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Benefits to 4-day schedule
July 2, 2008
--Naperville Sun
Maybe a five-day-a-week business can be operated more efficiently by people working four, 10-hour days instead of five, eight-hour days.
At least that's the premise the Will County auditor's office is trying.
The office is keeping its same Mondays to Fridays schedule, though with longer 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. hours, employees will now work a four-day schedule and in addition to having Saturdays and Sundays off will have either Fridays or Mondays off as well. And for those who must do business with the auditor's office, having it open 10 hours a day starting at 7:30 in the morning isn't a bad deal, either.
Will County Auditor Steve Weber said studies show employees are more productive when working that kind of schedule.
Besides, they may be able to manage their work time and free time better.
"If you had an extra day off each week to get stuff done, you wouldn't be scheduling a doctor's appointment or running an errand during work," Weber said.
This is a pilot plan for the county, and if it works for the auditor's office, other county offices may adopt it as well.
Time off from work is precious, and if by working a couple more hours each day, employees of the auditor's office can essentially accumulate an entire day off each week. We see the four-day work week as a benefit that is well worth having.
Moreover, as gasoline keeps getting increasingly expensive -- Weber says he has one employee who spends $16 a day on gas getting to and from work -- cutting the work commute from five to four days is not something to be taken lightly.
We would hope that other employers, and not just government, would take a look at this and other ways to potentially increase efficiency and lessen the amount of fuel used, and emissions created, through creative scheduling.
--Naperville Sun
Will four-day week benefit all?
Will County auditor tries new work schedule for staff
By STEWART WARREN SWARREN@SCN1.COM
JOLIET -- Their days are numbered at one county office.
And that's a good thing.
Starting Monday, the employees in Will County Auditor Steve Weber's office will work 10-hour shifts, four days a week for at least the next month. Some workers will have an extra day off Mondays, and others will be gone Fridays.
The office will remain open every business day, but the hours will shift to 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.
There are plenty of reasons to try the plan, Weber said. Studies show that employees actually are more productive when working that type of schedule, for example.
"If you had an extra day off each week to get stuff done, you wouldn't be scheduling a doctor's appointment or running an errand during work," he explained.
And it's a way to go green while offering a perk to workers, said Weber, chairman of the Will County Land Conservancy.
"There are environmental benefits -- everyone is talking about doing things, but who is doing it?" he asked. "That's a 20 percent decrease in travel costs, right off the top. I have one employee who spends $16 a day on gas getting to work, round trip."
His plan means there will be a fewer cars on the road during the week, another small boost.
Audit thyself?
As auditor, Weber is responsible for evaluating the financial aspects of county operations and the efficiency of its offices, among many other things. He developed the four-day work-week idea with Jack Riley, the office's financial analyst, and Bill Gasparich, a deputy auditor.
The new schedule also is a pilot program for the rest of the county. If it works, other offices might make the switch.
"Steve is a bright young man, and he's always worked for the benefit of the constituents," said board member Wayne McMillan, R-McMillan, R-Bolingbrook. "Maybe we could advance it to other parts of the county."
Weber will go to the county board's executive committee in mid-July and report on the project. "I'll tell them if we found any road blocks," he promised.
County Board Chairman Jim Moustis, R-Franfort, backs the trial program and particularly likes the idea of extended office hours.
"I think that it's one of the initiatives that could be beneficial in a number of ways," he said. "Certainly we need to be more conscious of people spending money on gas."
Press Release-For Immediate Release: April 3, 2008
Will County Ombudsman Help Line
Finds a River Valley Earth Friendly Solution
It had always annoyed, a certain Juvenile Probation Office at the West McDonough Street River Valley Justice Center to see reams of paper tossed into the waste paper basket at the office instead of being recycled. After all, recycling paper is ecologically the right thing to do, she thought, because it helps protect and improve the environment.
So she talked up the benefits with her co-workers of recycling the tons of paper discarded annually by the office: One ton of printer or copier recycled paper makes one ton of “new” paper; but it takes slightly over two tons of wood to make the same ton of paper. The wood used in paper production accounts for over 40% of all harvested trees worldwide, and the conversion of recycling paper required 40% less energy that wood conversion paper process. Lastly one ton of discarded paper consumes three cubic yards in our local landfill.
Everyone in the office supported the idea of recycling and people were interested in participating in a recycling program but for a number of reasons a paper recycling program never could quite get over the final hurdles to actual launch a recycling program: special recycling collection bins were need and budgets were tight; there was no mechanism to collect bins to process recycled paper. Determined to get a recycling program going and fed up with the excuses, the Juvenile Probation Officer finally called the Will County Auditors Help Line attempting to get some action.
The Help Line was launched by Will County Auditor Steve Weber in August of 2007 as an ombudsman communication vehicle for Will County employees to speak confidentially with the auditor to address questions regarding accounting policies and procedure; report rule of conduct violators and report instances of fraud, waste or abuse within the County. To insure anonymity County Auditor Weber handles all calls and each call is given a case number for future follow up by the caller. The telephone number is (815) 722-2815.
After the Juvenile Probation Officer’s call, Weber’s research into the problem showed that the Will County Land Use Department had just received a large grant for recycling which included office recycling bins and that River Valley Justice Center had inadvertently been left out of the grant distribution. Within a week after her call to the Help Line, the probation officer received an email for the County’s Recycling Department outlining the delivery schedule for the new recycling bins. Appreciative, the probation officer emailed Weber, “Thanks for the follow up regarding my request for recycling bins. Just thought as a whole, it might be good for River Valley to recycle. There’s so much waste, why not try to be more earth friendly?”
Press Release-For Immediate Release: January 29, 2008
22% Return on Investment Dividend for
Will County Taxpayers with Paperless Procurement Program
Steve Weber Will County Auditor announced this week that the county’s paperless procurement system, called Pro-Card (for procurement card), reached a new benchmark saving county taxpayers over $1.1 Million in processing fees and changes since it was launched in 2004. “It’s a big milestone for our Pro-Card program because total purchase volume exceeded $4.7 Million and now we are starting to see the real benefits of the Pro-Card program, “ Weber said.
Weber pioneered the development of the procurement card for governmental use in 2004 with New World System, a leading public sector software company, by co-developing an automated procurement card transaction reconciliation software program. “The idea was to take a best practice from private business and adapt it for governmental use”, Weber said.
Will County’s Pro-Card program allows authorized county employees to directly purchase the goods and services from outside vendors using a special credit card instead of having to trudge through a paper-laden system to obtain a purchase order - significantly reducing purchasing cycle time. The New World Systems Pro-Card reconciliation software also dramatically reduces required manpower to reconcile the credit card and simplifies the entire accounting process – significantly reducing check processing and payment time.
“Last year alone instead of having to write over 5,800 checks to vendors for transactions with the old process – we only wrote 12 checks to reconcile the Pro-card”, Steve Weber said. According to both Accenture and Deloitte and Touche, the average cost to reconcile a paper purchase order and issue a check is about $97 per transaction.
Two important preventative measures to protect the county against fraudulent or unauthorized credit card use are: specific individual month spending limits for each Pro-Card user coupled with fraud insurance protection for each credit card. The fraud insurance amount significantly exceeds the month spending limits. “The Pro-Card protection system is bullet proof. There is no way our county employee can buy a plasma HD television and have taxpayers pay for it.” Steve Weber said.
“The next milestone will be when yearly Pro-Card purchases exceed $5 Million,” Weber continued, “we will then start to get vendor monetary rebates on individual purchases in addition to the Pro-Card process savings.” In 2007 Pro-Card total purchases were $3.3 Million, up 135% from 2006.
Two Will County Departments save Taxpayers over $250,000
At the March Will County Board meeting, County Auditor Stephen P. Weber, CPA presented his fifth Annual Auditor’s Fiscal Responsibility awards. These awards recognize elected county officials and departments heads for their outstanding stewardship of taxpayers’ money. All county departments are eligible for the Auditor’s Fiscal Responsibility Award but to win only two departments were selected, those that had the highest percentage of unspent appropriations or budget.
This year’s first place winner is Will County Recorder of Deeds Laurie McPhillips who returned a very impressive 13.5% or $172,037 of her $1,279128 budget. “Laurie has done a great job of cost containment despite a significant 19% reduction in her revenues caused primarily by this year’s housing market downtown,” Weber said. “What do you do when this happens – tighten the belt,” he continued. The Recorder of Deeds Office receives the majority of its revenues from real estate filings, and transfer fees. The bulk of Laurie McPhillips’ departmental savings were in her management of payroll and fringe benefits.
The second place award went to County Executive Larry Walsh’s Land Use Subdivision Engineering Department run by Curt Paddock. This department is responsible for the subdivision and platting process, which includes preliminary plats, improvement plans, final plat, and subdivision guarantees or letters of credit. Auditor Weber said, “This is a well run department and we can see management obviously doesn’t miss much because they returned 13% or $84,143 of their 2007 budget.”
“Together these two departments saved $256,180. County departments that can operate within their respective budgets should be commended, but those that can return unspent money and operate on leaner budgets are extraordinary and should be praised,” Auditor Weber said. Will County has thirty-one budgeted departments. In 2007 thirteen of these departments returned over 5% of their budgets unspent. Departmental surpluses or unspent budgets are reserved so the county can avoid short-term borrowing until property tax revenues are received.
Press Release-For Immediate Release: January 9, 2008
Will County Auditor Shatters Old Record!
For the sixth consecutive year the Will County Auditor, Stephen P. Weber, CPA has received the Government Finance Officers Association’s (GFOA) highest recognition for excellence in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting – their Certificate for Excellence in Financial Reporting. According to the GFOA “its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by government and it management.” Weber directly won the award as being “primarily responsible for preparing the award winning Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (or CAFR). The CAFR has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program including demonstrating a constructive ‘spirit of full disclosure’ to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR”, one GFOA award document read.
“I’m thrilled to win this award but preparation of our financial reports is a team effort, and I want to thank my staff for their hard work and support”, Weber said. “The bottom line is that Will County tax payers can count on the superior accuracy of our financial statements”, he continued, “basically you can rely on our numbers, they are solid. One benefit of all this detailed work is a great bond rating that allows us to finance the jail expansion and other project at very low interest rates.” Weber said.
Prior to Weber’s six-peat the only Will County Auditor to win this GFOA award was Joe Mikan for the years of 1989 and 1990.
The GFOA is a non-profit professional association serving approximately 16,000 government finance professionals, nation-wide and in Canada, with offices in Chicago, IL, and Washington, D.C. The purpose of the Government Finance Officers Association is to enhance and promote the professional management of governments for the public benefit by identifying and developing financial policies and practices and promoting them through education, training and leadership. One of the GFOA key strategic objectives is to Raising Public Awareness of Sound Financial Policy and Practice and to take leadership role in promoting public awareness of policies and practices that enhance sound financial management of public resources.
Press Release-For Immediate Release: March 25, 2008
Auditor Voted To Position
From The Herald News 8/2007
Will County Auditor Stephen Weber Was elected vice president
in charge of education by the Illinois Association of County
Auditors. Chief among Weber’s responsibilities was to plan
coordinate the association’s yearly educational conference,
which was held in Will County for the first time in the association’s
history.
Weber, who has been active in the association for 20 years, served
as the first vice president for legislative matters. In addition,
he was slated by the 2007 nominating committee for the president’s
post, but had to decline due to his family responsibilities.
TALK IS CHEAP? OFFICIALS WANT A FAIR WAY TO RECOUP THE MONEY SPENT ON PERSONAL CALLS MADE BY COUNTY EMPLOYEES.
February 9, 2007
By CINDY WOJDYLA CAIN Staff Writer, Herald News
JOLIET -- Will County officials are looking for a way to recoup the cost of personal calls made on county-owned cell phones.
As it stands now, county employees are supposed to voluntarily reimburse the county for personal calls, said County Auditor Steve Weber. But the county only gets about $2,500 in such voluntary reimbursements annually, Weber said.
"It's pathetic," he said. His office could comb through all the bills looking for personal calls, but that would be time-consuming and waste a lot of manpower, he said.
Weber pitched an idea to the county board's executive committee last week that would require all employees using county cell phones for personal calls to pay a flat rate of $6 per month. But committee members agreed that wouldn't be a fair arrangement for employees who use county-owned phones excessively for personal calls.
They suggested a tiered system that would require employees with high personal usage to pay more. Or, perhaps, the employees with high personal call volumes could use their own phones and the county could pay them for work calls.
"If you have more personal use than county use, then you buy the phone and we'll give you six bucks," said County Board Chairman Jim Moustis, R-Frankfort.
About 350 employees have county cell phones, mostly sheriff's deputies, emergency management agency personnel, highway department workers and department heads.
Each phone costs about $40 a month for an annual bill of about $160,000, Weber said. If all employees paid $6 a month for personal calls that would raise about $25,000 for county coffers.
Also, Weber told the board about IRS rules that require people to report cell phone usage as a fringe benefit if the phone is provided by an employer and personal calls are not reimbursed. Without reimbursement, "We're open for a hit from the IRS," he said.
There is no policy governing cell phone use now, Weber said. Executive committee members directed Weber, finance director Paul Rafac and county board chief of staff Bruce Friefeld to come up with a policy that is fair for the county and employees.
"It's loosey-goosey (now)," Weber said. "This would be (providing) more controls than what we have."
Cell phones are more and more a part of doing business, Weber added.
"They're going to be here," he said. "They're not going away. So let's do it right."
June 7, 2006
Will giving up credit cards
• Procurement card: Makes staff misuse much less likely
JOLIET — Will County Auditor Steve Weber says the county's procurement cards offer many more protections for taxpayers than regular credit cards.
The cards can have monthly dollar limits and cash advances are prohibited. Also, the cards can't be used at casinos or strip clubs, "places we would not want county employees doing business," Weber told the county board's finance committee Tuesday.
The cards are programmed not to work at betting parlors, bars, pawn shops, dating and escort services, massage parlors and bowling alleys, to name a few of the prohibited places.
Weber's report was sparked by the controversial use of a village credit card by New Lenox Mayor Mike Smith at a Chicago strip club. Smith was charging personal expenses on his card and reimbursing the village later out of personal or campaign funds.
No personal expenses can be charged to the county's MasterCard procurement cards, Weber said.
"We will take it out of your paycheck if we find a personal expense," Weber said. "And if you do it again, the card is yanked."
Finance committee Chairman John Gerl, R-Joliet, suggested committee members read procurement card policy and procedures and if they had any suggestions to forward them to Weber before next month's meeting.
Will County switched to the procurement cards two years ago. The cards can be tailored to the user, Weber said. He handed out a list of the 63 county officials who have the cards, which are issued by Harris Bank in Chicago.
Monthly spending limits range from $100,000 for the staffer who pays the county's 911 system phone bills to $100 on a gas card for a probation department employee.
In 2005, county employees spent $109,000 using the cards. So far this year the total is $417,000.
If the county ever meets a $5 million threshold, it will get cash back from the bank, Weber said.
Though most officials now use the procurement cards, three credit cards are still being used in the county, Weber said. The sheriff's department has a gas card and the coroner and health department both have regular credit cards, he said.
Weber sent out a letter Tuesday asking that the departments consider switching to the procurement cards.
"We're wiping these out," Weber said. "The controls aren't there."
In addition to providing more safeguards than regular credit cards, the procurement cards also save the county money, he said. Instead of spending $70 on an invoice for every bill, the county spends $20.
"We're paying the bank instead of paying 500 vendors," Weber said.
The county has $50,000 in fraud insurance for each card in case something goes awry, Weber said.
In the two years since the cards were issued, only one has been taken away, Weber said. It was from an employee in the state's attorney's office, but Weber would not name that employee.
The employee was using the card at a gas station, Weber said.
But employees are supposed to fill their tanks at the county's Laraway gas facility to save money and use the cards only for emergency gas.
"They said they were testing us," Weber said of the employee. "I said, 'The test worked. You're done.'"
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April 24, 2006
Will County Auditor Steve Weber and Treasurer Karen Callanan work together to bring Positive Pay to Will County
Positive pay is becoming the leading method of check fraud deterrence available today. This process entails a daily reconcilement of an issuer’s checks to checks presented for payment to the issuer’s bank to identify potentially fraudulent checks.
The concern over fraud deterrence is a merited. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, check fraud is a growing issue facing financial institutions, costing banks and their customers an average of $18.7 billion per year. In addition to these losses, there are roughly 1.2 million fraudulent incidents reported daily. Fraud is not going away, it is only increasing.
With positive pay, Will County is able to upload data on all issued checks to our financial institution’s secure website. We would then be able to make instant, “pay” or “no pay” decisions. Our bank would then process the checks based on our decision file, allowing us to return any irregular checks, therefore eliminating any risk of loss to Will County. This program allows us to operate without fear of undetected forgeries and alterations. This would not only be beneficial to our county, but to our financial institution as well. “It’s a win/win for everyone except the fraudster”, states Steve Weber. Positive pay is the number 1 rated solution to fraud based on a study by the ABA (American Bank Association).
The payback for will county? Reducing the risk of check fraud losses, of which businesses bear the majority of these losses, an estimated 8 billion dollars a year. Bank fraud prevention systems are credited with preventing more than two-thirds of the potential losses. Having access to check images as soon as the items enter the collection system means Will County can identify potential fraud before it happens. “We become proactive instead of reactive”, says Steve Weber. In business that writes over 1 million checks a year positive pay, users state it takes only 15 minutes a day to manage their accounts.
Once you’ve looked at the clear and measurable return on investment of positive pay for your customers and your financial institution you will agree. “Positive Pay is the way to go”, states Auditor Steve Weber, “especially in this day and age of fraud.”
April 20, 2006
Will County Auditor Presents Fiscal Responsibility Awards
Will County Auditor Stephen P. Weber, C.P.A., presented three Will County departments with the 4th Annual Fiscal Responsibility Awards at the Will County Board meeting on April 20, 2005. Weber created the award in 2001 to reward county departments which return the highest percentage of their initial budgets back to the County at the end of the fiscal year. Weber believes that the creation of the award is an additional way that the Auditor’s office can contribute to County-wide fiscal integrity.
The recipients of this year’s Fiscal Responsibility Award for Fiscal Year 2004 are: the Subdivision Engineering Department which returned $91,393 or 12.1% of its annual budget; the Central Services department which returned $115,207 or 11% of its annual budget; and the Circuit Court division which returned $199,703 or 7% of its annual budget. The first place winner, the Engineering Department, a subdivision of the Land Use Department, is headed by Sheldon Latz, County Engineer. In presenting the award, Weber praised the administrative efforts of Sheldon Latz, especially since Will County is growing so quickly and much of the Engineering department’s monetary resources are applied toward that growth. The second place award was given to Terri King, the head of the Central Services division which is a part of the ICT(Information, Communication, and Technology) department. This division also received a Fiscal Responsibility Award in 2003 for Fiscal Year 2002. The third place award was presented to the Circuit Court division headed by Chief Judge Stephen White. Weber commended the division for receiving the award since it is responsible for managing such a large number of court cases every year.
Weber commented that he was pleased with the efforts of the departments and added that when tabulating the results of the award, a number of County departments came in under their budgets. He stated that it was gratifying to see many fine examples of effective fiscal management.
March 14, 2006
WILL COUNTY AUDITOR’S OFFICE RECEIVES
“CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT”
The Will County Auditor’s Office, headed by Stephen P. Weber, CPA, was recently awarded the “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting” by the Government Finance Officers Assocation (GFOA) of the USA and Canada. This award is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting. The “Certificate” was given by an impartial panel after reviewing Will County’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report(CAFR) for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2004. This panel of professionals applied strict standards to Will County’s CAFR; the panel required that the CAFR demonstrate a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial information to its users and also motivate potential users to read it.
When a “Certificate of Achievement” is awarded to a government, an Award of Financial Reporting Achievement(AFRA) is also presented to the individual or department designated by the government as primarily responsible for its having earned the “Certificate”. The AFRA award was presented to Stephen P. Weber, CPA, Will County Auditor.
This is the fourth year in a row that the Will County Auditor’s Office has been awarded the “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting”. Weber is particularly proud of this ongoing achievement because “this is an additional independent review of Will County’s numbers and assures the data on the final CAFR report is solid and accurate”. Weber also commented that he was “very pleased that our office has won the “Certificate” four years in a row, and I am equally proud that the Will County Auditor’s Office provides the taxpayers with financial statements that they can rely on.”
Will County’s CAFR is available by request from the Will County Auditor’s Office; it can also be accessed on the Auditor’s website at www.willcountyillinois.com
Weber will officially be presented with the “Certificate” at an upcoming board meeting.
January 6, 2006
Multi-national commonality
 
What does Xinjiang Province in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) have in common with Will County Illinois?
Xinjiang Province is located in the remote North East corner of China and is bordered by Mongolia, Tibet, Pakistan Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Will County is a collar county in the Metropolitan Chicago region. Xinjiang Province area is 640,926 square miles (1/6 of China) and Will County area is 846 square miles. Comparative population estimates are: Xinjiang Province over 19 million versus Will County’s 615,000. Xinjiang Province is known for Marco Polo’s “Silk Road” and Will County for the cross road of the Lincoln Highway and Route 66
So what is the commonality? – Governmental Auditing Departments. On December 19, 2005 Will County Auditor Steve Weber hosted an 18-member delegation from the Auditing Office of Xinjiang Province. Steve Weber said, “It was indeed honor to be selected by the 21st Century Institute to host the Xinjiang Auditing Department and a lot of fun”. The 21st Century Institute selected the Will County Auditor because of his active involvement and award winning recognition from the Governmental Finance Officers Association.
Working with a translator, Weber’s presentation included discussions of auditing methods and procedures, quality control best practice, data mining techniques, compliance auditing including fraud identification, and state auditing statues / regulations and responsibilities. Steve Weber also highlighted the importance of sharing ideas, techniques and best practices with auditing professional through organizations like the National Association of Counties and the Governmental Finance officers Association, Weber was very attentive in listening the delegations discussion on Chinese governmental auditing principles
Guosheng Bian, Deputy Direct General of the Audit Office of Xinjiang said, “Mr. Weber has very insightful auditing experience and ideas that our delegation will find valuable as our province auditing office grows in experience. We appreciate him taking the time to meet with our delegation.”
October 18, 2004
A SHARP PENCIL STILL DOES THE JOB!
Though the Will County Auditor’s office performs a myriad of duties as mandated by the State Statutes, those numerous responsibilities did not deter Stephen P. Weber or his staff from uncovering $34,397.00 in errors on Will County vouchers they audited for a recent nine month period. During the period of October 2003 to August 2004, Weber’s staff compiled information related to a number of vouchers they audited. Bills were submitted totaling $80,253.00 which should have totaled $45,856.00. Weber’s staff discovered errors which included overpayments, math errors, reimbursements requested which were more than policies allow, and contractual discrepancies. Errors occurred on bills for medical services, utilities, mileage, rentals, consulting services, and other budgeted line items. Weber commented that he takes his job as the “taxpayer’s watchdog” very seriously. “I work for the taxpayers of Will County, and I want my staff to watch Will County’s money as if it were their own.”
Weber interprets the State Statute’s directions regarding auditing claims to mean his office staff should audit every claim(voucher) for payment which passes through the Auditor’s Office. This practice distinguishes him from a number of other Auditors in the State of Illinois who audit vouchers on a “test” basis which means only certain vouchers selected are audited. “I believe in a comprehensive audit and that is how I have instructed my staff to work,” Weber commented. Weber also segregates vouchers which are in the amount of $10,000.00 or more and assigns their review to a senior staff member. “It’s particularly important to carefully monitor all bills, and especially those bills greater than $10,000.00 to ensure all contractual obligations are met. I’m confident that these vouchers are scrutinized very carefully.” Weber feels this latest discovery is one more reason his office will continue to review every single claim that passes through the Auditor’s office. “The Auditor’s Office may be considered overly thorough by some other offices, but that is our job; we get paid to sweat the small stuff!”
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August 4, 2004
TIGHTER COUNTY CONTROLS IMPLEMENTED
BY AUDITOR STEPHEN WEBER
Will County Auditor Stephen P. Weber, C.P.A. recently revised several County procedures to ensure tighter controls and thereby enhance the County’s overall fiscal responsibility to the taxpayers. These changes relate to the County’s surplus procedures and its business and travel policies. The changes Weber has suggested have been presented to the Will County Board’s Finance and Executive Committees and will be adopted at the next County Board meeting in August. Weber feels the implementation of these procedural changes will benefit the County both in the present and in the future.
Weber initiated the first-ever audit of the County’s existing surplus procedures and recommended new ones for adoption by the County Board. His report to the Finance Committee indicated that the County needed to improve its existing controls related to the transfer, disposal, and maintenance of surplus items. Weber recommended a detailed set of procedures for reporting, transferring, donating, auctioning, recycling, scrapping, and disposing of surplus items. These new procedures will allow the County to organize and offer to all County departments a current list of used working furniture and equipment which the departments could utilize instead of making new purchases. Before these procedural recommendations were suggested, County departments did not know what was available as surplus furniture and equipment and if an item worked or was unusable. Weber commented that “you can’t save any money with that operation.”
Weber also presented updates to the Business and Travel Reimbursement Regulations to the Finance and Executive Committees of the County Board. Weber made several changes to the current Business and Travel Regulations including a section which specifies that “when more than one County employee travels to the same destination, the employees will be required to travel in the same vehicle.” This addition will save the County money because instead of reimbursing a number of individuals, each for his or her own mileage, the County will need to reimburse only one employee. In addition to this change, Weber has also designated low and high cost areas for meal allowances and has provided a comprehensive listing to distinguish between these areas.
In addition to these changes, Weber has also formed a Payroll reconciliation subcommittee to assist with the implementation of the new integrated Payroll and Human Resources module on the County’s Financial System. Weber encourages the interdepartmental cooperation necessary to the establishment of this subcommittee. He explained that shared information is a powerful tool which contributes to the overall health of the organization.
Weber is pleased with the controls he has implemented and additionally feels that enhanced communication of information will promote the strength and efficiency of county government.
November 15, 2002
WILL COUNTY AUDITOR’S OFFICE NATIONALLY
RECOGNIZED IN CASE STUDY
The Will County Auditor’s Office, under the leadership of Stephen P. Weber, CPA, and in
cooperation with the Will County Highway Department, has recently been featured
in the “GAAFR REVIEW” , a national publication of the Government Finance Officers
Association (GFOA). The 8 page article described Will County’s Infrastructure/right-of-way
case study and noted the “highly successful implementation” of the capital asset reporting
requirements of the Government Accounting Standard Board’s (GASB) Statement No. 34.
These new reporting requirements are the most significant changes in the history of
government accounting.
In layman’s terms, Will County has served as an example to other counties in the United States,
and was recognized by the GFOA for applying the new GASB No. 34 standards. In addition
to the national recognition, the Will County Auditor’s Office has achieved an important
milestone: the compilation and organization of a complete comprehensive fixed asset
listing for Will County, the first in its history. Fixed assets are composed of land, buildings,
equipment, and infrastructure. Infrastructure assets include: roads, bridges, tunnels, drainage
systems, water and sewer systems, dams, and street lighting systems. It has always
been difficult for governments to determine how to best implement the new infrastructure
reporting provisions of GASB No.34, but Will County was able to implement these
provisions very successfully.
To compile the complete fixed asset listing, Weber directed Assistant Deputy Auditor Melita Roque,
CPA, to conduct a physical inventory of fixed assets, and then collect, input, and organize all of
the assets. Weber commented: “Originally the services of a professional inventory firm were
anticipated by the County Board. The Auditor’s Office had the expertise in-house to tackle the task.”
This completed fixed asset listing totaled 214 million dollars and was a 9 month endeavor.
June 4, 2002
Auditor's Office Streamlining County
Will County Auditor Stephen Weber is enhancing the services his office and staff provide to the other departments within the County and is effectively streamlining several long-standing county procedures.
Specifically, to increase efficiencies in the County’s financial system, Weber has introduced on-line functions for purchasing and receiving county goods and services, and has initiated training sessions for these functions. “Because the Auditor’s Office works with the entire financial system more than any other office does, we are taking responsibility for training county employees on it. In addition, we are saving taxpayer dollars by not hiring the outside software vendor to fulfill this responsibility,” Weber commented. Catherine Pleasant, one of his Deputy Auditors, has already trained 34 county employees on beginning and intermediate levels of the financial system; she has met with an enthusiastic response.
In addition, the Auditor’s office is also assisting other offices by establishing uniform petty cash policies and procedures. Currently, Weber has distributed a questionnaire to all elected officials and department heads so that in the future he can evaluate and make recommendations to the Finance Committee for stricter internal controls. “Lack of controls leads to theft and misuse. Standardized policies and procedures ensure every office has the controls it needs.”
The Auditor’s Office has also taken the initiative in working with the County Executive’s Grant Coordinator to establish procedural guidelines for grants and will introduce grant audits in the future. Weber believes this will strengthen the financial reliability of the County’s budget by providing a more specific guideline for future funding sources and possible future liabilities. “Just because it is grant-funded doesn’t mean it doesn’t obligate Will County taxpayers since the County match is out of our pockets.”
Weber is also saving taxpayer dollars by streamlining several county procedures. These include setting a standardized day once a week for county check runs which , according to Weber, will provide, “a consistent turnaround on the County’s bills so that vendors do not have to wait and the county does not have to incur late fees.” Weber has also established a minimum amount for county reimbursement checks; he commented “the end must justify the means.” It costs the County approximately $15.00 to cut a check so we have to tighten out belt and accumulate reimbursement charges to a certain amount before the check is printed.” He has also eliminated the use of the warrant step in the check run process. As Weber noted, “ The warrant process originated from a now obsolete statute (which didn’t consider technology.) This new process will save the County a ton of paper and filing time.”
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