gain more control,” he said.
Sonntag also concluded that the county has “weak internal controls” over cashiers, but he found no evidence of theft.
In District Court, “cashiers reduce the amounts due on (traffic) tickets, referred to as ‘counter mitigation,’ without adequate management review or authorization,” Sonntag wrote.
In their written response, county officials agreed that changes are needed in District Court but said the county can’t afford the extra staff which would be required.
“We don’t believe, however, that the weaknesses noted are significant enough to cause serious damage to the court’s ability to properly safeguard cash,” they wrote.
In other matters, the state auditor concluded:
The county needs to better document purchases made without open bidding and better advertise its bidding process.
Surplus equipment should be inventoried more accurately and more often.
Access to computer files should be more limited. “Our tests disclosed that the current use of security controls does not limit users to only those functions that they need to do their jobs,” the auditor wrote.
, DataTimes