By Dave Baumeister, County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – Minnehaha County Commissioners received seven past bank reconciliation statements at the Tuesday, Oct. 22 meeting.
Just over a month ago, Jeff Schaefer from the South Dakota Department of Legislative Audit found a deficiency with the county in regard to its financial reporting.
By law, the county treasurer is supposed to give the county auditor reconciled bank statements each month, which the auditor then presents to the county commission.
It was reported previously that the last statement given to the auditor or commission was from June 2018.
On Oct. 22, Kim Adamson from the auditor’s office was able to go over the statements from June through December of 2018.
The agenda for the following meeting calls for the January through March statements of 2019 to be presented.
Commission chairperson Jean Bender expressed her appreciation for getting the statements so far, and said she looks forward to seeing all of them in the near future to bring the county in line with the state requirements.
While three of the reports were reconciled “to the penny,” four others showed small discrepancies ranging between $41.07 and $381.23 for a total of $1029.44.
But all of the unreconciled amounts were credits to the county and not shortages, leaving Adamson to think that money may have been taken in, but receipts weren’t recorded properly.
Commissioner Dean Karsky was quick to point out that these represented very small amounts to be off.
For the four months of statements, the unreconciled differences represented an approximate difference of .0003 percent of the $341.5 million that passed through the county during that time.
Last spring, Minnehaha County Treasurer Pam Nelson cited a new computer system and the lack of trained personnel as two of the main reasons the required monthly statements were not being prepared.
In other business, commissioners passed two motions dealing with health and dental insurance brought by Human Resources Director Carey Deaver.
The first came in limiting insurance benefits the county gives to retirees. As Deaver explained, the county currently allows retirees to stay on the county insurance after retirement, as long as they have been a county employee for at least 15 years.
While there are only 10 people taking advantage of that benefit right now, Deaver said a study showed that there is a significant impact to overall costs, as the retirees tend to use the insurance at a much higher rate.
The commission voted 5-0 to end this benefit to any new employees hired after Jan. 1, 2020; however, the benefit still remains for all county employees currently employed or that will be hired between now and the end of 2019.
Commissioners also voted 5-0 to accept premium adjustments of up to 15 percent for 2020, although it was discussed that Deaver may need to ask for more, if premiums go higher.
The Minnehaha County Commission has its regular meetings each Tuesday at 9 a.m. on the second floor of the county administration building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
These meetings are open to all, and public comment is always encouraged.
