The Center for Government Innovation at the State Auditor’s Office is celebrating: its newest service, the cyber checkup, is one year old. These checkups provide a fast, no-cost, independent review of local government cybersecurity programs.
Imagine you just bought a home, but you don’t like the kitchen because it’s outdated. Since this is potentially your “forever home,” it makes sense to update the kitchen so you can enjoy it for years to come. In a similar situation, a local government keeps its capital asset records for years – sometimes decades – so why not take the time to improve them? Like the kitchen, the investment in improving your capital asset management system is worth it because you can reap the long-term benefits.
We reviewed the results of cyber checkups after the program’s first year. We identified the topics that most local governments need to improve. The most common was needing to implement or improve IT policies. We first published this article in October 2023, but due to its importance, we’re republishing it as a reminder. Also, keep a watch for an upcoming article that reviews results from the cyber checkups.
Fuel prices can be volatile. When they rise, governments will feel it in higher fleet-operation budgets, and employees will feel it in their wallets. And here at SAO, we will likely see more local government reports of known or suspected fuel-related losses and frauds.
The Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) was enacted to make the conduct of Washington’s governments more accessible and open to the public. The OPMA underwent significant changes in 2022 when the Legislature modified the law in response to how local governments had adapted and continued to hold their governing body meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local governments are fast becoming attractive targets for cyber criminals because of the vast amounts of sensitive data they maintain about their employees, infrastructure and residents. To keep pace with the constantly evolving threats and tactics, it's essential that you understand how to minimize your government's risk of attack.
Preparing your government's payroll takes a lot of time and expertise. From collecting employee information, tracking leave, processing timesheets, and calculating pay to processing garnishments, delivering pay checks, submitting tax forms, and preparing year-end reporting, there's a lot to do. That's why some governments use a third party to do all or part of their payroll. But how do you determine if outsourcing payroll is right for your government?
When was the last time you looked at your finance team's vacation patterns? It may surprise you to learn that many frauds and other breaches of internal controls come to light only after employees go on vacation and other staff take over their tasks.
Meter reading is the critical first step in a utility's revenue collection process. Gathering accurate, complete meter data is essential not only for collecting the appropriate amount of revenue to operate the utility, but also for ensuring a positive customer experience and public image.
From accurate and prompt billing to well-designed collection procedures, accounts receivable requires a robust set of internal controls to ensure your government collects the money it is owed. A strong accounts receivable process can result in higher revenue for your government, while a weak process can lead to wasted staff time, accounting errors and lost revenue. When was the last time you took a close look at your accounts receivable?