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Home My WebLink About1415-4 District Attorney Transition report (2-19-15)Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Elected District Attorney Transition (January 5, 2015) To request this information in an alternate format, please call (541) 330-4674 or send email to David.Givans@Deschutes.org Deschutes County, Oregon David Givans, CPA, CIA, CGMA Deschutes County Internal Auditor PO Box 6005 1300 NW Wall St, Suite 200 Bend, OR 97708-6005 (541) 330-4674 David.Givans@Deschutes.org Audit committee: Shawn Armstrong, Chair - Public member Chris Earnest - Public member Lindsey Lombard, Public member Gayle McConnell - Public member Michael Shadrach - Public member Jennifer Welander, Chair - Public member Anthony DeBone, County Commissioner Dan Despotopulos, Fair & Expo Director Nancy Blankenship, County Clerk Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 {This page left blank} Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS: HIGHLIGHTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background on Audit …………………………………………………………. 1 1.2. Objectives and Scope ………………….…………………………..……… 1-2 1.3. Methodology …………………………………….…………………...…...… 2-3 2. FINDINGS …………………………………………………………………….... 3-10 3. MANAGEMENT RESPONSES Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office ……………………..... 11-13 Prior District Attorney, Patrick Flaherty …………………………….. 13-14 County Information Technology ………………………………………... 14 Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 HIGHLIGHTS Why this audit was performed: The audit’s goal is to help make sure identified items are in good order for the transition of the District Attorney’s Office. What is recommended Recommendations included:  strengthening cash handling controls.  establishing additional policies or procedures for debit cards.  documenting discovery billing and receipting procedures.  updating the County fee schedule for certain discovery fees.  reconsidering use of County IT services.  targeting use of non-fee prepaid cards for providing client support.  Assessing, developing and publishing consistent performance measurement data. Elected District Attorney Transition The District Attorney’s Office has been under the direction of the Elected District Attorney Patrick Flaherty since January 2011. In the May 2014 Election, John Hummel was elected and was sworn into office as the Elected District Attorney on January 5, 2015. The audit confirmed that John Hummel was issued by the State of Oregon the certificate of election for the May 20, 2014 election and that he is an active member of the Oregon State Bar. John Hummel has indicated he was pleased with the transition of work. What was found Some areas were identified where cash handling could be improved. In particular, the department had started using a debit card that accessed their checking account. Since debit cards add more risk than a traditional credit card, this is being brought up for further discussion. There were some ideas for improving oversight and deposit handling procedures for discovery billings. During the last four years, the District Attorneys’ Office has moved much of its IT infrastructure away from the County. The audit identified some areas where existing County IT resources could be leveraged by the Office, and included:  establishing and maintaining backup and disaster planning solutions;  utilizing current County IT infrastructure protections and safeguards;  planning and handling of information technology investments, tracking and surplus;  establishing and maintaining a separate email system; and  having IT staff coverage for illness and vacations. The Victims' Assistance program utilizes prepaid cards for supporting clients. They had purchased prepaid cards that were VISA branded cards and incurred an inactivity fee after 365 days of inactivity. The value of unused purchased cards is being reduced by fees. The performance measures currently being utilized in the County budget process do not provide a view of how their operations are performing. Deschutes County Internal Audit Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 1 of 14 1. Introduction Oregon Revised Statute 8.6 – District Attorney 1.1 BACKGROUND ON AUDIT Internal audit has had a practice of reviewing operations for elected officials on transition in their office. This has been done for the elected offices of the District Attorney (1/2011); Sheriff (4/2007); Surveyor (12/2004); and Clerk (12/2002). The audit’s goal is to help make sure identified fiscal items are in good order for the transition. It seems this practice is a good one and helps assure there is some oversight to outgoing elected officials. The audit was included in the 2014/2015 internal audit workplan. Background information – District Attorney’s Office The District Attorney’s Office has been under the direction of the Elected District Attorney Patrick Flaherty since January 2011. In the May 2014 Election, John Hummel was elected and was sworn into office as the Elected District Attorney on January 5, 2015. Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) Section 8.6 governs the requirements for the Office of District Attorney. A review of this statute for the transition indicated several requirements, including:  Filing a certificate of election (ORS 8.620);  Qualifications (ORS 8.630). At the time of the election the person elected District Attorney must have been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Oregon.; and  Register to be kept (ORS 8.700) The audit confirmed that John Hummel was issued by the State of Oregon the certificate of election for the May 20, 2014 election and that he is an active member of the Oregon State Bar. As noted under the audit scope, it is beyond the scope of this audit to ascertain the completeness of the District Attorney Office’s case management system. However, on inquiry, John Hummel indicated he was pleased with the transition of work. The District Attorney’s Office has a budget of $6.1 million for FY 2015 and is responsible for 46 full time equivalent staff. A majority of the funding comes from the County’s general fund. 1.2 OBJECTIVES and SCOPE Audit objectives included: 1. Inquire as to suspension of authorizations and access to critical law enforcement and County systems for the prior Elected District Attorney. 2. Inquire as to any assets assigned directly to the prior Elected District Attorney that should be returned to the Department. DESCHUTES COUNTY INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT DESCHUTES COUNTY INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 2 of 14 3. Inquire and review of the accounting for monies held in an imprest checking account and observe count of change monies (victim’s assistance) at the end of the year. 4. Review recent District Attorney transactions for reasonableness. These might include time sheets, expense reimbursements, contracts, or other transactions. 5. As of year-end, inquire as to nature and type of case evidence that might be in custody from law enforcement. Initial inquiry and observation did not indicate any specific concerns. 6. Inquire as to register maintained of official business that shall be delivered to the successor. {See scope below} Scope: The scope of the audit did not include all aspects of internal controls employed. The scope includes observations and interviews with District Attorney’s Office staff up thorough the transition on January 5, 2015. Some transactions over the last twelve months will be reviewed. The prior Elected District Attorney’s last day was January 5, 2015(Monday). The audit did not include verification of records representing the history of activity as may be required under ORS 8.700. ORS Section 8.700 The district attorney must keep a register of official business, in which the district attorney shall make a note of every action, suit or proceeding commenced or defended by the district attorney in official capacity, and the proceedings therein. The register shall, at the expiration of the term of office of the district attorney, be delivered by the district attorney to the successor in office. The prior Elected District Attorney indicated such a register of information is kept through their computer systems. Internal Audit has no way to judge the adequacy or completeness of these records. 1.3 METHODOLOGY Audit procedures included:  confirming that newly Elected District Attorney, John Hummel was an active member of the Oregon Bar and that the State issued the certificate of election. (Required under ORS 8.620 -8.630);  inquiring as to register of activity to be available under ORS 8.700;  inquiring as to trial evidence retained by District Attorney in transition;  reviewing October through December 2014 bank reconciliations with staff and associated accounting for imprest checking account;  verifying petty cash monies were closed-out with Finance in December 2014; DESCHUTES COUNTY INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 3 of 14  reviewing selected Elected District Attorney expense reimbursements;  analyzing and reviewing recent expense trends by account and vendor;  selecting some disbursements for additional review;  reviewing year-end deposits;  reviewing for duplicate expenditures;  reviewing recent deposits and discussed deposit procedures;  following up with IT staff on access rights to County systems; and  reviewing District Attorney Office budgetary information for FY 2015 (includes performance measures - additional research of selected larger Oregon county budgets and measures). We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. (2011 Revision of Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States.) 2. Findings Internal Audit’s findings result from incidents of non-compliance with stated procedures and/or departures from prudent operation. The findings are, by nature, subjective. The internal audit disclosed certain policies, procedures and practices that could be improved. Th e audit was neither designed nor intended to be a detailed study of every relevant system, procedure or transaction. Accordingly, the opportunities for improvement presented in the report may not be all-inclusive of areas where improvement may be needed and do not replace efforts needed to design an effective system of internal control A significant deficiency is defined as an internal control deficiency that could adversely affect the entity’s ability to initiate, record, process, and report financial d ata consistent with the assertions of management in the financial statements. The findings noted were not considered significant deficiencies. Some controls identified to strengthen use of checking account and change monies. The District Attorney’s Office has a checking account and some change cash monies. The change monies have not been used recently. Staff indicated they were no longer needed. The checking account is managed in coordination with the County Finance department. Finance has been preparing the bank reconciliations as well as maintaining a check register. The DA’s Office has not continued to review bank Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 4 of 14 reconciliations to know that all activity is resolved. The bank reconciliation has some older items that still require resolution. The department has also obtained and utilizes a debit card on the account. The DA’s Office use of these checking and cash accounts and procedures have continued to evolve. The department no longer has a part-time business manager type person who has been as involved with the checking account. The department has documented their procedures and has continued to be proactive in seeking input from internal audit to improve controls. A staff person who did not prepare the deposit currently delivers deposits from operations. The County has policies for approving use of credit cards but does not have a policy specifically addressing debit cards. Debit cards increase the need for additional oversight and control more than with utilizing credit cards and checks. Potential impacts include:  increased responsibilities for losses on theft of card,  additional fees if the account is overdrawn,  ramifications for stolen card information from use on the internet. The Department has taken steps to restrict the debit card from being used to withdraw cash. Recommendations to strengthen oversight and control include:  maintaining their own check register to monitor ongoing balances of funds.  resolving current outstanding items on the bank reconciliation and periodically reviewing the bank reconciliation prepared by Finance.  eliminating the change cash funds that are no longer needed  having the originator of deposits compare the deposit receipt from Finance to what was prepared. {At report issuance: The petty cash fund has been deposited with Finance, but a change to the resolution removing the need for the change monies has not bee n completed. The originator of deposits is now comparing the Finance receipt to the prepared deposit. } It is recommended for the County to consider establishing whether it needs additional policies or procedures for debit cards issued on County bank accounts. Additional procedures might include providing for online monitoring of account activity, procedures for authorizing use, and identifying where and how the card is used. Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 5 of 14 Additional controls could improve oversight over discovery billings. During review of deposit handling procedures for discovery billings, a couple of areas were noted for improvement. • It is not clear they have an effective method to oversee outstanding balances from discovery billing. • Receipts are not always provided to customers who pay on discovery billings by check. • Procedures for handling discovery billings were not documented. • It appears that a couple of unusual discovery billing items (lab and autopsy reports) were not included in the County fee schedule. Discovery billings represent monies that can be charged to obtain discovery material from the District Attorney’s Office. Staff perform accounting for discovery billings in QuickBooks, but it is not clear there is a process for supervision. Sometimes these balances need to be written off. No missing or incorrectly handled receipts were identified. There do appear to be sufficient and appropriate safeguards in place for handling receipts through to deposit. In the absence of sufficient controls, it may be difficult to identify in a timely manner whether all monies have been collected and deposited. It is recommended the department to complete documentation of their discovery billing and receipting procedures. These processes should include a process for issuing customer statements, following up on outstanding balances, and oversight of write-off of any balances owing. Staff should prepare and offer receipts when customers are present. It is recommended the District Attorney’s Office list all fees for services relating to discovery in the County fee schedule. Collaboration in handling information technology needs could be strengthened. During the last four years, the District Attorneys’ Office has moved much of its IT infrastructure away from the County. The prior District Attorney wanted to separate information technology services from the County to address concerns with compliance with state law, archive rules, and to control access to records. The initial move was to separate email systems. The reason included the current capability to construct a complete email record for public records and litigation requests. The District Attorney found it difficult to fin d full and complete email records. The second was to move the DA’s server infrastructure in-house to address Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 6 of 14 concerns about compliance with state and federal law. The DA’s Office concluded, after evaluating the cost of the services provided by County IT, that they could reduce the overall cost of services, effectively manage their resources and provide a more effective IT experience for their staff. During discussions with the District Attorney IT staff, it was clear the two-person staff have a lot to deal with in covering their the extent of their IT responsibilities. In addition to supporting the Office, they also perform tasks that were previously performed by the County IT department. These include security, infrastructure and backup services. W ith the decision to perform some IT functions, the Office has duplicated services that are provided by County IT to all other departments. This results in an overall inefficiency. Inefficiencies identified include  establishing and maintaining separate backup and disaster planning solutions;  moving towards separate infrastructure outside of the County's protected data warehouse. This would include a water based fire suppression system for their electronic infrastructure.  planning and handling of information technology investments, tracking and surplus;  establishing and maintaining a separate email system;  establishing and maintaining a separate website; and  maintaining IT staff coverage for illness and vacations. After separating from the County, DA IT staff have had to respond to unusual circumstances in creative ways. The absence of credit with a vendor necessitated an IT staff person to purchase computer equipment on their personal credit card. This increases the risk to the department and places an unfair burden on the staff person. More importantly, additional controls are necessitated that are difficult to implement with the couple of DA IT staff. The County has a similar vendor accounts that could have been utilized. Separating the DA IT infrastructure from the protected data warehouse increases the risks form fire, power continuity, and effective backup. Deschutes County IT is a support department that has and can address the needs of public safety departments as it currently collaborates and works with the Sheriff and 911. This arrangement allows for those departments to do what they know best. There are insufficient resources for the DA's Office to effectively manage all of the IT responsibilities in addition to doing their pri mary services as the District Attorney. In the absence of changes, the District Attorney’s Office appears to be duplicating many of the efforts that are more effectively attended to by County IT in a centralized manner. They have assumed a greater level of risk. County IT is open to collaboration with the DA's Office on how to best address their needed IT Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 7 of 14 services, whether internally or through support. It is recommended for the District Attorney's Office to reconsider whether some of their IT se rvices could be performed more effectively and efficiently through arrangements with County IT. Prepaid cards used by Victims' Assistance incurred fees. The Victims' Assistance program is operated through the District Attorney’s Office and purchases prepaid cards for supporting clients and are at risk of incurring inactivity fees. The Office provides stabilization funds via prepaid store cards to victims of crimes to cover immediate needs, such as food, fuel and/or shelter. The prepaid cards purchased from Fred Meyer are VISA branded cards and incur an inactivity fee after 365 days of inactivity. Those fees are $2 per month and they can continue until the re is no available balance on the prepaid card. Currently, the program office and several law enforcement agencies hold the prepaid cards . There are currently six $25 denomination prepaid cards ($150) that have not been distributed and that are older than 365 days old. The County has other departments that utilize prepaid store cards. For instance, the Health Services Department buys Fred Meyer cards for certain programs. Their recent card purchases are not VISA/MasterCard branded cards and do not have any fees. They have also purchased some gas cards that have not incurred any fees. The Victim’s Assistance Staff were not aware of the fees that could be charged. Staff have not gone through the purchased prepaid cards at the rate they expected. The program has had one prepaid card (valued at $25) that was distributed to a client and had no available balance on it. The prepaid card had been reduced to zero by inactivity fees. The program currently has six prepaid cards outstanding that have reached their inactivity period and are now being charged inactivity fees. Cards presented to clients should be at full value. It is recommended for the Victims' Assistance program to target use of non-fee prepaid cards for providing client support or monitor use to minimize potential fees. The department should consider utilizing the current cards as soon as possible, this might include utilizing for another program expense, since it is advisable to present to clients cards with the stated value and not currently subject to inactivity fees. Program staff think they can better manage the use of the cards if these cards are kept with the program office. Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 8 of 14 Other procedures performed and observations 1. Inquired as to suspension of authorizations and access to critical law enforcement and County systems. Observation District Attorney systems were updated on 1/5/15 for Patrick Flaherty’s termination of employment. 2. Inquired as to any assets assigned directly to the District Attorney that should be returned to the Department. Observation All assets were returned. 3. Reviewed recent District Attorney transactions for reasonableness. Observations No additional issues identified that were not brought up in preceding observations. 4. Analyzed Office disbursements for duplicate expenditures. Observation No duplicates identified. 5. As of year-end, inquired as to nature and type of case evidence that might be in custody from law enforcement. Observation Inquiry of Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office indicates no evidence was held by the District Attorney’s Office. Performance measures fail to consistently present efforts of Office. The District Attorney’s Office has included performance measures in their FY 2015 budget that do not sufficiently provide a view of how their operations are performing. Measures utilized in the budget have substantially changed in each of the last three budgets. The 2015 measures published specifically address the number of cases filed, number of civil commitment hearings held, and a customer satisfaction survey. These limited measures fail to adequately tell how well the Office is fulfilling their mission of “... ensuring the guilty are held accountable, that the innocent are protected from unwarranted harm, and that the rights of all citizens, particularly victims of crime, are respected.” Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 9 of 14 These measures fail to address the overall goals of the Office and fail to reflect the impact of the Office’s efforts at spending monies and providing services to the public. A measure should help inform the discussion of how a service is performing and whether additional or less resources are required. Trends in measurement data can help decision makers assess if changes in resources are necessary. For counties that report performance measures, three other counties (Jackson, Marion and Multnomah) publish their performance measures for the District Attorney’s Office within their budget documents. County Number of measures Deschutes 3 Jackson 24 Marion 10 Multnomah 53 (numerous repeated measures) As indicated, these other counties use more performance measures to help with understanding their operations. In addition, their measures appear to be a balance of outcome and output measures with trending information to help the reader understand what is being accomplished. More does not necessarily make them better, but there seem to be a greater number of measures that are other than pure output or count type measures. Performance measures published should be for critical metrics directly relating t o strategic goals. Performance measurements are a tool for monitoring performance through relevant measures of efforts, outputs and outcomes. These measurement tools allow review of activity over time and among peers. Effective measures help management address:  progress towards our goals,  quantity and quality of services delivered, and  how we compare to others. The key measures are chosen to address what is trying to be influenced. Ultimately, only a couple of important measures should be used to focus on accountability and performance reporting. Measures should strive to be clear to all audiences, match the direction of other measures, and be built upon quality data. Without effective and relevant performance measures, it can be difficult for government to demonstrate accountability and that they achieved their intended goals/objectives. It could also be said that without some Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 10 of 14 consistency in measures it will be difficult to assess progress with goals. It is also difficult for policy makers to assess where best to allocate and direct public funds. The existing published performance measures do not reflect the state of our District Attorney’s Office or whether additional efforts are required to improve it. Measures published should be integrated with County goals and strategies to get there. Performance measures tend to be a little complex and threatening. The County continues to work on how it presents measures in the County budget process. Some County programs have had trouble identifying meaningful performance information to be used with the budget . It is recommended for the District Attorney’s Office to assess, develop and publish consistent performance measurement data to demonstrate the quality of the services they provide to the public and to help consistently assess the direction the Office is taking and its effectiveness. {It is important the Office have ownership of all measures and develop them with the a ssistance and direction of County Management.} Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 11 of 14 3. MANAGEMENT RESPONSES – John Hummel, Deschutes County District Attorney Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office Thank you for the thoughtful findings and recommendations. This audit aided me in my transition into office as it highlighted issues that might otherwise have taken months to discover. In general, I agree with the findings and recommendations. Over the next few months, working with the staff in the DA’s office, I will take steps to implement the positive changes suggested in this report. My specific responses follow: 1. Some controls identified to strengthen use of checking account and change monies. a. Maintaining check register to monitor ongoing balances of funds DA’s office will create and maintain a ledger in Excel and track reconciliations in real time. The “official” register will continue to reside in the County Finance Department which will allo w that department to reconcile unclaimed property on an annual basis. b. Resolving current outstanding items on the bank reconciliation and periodically review the bank reconciliation prepared by the County Finance Department Outstanding items have been reviewed with staff in the County Finance Department. It was determined that these outstanding items should have been allocated to witness fees. This allocation occurred in our January reimbursement report to the County Finance Department. And, as discussed above, the DA’s office will maintain a ledger to monitor ongoing balances of funds. c. Eliminating the change cash funds that are no longer needed DA’s office will prepare a petty cash report then seek the assistance of the County Finance Department to draft the appropriate resolution to eliminate these accounts. d. Having the originator of deposits compare the deposit receipt from Finance to what was prepared. DA’s office will create an accounting system to enable us to conduct this verification. e. Consider requesting approval for a credit card via the procedure identified in County policy Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 12 of 14 DA’s office will request approval for a credit card connected to our Bank of America account. Once this approval is obtained we will cancel our debit card. 2. Additional controls could improve oversight over discovery billings. DA’s office will develop and implement a policy to track and collect outstanding discovery billings. 3. Lab and autopsy report fees not included in the County fee schedule In February of 2015, DA’s office submitted a request to the County Finance Department for approval for these fees. 4. Collaboration in handling information technology needs could be strengthened. Agreed that it’s appropriate to discuss whether and how additional collaboration between the DA’s IT Department and the County’s IT Department should occur. Over the next few months the DA will meet with staff members in the County IT Department to discuss this issue. If areas of potential additional collaboration are identified, the DA will assess whether these additional collaboration opportunities would improve the DA’s service delivery and what the cost impact would be. If a particular additional collaboration opportunity would improve service delivery and save money, it will be implemented. If a particular additional collaboration opportunity would hinder service delivery, it will not be implemented. If a particular additional collaboration opportunity would improve service delivery, but cost additional money, the DA will assess whether the improved service delivery is worth the additional cost. If the DA determines the additional level of customer service is worth the additional concomitant cost, the DA will include the additional cost in his next budget request to the Board of Cou nty Commissioners. 5. Prepaid cards used by Victims’ Assistance incur fees. Victims’ Assistance Program will prioritize exhausting our current supply of pre-paid cards and in the future will only purchase non-fee prepaid cards. 6. Other procedures performed and observations Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 13 of 14 Prior District Attorney, Patrick Flaherty {via email} Nothing to add. 7. Performance measures fail to consistently present efforts of Office Agreed. DA’s office will submit new and improved performance measures with our FY 15 -16 budget. ----------------------------------------------- Please forward this email to the BOCC and County Administrator. Thanks. In his introduction Mr. Givens states that “[i]nternal audit has had a practice of reviewing operations for elected officials on transition in their office.” The purported goal is to provide “oversight to outgoing elected officials.” Oregon law does not authorize a county employee to “audit” or oversee a state or county elective office. Only the Secretary of State has the legal authority to audit a state agency and the “practice” to which Mr. Givens refers is virtually unprecedented outside of Deschutes County. See ORS 297.210. Because there is no legal authority for Mr. Givens’ audit, because the public record thoroughly answers the questions Mr. Givens raises (questions that were answered at least a couple of years ago when county I.T. and county administration consented to the current I.T. structure) and because it is within the exclusive province of the current district attorney to make whatever changes he sees fit, since only he is respo nsible and accountable for the acts and omissions of his office, I refer the reader to the voluminous public record. I would add that if the county intends to continue this practice, the county should retain a well qualified attorney with a proven record as a prosecutor and who has no political ties to Deschutes County to conduct any future “audits.” Patrick P.S. I’m disappointed at your comments regarding performance measures since you agreed to the current performance measures after several meetings with CDDA Mary Anderson. Shame on you for being so disingenuous. {Auditor comments - We respectfully disagree with the assertions being made. Internal audit is an independent office with authority provided by the Board of County Commissioners “to conduct financial, attestation, and performance audits of all departments, offices, boards, activities and agencies of the County” [County Code 2.14.030]. Elected District Attorney Transition #14/15-4 February 2015 Page 14 of 14 Joe Sadony, Director of Information Technology In so much as Deschutes County employs and provides budget resources to this function, we have a responsibility for oversight. The County Internal Auditor does not provide direction to staff on performance measures. } ----------------------------------------------- Thanks for the preview of the DA report. I think the report does a good job of describing the inefficiencies of the department operating its own IT services. I am sure the department will be developing budget goals that have IT components. I am hoping to hear from them so we can assist in developing realistic, meaningful goals. We are looking forward to working more closely with the DA. It's a little early to tell what's going to happen over the next year. However I am sure the report will be of help to change the current situation. {End of Report} Please take a survey on this report by clicking on the attached link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DA_Transition2015