Debt Management Commission approves bonds for Carson City schools

The Debt Management Commission, which meets twice a year, passed resolutions approving new bonds to be issued for the Carson City School District.

A series of general obligation bonds up to $15 million will be used for facilities projects still to be determined.

“We’re still vetting them,” said Andrew Feuling, director, Fiscal Services, who said the school district is working on its facilities master plan.

Likely projects would include expansions at both Fremont and Mark Twain elementary schools, the completion of an office building near Pioneer High School, and the addition of a science and technology lab at Carson Middle School.

The debt service on the bonds will be paid through the existing 43 cent property tax that goes to the school district.

The commission also approved up to $7 million in bonds for energy conservation projects at the school.

The city is working with a consultant, McKinstry, to identify the projects.

Those bonds would be serviced through the school district’s general fund, said Martin Johnson, president, JNA Consulting Group LCC, at the commission’s meeting Tuesday.

The commission also accepted the annual reports of Carson Water Subconservancy District, the Nevada Commission to Reconstruct the V&T Railway, Carson City, Carson City Airport, the school district, and Carson City Visitors Bureau.

Maude Naroll joined the commission as a citizen at large member.

The commission’s next meeting is Feb. 14, 2017.

AUDIT COMMITTEE

The Audit Committee received the results of internal tests on Carson City’s purchase cards, known as p-cards, and payroll and time keeping.

From September 2015 through February 2016, a random sample of 40 city employees were tracked in terms of their payroll and time keeping procedures.

“We found two types of exceptions,” said Mark Steranka, partner, Moss Adams LLP, the city’s internal auditor.

Both are not uncommon issues, he said.

In payroll, Steranka said problems arose with timing, when someone was on vacation or accounting for time between the time sheet deadline and the next pay period.

Nancy Paulson, chief financial officer, said language addressing how to handle it could be added to the city’s policies.

The other issue was cutting off network access to former employees.

“It can be easily addressed,” said Steranka. “Eight out of 10 employees didn’t have their access terminated based on our sample.”

Paulson said access is terminated immediately for fired employees and a termination report is produced every pay period for those employees leaving voluntarily or retiring.

That report generates a ticket to the help desk, said Eric VonSchimmelmann, chief information officer.

He said the exceptions to that are volunteers and temporary employees through a staffing agency who may have been given access.

No action was taken by the committee other than directing staff to work on a procedure to ensure former employees no longer have access to the city’s network and computers.

The city’s p-card procedures were tested, too, during the same time period.

Steranka said the only issues found were with shared and guardian cards because it was more difficult to track expenditures.

The city’s guardian uses a p-card to make purchases for several clients while the city’s fire department shares four p-cards which are signed out when firefighters are sent to fight fires outside the city.

Supervisor Lori Bagwell, who’s a member of the committee, said the cards should continue to be shared sharing or used by the guardian to make purchases for multiple accounts and directed staff to update its policy.

The Audit Committee’s next meeting is Nov. 8.