Report 2014-301 Recommendation 5 Responses

Report 2014-301: Judicial Branch Procurement: Five Superior Courts Did Not Consistently Follow Judicial Branch Contracting Practices (Release Date: November 2014)

Recommendation #5 To: Superior Court of California, County of Alameda

To improve its payment practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Alameda court should ensure that it adheres to the $1,500 single transaction limit for all Cal-Card purchases.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2016

The Cal Card Policies and Procedures state "The maximum Single Purchase Limit is limited to $2,500..." In response to that per Judicial Branch Contract Manual "Alternative procedures should be documented, incorporated into the court's Local Contracting Manual, and distributed to court personnel." To address these types of transactions in the future the Court will be amending its Local Contracting Manual to place the single transaction limit at $2,500 for the Facilities and Procurement Manager, Information Technology Director and Sr. Fiscal Services Specialist only. All other cards will remain at the per transaction limit of $1,500.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

1-Year Agency Response

See comments below regarding this response.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: No Action Taken

Alameda County Superior Court has not responded to our repeated requests over the past year to provide the actions it has taken or plans to take to implement our recommendation. As a result, the status of the court's implementation of our recommendation is unknown.

6-Month Agency Response

Cal-Card no longer lists a minimum transaction limit in its policy, this is left up to the authorizing parties when setting up the account. The Court's maximum per transaction limit is $2,500 per it's local policy & procedure manual. Court is reviewing the best practices of other courts in the amendment of Local Contracting Manual to place the single transaction limit to $2,500 for the Procurement Manager and Information Technology Director only. All other cards are at the per transaction limit of $1,500.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

Though not well documented there were sufficient reasons it was necessary to exceed this limit on those transactions. The Cal Card Policies and Procedures state "The maximum Single Purchase Limit is limited to $2,500..." In response to that per Judicial Branch Contract Manual "Alternative procedures should be documented, incorporated into the court's Local Contracting Manual, and distributed to court personnel." To address these types of transactions in the future the Court will be amending its Local Contracting Manual to place the single transaction limit to $2,500 for the Procurement Manager and Information Technology Director only. All other cards will remain at the per transaction limit of $1,500.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2014-301

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.