‘Deficiencies’ found in Wake County cash management after Register of Deeds scandal
An independent report and review has found numerous “deficiencies” in how more than 100 Wake County locations handle cash and cash receipts. The deficiencies varied in severity.
Wake County leaders reviewed the report’s findings during a work session Monday. The review comes in the aftermath of a missing $2.3 million at the Wake County Register of Deeds office, where former employees — including longtime Register of Deeds Laura Riddick — were charged with embezzling.
The report, which was conducted by the Elliott Davis audit firm, wasn’t meant to give an opinion on whether Wake County’s policies for cash management were working, but on whether staff were following those rules.
“Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on the effectiveness of the county’s internal controls,” according to the findings. “However, as a result of performing our agreed upon procedures we noted certain findings that we deemed to be internal control deficiencies.”
More than 51 percent of the sites surveyed did not have an effective sub-ledger system for recording customer transactions, which could result in payments from customers not being accounted for. And about one-third of the sites had a sub-ledger but the transactions are not being compared to the daily deposits sent to the bank.
Wake County staff asked for this report to review their compliance with their own rules. All of the recommendations and best practices will be implemented when practical and appropriate, according to staff.
In some cases the cash collected at a site, for instance a library, could be less than $100 per day and paid in small fees such as 50 cents or $1. The costs of implementing new systems will be weighed with the amount being collected, but money is set aside for new programs next year.
Nearly half of the sites have “insufficient restrictions” to accessing cash safes and cashier drawers, meaning unauthorized staff or people could access the cash on hand.
The report also found that 44 percent of the sites have cashiers who are able to void out transactions, including waiving fees, giving refunds or making other adjustments, without documented approval by a supervisor. This means employees are able to make adjustments to the sub-ledger, which reduces its effectiveness.
The review looked at the 104 Wake County sites that collect cash, but did not include the Register of Deeds office, which was audited after the reported scandal last year. The review took place from July 1, 2017, to Nov. 30, 2017, with additional work done from December 2017 to June 2018.
Wake County Commissioner Chair Jessica Holmes called the “violation of public trust” that occurred in the Register of Deeds office an isolated incident.
“The takeaway here is that measures have been put in place to make sure we uphold the public trust and implement best practices in every area of our cash handling procedures,” she said. “This is the expectation of our community and an example of good governance.”
A revenue manager position was included in this year’s budget. The position will be responsible for overseeing the cash management within the county.
Other steps the county has taken include auditing cash collection sites every three years, additional training for staff members and work to update cash collection systems.
Anna Johnson; 919-829-4807; @anna_m_johnson
This story was originally published August 13, 2018 at 3:28 PM.