The Fair Oaks Water District is taking steps to enhance security in the wake of an embezzlement scandal three months ago.
Following an independent auditor's report finalized in July, the district, which provides water to 14,000 residential and commercial users, stepped up oversight in the billing department as well as in its inventory count procedures, according to a letter presented to the board of directors at its monthly meeting Monday.
The changes come after Cheryl Ann Marx-Jackson, 39, allegedly pocketed about $153,000 that she was supposed to deposit in the bank, according to Sacramento County Sheriff's Department officials. Marx-Jackson worked for the district nearly 20 years and was in charge of all accounts receivable for the water company.
Marx-Jackson is accused of taking the money for more than a year and was on trial earlier this week, court records show.
"If we would have had true segregation of duties, (Marx-Jackson) couldn't have covered up so much," said Tom Gray, the district's general manager.
Among the new changes are dividing responsibilities among various district employees so that no one person has control over a payment, according to the letter.
Under the new policy, one person will open the payment and another will input the amount into the computer, the letter said. An employee with no ties to the payment processing system will sign off on each payment batch and the district's senior financial analyst will match the month's end payment batch to bank statements.
Even items of extremely low cost, such as PVC piping sections, will fall under stricter scrutiny, Gray said.
The move brought a question from board President Timothy Healy.
"(Why) are we going to spend money counting items that only cost a couple of bucks?" he asked.
Gray responded that officials need to be especially watchful in the wake of the embezzlement and past scandals at the district.
"We believe that any miscounts or mishandling impugns our integrity," Gray said.
"We are sensitive, and we'll try to be prudent with our resources."
Call The Bee's Stan Oklobdzija, (916) 608-7453.
