Union City Mayor Brian Stack and the Board of Commissioners approved a corrective action plan for the 2000 annual audit at their Feb. 19 Board of Commissioners meeting. The corrective action plan is created as part of the annual audit process and is submitted to the director of the state’s Division of Local Government Services.
The audit, which Stack received last week, deals with the city’s finances during the fiscal year from July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001. The first three months of that audit cover a time when Raul “Rudy” Garcia was the mayor. The audit was prepared by Donohue, Gironda and Doria, the Bayonne firm contracted by the city to perform all audits.
According to Stack, more than half of the 56 recommendations made on the audit had already been corrected before it was received.
“Most of these items have been corrected already,” said Stack, adding that eventually the audit should only have two or three items at best. “If we keep having the same comments year after year, then we have a big problem.” The three most serious recommendations, not maintaining a fixed asset ledger, not keeping records of the accrued time liability for employees’ compensated absences, and not having a centralized purchasing system, are being looked at in the city’s corrective action plan.
Although Union City is currently under a hiring freeze, Stack said that he plans, with the state’s permission, to hire a purchasing agent and personnel director this summer to correct some of these problems.
Since the city has been enrolled in the Distressed Cities Aid Program, the state has had to be involved in all hiring decisions made in the city.
One centralized system
With more than 600 employees in City Hall, keeping track of vacation days, sick time and other paid leaves of absence can become difficult without a central personnel director keeping track of each employee, Stack noted.
“There are some people who retire and then say they are owed 500 vacation days,” said Stack. “That is impossible. It is just the type of abuse that goes on.”
Stack is also looking to hire a central purchasing agent over the summer. According to Stack, the city has not had a purchasing agent in eight to 10 years. The city has been working with an acting purchasing agent who is currently on maternity leave.
“Now we have different offices purchasing at different times,” said Stack, adding that ordering what each department needs at one time will also save money.
Regarding the lack of a fixed asset ledger, Stack said the city does not want to hire a new employee to keep track of the city’s assets. But he is looking to hire an outside company to perform the initial record-keeping. Then, each department will be responsible for adding any additional purchases.
“No one knows right now what desks we have or what computers,” said Stack, adding that these assets are the city’s property and it’s hard to know right now what is being replaced or taken.
Stack said that he wants to keep a record of all assets that cost $2,000 or more. New Commissioner of Revenue and Finance Christopher Irizarry, who works as the fixed assets coordinator at the Board of Education, will help keep track of these assets.
Another recommendation that the auditors made was that the money for contracts and the matching shares on grants were not certified before the contracts were awarded. Certification means that the city’s auditor has acknowledged the payment and knows that there is enough money in the budget for it.
Stack said that now, any contract that is passed by the Board of Commissioners will have a copy of the certification of funds attached to the contract before it is passed.
New personnel
Until these new positions are filled, Stack said that he is asking his commissioners to keep track of all personnel and purchases within their departments.
Stack does not think that the new hires will effect the city’s budget.
He said that he wants to use the money saved from unfilled deputy director and personal secretary positions to fill these new positions.
Right now, the only department in City Hall that has a deputy director is the department of public works. The departments of revenue and finance, parks and public property, public safety and the public affairs do not have deputy directors.
Stack said that the money for the purchasing agent is already allocated in the budget, but it is not used.
Along with these new positions, the city is currently interviewing potential chief financial officers.
According to the audit report, “the inability of the City to retain finance support staff has contributed to a lack of timely record keeping.”
The current CFO, Robert Pittfield, who only accepted the job in November, has resigned and will leave his post on March 1.
The city’s treasurer, Douglas Gutch, was appointed as the city’s acting certified financial officer for signatory purposes at the Feb. 19 meeting. The city is interviewing candidates to take over Pittfield’s job permanently.