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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION – AUGUST 17, 2020 3 <br /> <br />Finance Director Bauman said no changes would need to be made to the position description. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden commented that she liked the idea of matching the check with the <br />vendor. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holmes thought number five should be looked at more closely. <br /> <br />Finance Director Bauman said she has access to change permissions on Springbrook and she <br />would make sure no employees except those processing payroll can make edits. The auditor <br />assists with the pension and OPEB journal entries. <br /> <br />Mr. Nielsen said in regard to pensions, they are tying pension reports back to what PERA is <br />publishing. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holmes wondered if the items in number seven could be contracted out. <br /> <br />Finance Director Bauman felt the person would need background information about projects, <br />and it was more than just looking at a year end report or putting information into a work paper. <br />Currently she does capital assets herself. <br /> <br />Mr. Nielsen said an option would be for the City Administrator to review the reports, but he <br />would be sacrificing time from his other responsibilities. Finance Director Bauman is capable of <br />completing the capital asset reports but she is the only one preparing them at this time. <br /> <br />Mr. Nielsen noted that the changes Director Bauman has proposed, if implemented in a timely <br />manner, will move the rating from material weakness to significant deficiency. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant asked how many other cities the size of Arden Hills get rated below significant <br />deficiency. <br /> <br />Mr. Nielsen said the cutoff is around 20,000 residents with a finance staff of four or five. It is <br />common in small cities. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant felt that without pulling Administrator Perrault back into the Finance Department <br />they were probably never going to get above significant deficiency. <br /> <br />Councilmember McClung stated that as part of his full-time profession he is a certified fraud <br />examiner and had exposure to many of these concepts. He understands the finding and is pleased <br />that Director Bauman is working to improve it. He is comfortable using current staff and getting <br />to significant deficiency within a year. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden agreed with Councilmember McClung and felt City Administrator <br />Perrault should concentrate on his job, not finance. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant said he didn’t want to pull City Administrator Perrault back into the finance world.